Blu-Ray vs DVD

Discussion in 'Star Trek Movies I-X' started by Buster, May 14, 2013.

  1. SpHeRe31459

    SpHeRe31459 Captain Captain

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    No what you said is that because it's higher resolution it would somehow intrinsically be incompatible other TVs, which makes no sense. That or you are using the word incompatible incorrectly. The players of any such content would absolutely be backwards compatible.

    See below:

     
  2. SpHeRe31459

    SpHeRe31459 Captain Captain

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    Yep. Starting with a higher quality source is always a good thing.

    For example: one of the easiest forms of anti-aliasing for 3D gaming is to render at a higher resolution in an off screen buffer and then output the results at the targeted lower resolution, it creates more data points to then be downsampled into a nicer looking output than compared to the same information rendered natively at that lower resolution. This is a basic rule of digital image data, still or moving images.
     
  3. Belz...

    Belz... Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Yeah it will, but since the signal isn't designed for it, certain lines may be a bit off (the TV is trying to fit, say 1080 lines into 480), whereas on the right definition you don't have that problem. It might not be noticeable often, however.

    You are correct, of course. I have misused the term "incompatible". Not sure what other term I could've used, however.
     
  4. BillJ

    BillJ The King of Kings Admiral

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    The Blu-ray's are going to look a ton better than the DVD's, even at 480i. The DVD's are some of the worst transfers of a TV series I've ever seen. They were transferred straight from video-tape and it shows.
     
  5. Lance

    Lance Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I too am using my Blu-Ray on a standard def TV. The visual quality improvements over the DVDs in the case of TNG are still very evident even though obviously I'm not getting an output in full HD splendor. I'm probably gonna get an HD TV at some point, but I don't need it at the moment until my current one blows itself to bits.
     
  6. SpHeRe31459

    SpHeRe31459 Captain Captain

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    You clearly have no idea how a video transmission system works. If it were as haphazard as you seem to think it is there would be no standards for displaying video, but there are. There are resolution, signal frequency and timing characteristics defined for both HDTV systems and analog TV systems like NTSC (the analog TV system used in North America).

    In digital video there is no such thing as "a line being off", etc.

    The image stored on a Blu-ray disc a digital presentation. There are no lines, only pixels.

    From the way you are using the term "lines" it seems to refer to an analog display system which has nothing to do with digital source material such as DVDs, Blu-ray discs, Netflix streaming, etc.

    In the scenario of displaying a Blu-ray on an old standard definition TV. The standard def TV is NOT trying to fit 1080 into 480, it has no idea how to display anything other than 480i (NTSC). The standard definition TV isn't doing anything but displaying a video signal it's getting from the player.

    Inside the Blu-ray player is an advanced decoding and video scaling chip. It knows perfectly well how to handle different content resolutions and frame rates and how to display it. It is very easy to downscale 1080 to 480. Scaling down is a trivial matter compared to scaling up.
    All of this is done in the player, it is then output in a standard NTSC 480i signal, that the old standard definition TV can accept.

    As an aside, HDTVs also have scalers. The HDTV is made to handle a variety of input video signals ranging from 480i (SD TV channels, unprocessed DVDs), 720p or 1080i (HDTV channels) and 1080p sources like Blu-ray discs or high quality streaming videos from companies like VUDU. Inside an HDTV is a video processor. It will take the incoming digital video and scale it up or down appropriately to the native resolution of the TV's panel.
     
    Last edited: Jun 26, 2013
  7. Belz...

    Belz... Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Yes, I hadn't considered that.

    Why, thank you.

    I might be wrong because projection TVs work differently than LCD ones. But have you ever used the latter at a resolution lower than its native one, say on a computer ? Horrible, horrible graphics. Without upscale, my SD tv signal looks awful on my HDTV.

    But you're right. I might be talking out of my ass about higher resolutions.
     
  8. ATimson

    ATimson Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    No matter what, an SD signal is going to be upscaled for display on your HDTV. It's just a question of whether it's the TV or the player that's doing it.

    Downscaling is generally easier than upscaling. After all, it's always been easier to destroy than to create. ;)
     
  9. Belz...

    Belz... Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Yes, but not necessarily with good results. :)

    In six minutes !
     
  10. Shaka Zulu

    Shaka Zulu Commodore Commodore

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    ^THIS.