I rarely ever get a chance to actually use our forum here to ask a question. Hopefully someone can shed some light...
I am in the process of backing up some of my (unencrypted) DVDs, and am struggling with the option of whether to upscale them via video conversion software, or just back them up in their native resolution and let the hardware scale it. Which is better?
My end-game here is to move all of these DVDs to a media server and play them via Xbox 360 ... so I am thinking some form of WMV, like MWV9 AP. I just want best possible video quality.
Perhaps there is no single correct answer, given video formats and hardware capabilities ... but I would appreciate any experiences any of you may have.
- Shane
Best way to convert video for playback on an HDTV?
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Shane
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Best way to convert video for playback on an HDTV?
Publisher, HDTV Magazine
Your Guide to High Definition Television
Your Guide to High Definition Television
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akirby
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Rodolfo
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Shane,
Video upconversion and upscaling have been evolving since the invention of the first line-doubler. First generation HDTVs in 1998 had very weak line-doublers to convert 480i to 480p, including the very famous Pioneer Elite line of quality TVs.
Upgrading the TV (or playback scaler) could renew the look of a whole inventory of media, but if the media is upconverted and stored that way it perpetuates the conversion/scaling technology of the past stored for archival. Nor to mention the waste of space of DVD quality upconverted to 6 times its resolution to get to 1080i HD resolution.
The upconversion/upscaling technology is evolving very fast, algorithms are continously updated to be more efficient and render better images. Down the line you might want to playback an old 480i DVD NTSC quality on your new system and the modern capabilities of it could benefit you better than storing the media with today's upconversion technology, which will include with the original signal millions of interpolated pixels that you might not be able to remove and reprocess on playback.
Take the example of film content on DVD or Hi-Def DVD. The source signal is 24fps progressive originating from telecined celluloid film. They are not stored in the disc as 60i or 60p, they are kept as 48 half frames for the playback equipment to decide what to do with it.
There is no need to store the added 3:2 pulldown 12 extra half-frames to raise the frame rate to 60i anticipating that someone would view them on 60i NTSC or HD.
That saves 1/4 of space by not storing interpolated data that does not actually improve original resolution, nothing could improve original resolution, one could improve the viewing but that could be done during playback, no need to store that.
Best Regards,
Rodolfo La Maestra
Video upconversion and upscaling have been evolving since the invention of the first line-doubler. First generation HDTVs in 1998 had very weak line-doublers to convert 480i to 480p, including the very famous Pioneer Elite line of quality TVs.
Upgrading the TV (or playback scaler) could renew the look of a whole inventory of media, but if the media is upconverted and stored that way it perpetuates the conversion/scaling technology of the past stored for archival. Nor to mention the waste of space of DVD quality upconverted to 6 times its resolution to get to 1080i HD resolution.
The upconversion/upscaling technology is evolving very fast, algorithms are continously updated to be more efficient and render better images. Down the line you might want to playback an old 480i DVD NTSC quality on your new system and the modern capabilities of it could benefit you better than storing the media with today's upconversion technology, which will include with the original signal millions of interpolated pixels that you might not be able to remove and reprocess on playback.
Take the example of film content on DVD or Hi-Def DVD. The source signal is 24fps progressive originating from telecined celluloid film. They are not stored in the disc as 60i or 60p, they are kept as 48 half frames for the playback equipment to decide what to do with it.
There is no need to store the added 3:2 pulldown 12 extra half-frames to raise the frame rate to 60i anticipating that someone would view them on 60i NTSC or HD.
That saves 1/4 of space by not storing interpolated data that does not actually improve original resolution, nothing could improve original resolution, one could improve the viewing but that could be done during playback, no need to store that.
Best Regards,
Rodolfo La Maestra