This Really Ticks Me off!

[Bobby]

OK - it's time to start some activity here.

I have to tell you that I am really, massively ticked off about the format wars. The industry let us down again. I want HD quality DVDs, but now I won't buy a thing until the war is settled.

The correct answer is probably Blu-Ray. The problem is that technology doesn't (and perhaps shouldn't) change too frequently. So when it does change, we have to go for the gusto and get the best (meaning best resolution, highest capacity, etc.) we can get. Cost of players or produced media isn't that much of an issue - if the sales are there, the price will be right.

I am not even willing to accept the combo players (if there ever are any) as that is not a solution but an accomodation.

Retorts? Reinforcement?

[Chuck Engels]

I will agree that it is going to be some time before I get into consumer HD. I will most likely go with an HDV camcorder long before I think about the final format for viewing.

I will be sitting on the side waiting to see who wins the war. The last time I was fooled was with the 8 track, it won't happen again

[John 'twosheds' McDonald]

I went HD with a Sony HVR-A1 last autumn. Great little camera but, as we all know, no sensible delivery method yet!

I too remember the last format war (VHS v Betamax, but don't forget the other format - Philips V2000). VHS, the technically inferior product, won and then the market really took off with volume shipments driving prices down.

I suspect most rational consumers (by which I mean those that are not early adopters) will wait to see firstly 'how the wind blows' and so take a view on the technology winner then secondly, but probably more importantly, wait until there is a reduction in player prices for the technology that wins.

Until such time as there is a clearly emerging format winner I will be keeping my cash in my wallet. If I want to watch anything in HD that I have filmed then I can do it using my camera directly connected to my HDTV. Otherwise I'll settle for downconverted HD to DVAVI until the player war is won.

[Paul LS]

No need to wait for Blu-Ray or HD-DVD players to come along. I capture and edit HDV and then burn 20 mins using HD DVD format (25MB/s HDV standard) with menu to a single layer standard DVD played on my PC through the Component out ports of my graphics card. Looks wonderfull.

And of course I can make HD slideshows in the same way... so using the full resolution of my digital camera photos.

[Bobby]

So, Paul, if I may elaborate, you Setup your PE3 project for HDV 1080i and you are then able to write that (higher bitrate) to a standard DVD. What software do you use then to play the DVD to get your component out?

That is a nice taste, but 20 minutes just wouldn't cut it for me. That reminds me of the old days of Video CDs, where you could get about the same amount of time of video on a CD.

Thanks...

[Paul LS]

Hi Bob, using a DL disc you could get 40 min on a DVD. To get the HD DVD format on the disc is a bit convoluted (unless you use the latest Pinnacle software that allows burning directly from Pinnacle to a standard DVD in HD-DVD format). I export my edited HDV 1080i file from PE, I then bring this into ULEAD Moviefactory and apply menus etc and export to a HD DVD folder (as it can not burn HD DVD to a standard disc). I then use NERO to burn the HD DVD folder to a standard DVD.

To play back on my HDTV I use CyberLink PowerDVD HD edition (version 7) to play the DVD. I have an ATI 1650 graphics card with HDTV output (component video output).

You of course could just play the MPEG2 file with a media player directly from the harddrive. Then you wouldn't need to do any of the above, just need the graphics card with component/HDMI output.

[Bobby]

Thanks, Paul. Yes it's a bit convoluted, but not too bad. But that might drive me to update two things I should do anyhow: 1) get a better DVD authoring program and 2) upgrade my PowerDVD.

Also, a new video card with HDMI output might be a good thing too!

[Ken Jarstad]

Paul LS - it seems very difficult to get a decent review of the display method you are using. I, for one, would appreciate from you a more extensive review of your ATI 1650 and the component connection to your HDTV. Here, or in another thread.

As you may recall, connecting SDTV displays via PC video cards' composite and S-Video outputs is positively horrible - and useless for judging video quality while editing. And yet you say that the HDTV playback via component analog output is outstanding. I could get excited about buying a small HD LCD panel and a video card that has analog component outputs. What about DMI or HDMI outputs? Do they work well, also?

[Paul LS]

The latest ATI and Nvidia grahics cards are designed for HDTV support and support resolutions up to 1920x1080. They also come with software/drivers that gives optimized HD playback. Look at this page on Nvidia's PureVideo support for HD: http://www.nvidia.com/page/purevideo.html

I chose Component output because of the availability, although HDMI models are now becoming available. My Samsung HDTV has Component and HDMI connections. However the manual says it will not display a picture if connected via a DVI to HDMI adaptor... possibly something to do with DRM copyright protection. I have also heard nightmares of connections made via HDMI reducing the resolution if no HDCP (copyright) support is detected by the TV. So I decided to play safe and go with Component outputs.
As you know most TV stores feed their HDTVs via Component video connections. Likewise the HD XBox gaming machine also uses Component video.

The 1650X Pro is a higher speed device that I needed because I play back the HD content on standard discs with HD DVD format. It also has acceleration that can be turned on/off which significantely reduces the load on the processor.

[Ken Jarstad]

Thank you, Paul. I was not aware of how far this capability had come. With HD on regular DVD media you have a clever solution to an immature technology. Well done!

[Paul LS]

I cant take the credit Ken. The solutions come from wandering around various forums.