Please STOP saying that DVDs can look like HD!

Hi all,


I am sorry but I felt absolutely compelled to write this post. And I don’t post often. I am more of a listener than a talker.


I am writing this because I have seen SO many people claim that DVD’s with great scaling/upsampling or via an HTPC and dear old FFDSHOW can meet or even (God help) beat HDTV!


The most recent claim was made yesterday on this forum, by Ash. While I have the utmost respect for Ash and clearly share his excitement at discovering a whole new way to enjoy watching DVDs on his awesome Sony Qualia, I have to completely disagree with his claim that DVDs now look “as good if not better than HDTVâ€.


Everyone, please understand this. DVDs have a resolution of only 720x480 (or 720x576 for PAL). This is a joke compared to the 1920x1080 resolution for HD! You are effectively comparing or should I say that claiming that something with a 0.3 MegaPixel resolution is as good if not better than something with a 2 MegaPixel resolution!


There is NO WAY this is mathematically possible! I agree that these days, DVDs are mastered beautifully from Hi-Def masters, with little edge enhancement and beautiful overall transfers, BUT regardless, once you reduce that 1920x1080 master to a pitifully small 720x480 size, information or detail is LOST! Forever! There is no way to get it back! Even a million years from now, there cannot be technology to get that lost information back! It is mathematically impossible!


Yeah you see it on stupid TV shows where people can enlarge a CC TV image to catch a criminal! But that’s Hollywood crap for you!


Sure HDTV is in its infancy and there are many artifacts associated with MPEG-2 encoding at 1080i like macroblocking. BUT even now, it still has a LOT, LOT more detail than any DVD!


Those who make this ludicrous claim that “DVDs are now as good or better than HD†are clearly very excited to watch DVDs like never before, or more likely watching from too far a distance. The eye can resolve only so much. If one was to watch from a certain distance, even VHS or 160x120 would look no different from 1920x1080.


For each distance there is a limit of a certain resolution that is perceivable. Maybe some can provide a formula where one can calculate the maximum resolution the eye can resolve at a given distance.


If this is the case, namely that you are sitting to far or your screen is too smal, then fine you don’t need Hi-Def. But please don’t claim that DVD’s look like Hi-Def!


Furthermore I would like to add one additional point. And this is very important and the reason I am writing this post.


All these claims by people here that “DVDs look as good as Hi-Defâ€, not to mention all those DVD players that upsample DVDs to “Hi-Def†and by their marketing department “fool people into thinking they magically turn DVDs into Hi-Defâ€, are sending a very BAD message to everyone.


1) The average Joe thinks that it is possible for DVDs to turn into Hi-Def with the right equipment. And cheap too!


2) The studios think that we are very happy with the quality of DVDs and we simply don’t need HD-DVDs.


So from the studio’s point of view, this means that “WHY THE HELL BRING OUT HD-DVD?†for if we, the ultimate connoisseurs see no need or desire for HD-DVDs then what chance has poor old average Joe has?


So PLEASE S-T-O-P making these ridiculous and bogus claims!


STOP!


Thank you for your time.