I have a 55" 1080line HDTV and a progressive scan DVD player. Certainly
some DVDs are not up to snuff, either due to poor source material or
poor production. On the other hand, some are simply spectacular. It
seems to me as an end user that the measure of quality is when the
picture gets good enough that I cease to notice it and only 'see' the
material being presented. This 'transparency' happens for me with many DVDs
When talking VHS, someone mentioned good quality prerecorded tapes while
Tom S. said he only watches what he has recorded off the 'air'. There
can be a great deal of difference there, really almost apples and
oranges. A good pre-recorded tape, while no DVD, can be surprisingly
good on a decent VCR. There is also a lot of variation in VCRs. I got
suckered into buying a JVC with SVHS 'ET' (which works on normal tapes).
What a joke! Recording SVHS at SP speed is about as good as EP on my old
Sony and poorer than SP on the Sony. In non SVHS, it's just sort of
mediocre.
One thing I've noticed in the last couple of years is the vast
improvement in the picture quality of many network shows. I assume this
is because they are being produced at HDTV quality with new equipment
and the difference shows even when downsampled for regular TV. I
understand that what I'm getting isn't as good as what you are sending,
but it's still better than what I was getting before. This is more
apparent on the fancy 55" (without HDTV) than the conventional 27".
Moose
Jon Mitchell wrote:
To be fair to the Digital revolution in this case, I am a big fan of
DVD. Don't get me wrong, I know it's limitations. I watch some
films, and one concert I have on DVD in particular, and I cringe at
the digital artefacts / mpeg artefacts that I see. BUT the
alternative (VHS) is just so poor that DVD is a major step in the
right direction.
Now I work in the TV Broadcast industry, so I know the level of
quality that CAN be achieved, but at a cost. The Beta that was talked
about recently as a format was great. The pro versions (Betacam SP
and Digi Beta) are awesome. Watching anything on DigiBeta, I honestly
don't think anyone would fault it. Simply perfect quality. Leagues
above DVD, to give an idea. If I remember my theory (I may not !)
it's 50 percent compression. DVD Mpeg is variable but normally is A
LOT more than this.
But that comes at a very high price. No way would that take on as a
consumer machine !! (We're talking in the region of tens of thousands
for a recorder / player. And they're BIG !) Besides, the quality of
the medium our TV is broadcast on is relatively poor. I sit at work
and watch what we are pumping out (to transmission) and it's damn
good. I watch what comes back off the satellite and it's, frankly,
appaling. And that's an all-digital route.
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