Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater 480p - First Impressions

We just watched our first movie (George Clooney in Solaris) last night on the new HD big screen. The 480p picture was great most of the time, but when the camera panned slowly, the picture stuttered noticably. Also, when they showed far away shots of the spaceship spinning in its orbit, the radial spokes of the ship displayed jagged pixilation when positioned diagonally across the screen.
Is there any reason why we're not using 1080i for viewing DVDs? I'm guessing there would be less of those motion artifacts with 1080i.

In reply to:

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Is there any reason why we're not using 1080i for viewing DVDs?

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If by we you mean your family, then the answer is that there's no 1080i content for you to watch.

If by we you mean society, then the answer is that it takes significantly more storage space and current DVD technology doesn't really fit the bill. As such, the DVD forum has been working on several HD DVD technologies though the pertinent companies are in a format battle at the moment.

As to your larger problem, I'd suggest checking a couple other DVDs and if the problem persists, looking into alternative gear because that shouldn't happen. At least I've never seen it.

I forget which DVD player and screen you're running.

I've been running 480p for more than a couple of years and I've never noticed this phenomenon. If you switch to 480i do you still see the same thing? Agree that trying a couple of other DVDs or alternatively, another DVD player to see if it related to the software or the hardware will narrow it down.

I agree that 480p is not 1080i, but it sure beats the heck out of 480i and crappy broadcasting sources...

Cheers,

Doug

Thanks for the responses.
I have a Denon carousel DVD player (can't remember the model # and there's a flight of stairs between me and it) that has the Farrouja chip or processor or whatever. The TV is a 60" Phillips 4:3 HDTV. Monster cable component vid cable (I got it years ago, before I came across this here forum) connecting to the HD input on the TV.

No doubt the 480p picture is way better than the 480i. Currently playing downstairs is the Dixie Chicks concert vid, which looks and sounds spectacular. I am guessing there is no deficit in my equipment; I think it is the 480p format. Watch for slow camera pans. Not every movie is going to have diagonal moving lines, so when you rent Solaris please look for the spokes on the ship looking jagged. Hopefully someone can confirm the same experience, but I'm not overly concerned as the picture in every other respect is stunning.

Regarding 1080i and DVD storage capabilities: I was under the impression that DVDs could store tremendous amounts of data. It seems like a few extra pixels should be no problem.

DVD-5 single sided/single layer 4.7 gigs 2 hrs video
DVD-10 double sided/single layer 9.4 gigs 4.5 hrs

there is DVD-9 and DVD-18 but it is too expensive to manufacture due to its special transparent layer

720 x 480p = 345600 pixels
1920 x 1080p = 2073600 pixel
1080 has definitely a lot more pixels
To do 1080 you definitely need some new HD DVD format ...whatever that is...supposedly slated by a governing group in end of 2004 maybe.....


http://www.dvdsite.org/

http://www.hddvd.org/hddvd/

D-VHS offers 1080i playback, and there is a not-too-terrible collection of software available, albeit at 50-60 Cdn per tape.

It's a pretty safe bet that even when it becomes available, HD-DVD is going to go the way of the laserdisc...strictly the realm of hard-core enthusiasts. Standard DVD has just grown too big, too fast. Considering the cash-cow DVD is now (and in fairness, how much studios are putting into reissuing old movies on DVD), there's really no incentive for the studios to go HD...at least not with older movies.

BigWill - you might want to check your 3:2 pulldown settings on your DVD player in case it is not automatically invoked. I'm also not familiar with your specific TV but you might want to check if it has 3:2 pulldown and how it works when fed a 480p source so you are not applying the processing twice. Also, are you using any format conversions on the DVD player/TV to expand the picture to remove black bars? Does your TV upconvert 480p to 540p or 1080i? These types of processing can also have an effect on the picture as you describe.

I've got Solaris coming from Netflix in the next couple of days so I'll have a look to see if it is a mastering issue with the DVD, but as I've said before, I've never noticed any artifacts that were not part of the content on any DVD I've watched. I have a Sony 9000ES DVD player piped into a 65" Mits native 480p, but I also apply no processing from the DVD or TV except for the 3:2 pulldown on the DVD player.

Cheers,

Doug

Bigwill,

If your T.V. has a 16:9 wide screen mode select that in your tv's menue.. Then go in to your DENON dvd players menue and Select 16:9 aspect ratio. This should get rid of the jaggies. Rember dvd's native aspect ratio is 16:9 and the jaggies are produced when your dvd player changes the aspect ratio to fit a 4:3 tv screen. I have the DENON dvd 900 (DCDi) and had the same problem that you have now. I know this will work. Leave the dvd player set at 16:9 in its menue, just remember to change your tv's aspect ratio to 16:9 when you watch dvd's and 4:3 when you watch tv programs.

Excellent. Thank you all for the info and suggestions, I'll give it a whirl.

If you want 1080i DVD resolution I suggest the Samsung DVD-HD931 or the Bravo D1. Hopefully your TV has a DVI input to take advantage of this feature.