DVD upscaling?

Hi,
I'm planning to buy a full HD (1080p) plasma to use with my mini as an AV server connecting via a DVI-HDMI cable.
My question is about upscaling standard DVD content:
If I play a 'standard' def DVD through the mini (either from the disc or from a ripped image) with the res set at 1920x1080, presumably any upscaling will be done by the mini whereas if I set it at a lower res, I can get the TV to perform the upscaling?
If that's the case, does anyone know whether the mini has an upscaler in it, or whether it just effectively blows the picture up?
If the former, does anyone have a feel for the quality in comparison to a decent TV? Also, presumably if it has one, the mini upscaler can be updated in software as better algorithms come along?
Thanks for any info or thoughts.
Regards
Matt

First a lot of people have been reporting problems whereby Mac OS X 10.4.10 has been limiting Mac minis to only 1080i resolution even thought it is capable of a full 1080p.
My belief is that playing a 'standard' DVD on a Mac with a higher resolution screen does result in upscaling. However whether this is better or as good as the dedicated chips like the Faroudja used in many high end systems is unknown.
However, I have seen comments and would agree that QuickTime itself (nothing to do with playing DVDs) is very good at upscaling video files. This would suggest Apple have some good experience at doing this.
Any upscaling the Mac is doing is purely is software (with possibly acceleration assisted by the graphics chip), and so potentially Leopard might improve this further. However with iTunes/iPod/iPhone/Apple TV, Apple has actually been taking video quality down hill rather than upmarket.
If you have an external upscaler as part of your AV system, e.g. a Denon AVR-4306 then you might want to choose to use it to do the upscaling. I would not rely on a TV's built-in upscaling.
So to summarise, first choice is an external AV upscaler, second choice is the Mac itself, last choice is the TV.

Similar Messages

Using Mac to play DVDs on HD-ready LCD TV

This is probably a basic question, but I'm learning so humour me
I am about to shell out my hard-earned cash on an LCD TV (26 or 32" - possibly a Sony Bravia) and a Mac Mini to hook up to it, as well as dvd player/recorder.
I have read in various forums that when a mac is hooked up to a HD-ready LCD TV, and the correct resolutions are sorted out (not always a straight forward affair by all accounts), that viewing DVDs using the mac gives results that are the 'best that I have seen', 'never look at a dvd the same way again' etc etc.
Why should a dvd played on the Mac give better results than quality dedicated dvd player?

Whether or not your Mac is driving the attached display device in interlace mode or progressive scan mode has nothing to do with the DVD player or DVD. If you attach a Mac to a television, say via S-Video, and the television only supports interlaced modes, then everything you see on the screen, even the Finder, will be in interlace mode.
If however you connect your Mac to a TV using DVI and the mode is progressive scan, then even when you watch DVDs at full screen, the image will also be progressive scan.
I think you will find that the Mac mini will play DVDs upscaled as nicely as any mid-range consumer DVD player. But if you have plans to try and record over-the-air television to recordable DVD, you will probably find it simpler to go with a stand alone, consumer DVD recorder rather than try and teach that trick to a Mac.

As a DVD player

My DVD pkayer just crapped out. I am going to byuy a new player should I condiser a Mini to play that role? I have wireless in the house can I then hook up to my network also? Primary is DVD player secondary would be network. It will be hooked to 52 inch TV and an Onkyo sound system. Comments on Mac mini vs DVD player.

I use a mini as a DVD player currently. What I observe:
- I have the mini set to 1080p output into a 1080p compatible TV. The DVD upscaling is truly stunning. Better than any dedicated DVD player I have owned. Many DVDs look as good as 720p cable channels I receive.
- I miss having some functions from a dedicated DVD player, like a dedicated display on the front of the player with readout of chapter and time information.
- It hasn't happened very often, but once or twice the mini had trouble reading a DVD and it beachballed forever to the point that I had to hit the power switch on the back of the mini to restart it.
- It would be good if your Onkyo had a spare optical audio input because by far that is the best sound option out of the mini and the only way to get surround sound out of the mini.
Overall I am happy with this set up. My family slightly less so, but they tolerate it. The DVD player in the upcoming Leopard release has major updates over the player in Tiger so it will be interesting to see how that imporves the overall experience. You might want to wait if you can and ask your question again in a month.
Concerning the network part, were you thinking of being able to play a DVD on the mini and somehow network the DVD's output to other TVs in the house? If that's what you meant, then I don't think that can work. Otherwise, I don't understand your network question.

Blue-ray player/burner program!!? (Mountain Lion)

I Bought a Blu-ray player (ASUS, SBW-06C2X-U) and cant play BR-movies, why???
What program to use, burning program & player to use?
i have burned DVD, no problem
i have playd DVD-movie, no problem
I can't watch BR-movie, PROBLEM!?
What program to burn BR-ray discs??!

Hmmmmm okej...
My BR-player has support for....
Blu-ray 3D support, 2D to 3D DVD conversion, DVD upscaling to HD 1080p
And this "Macblurayplayer" program does not seem to have that suport for my BR-player (that also says it is compatible with my mac).

SD footage looks Bad in timeline and on Export

Hi there
Let me start by saying that this Forum is amazing, I read through pages of stuff looking for something kind of similar to my question but come accross tons of really useful stuff that I just can't help myself from reading. You guys truly are a mind of knowledge, some of which I haven't a clue about to start with, but I am learning...
Anyway, on to my query.
I work in Prem Pro CS4 and also use Encore and AME.
All my updates are up to date and I work on a struggling system (dual core. P4. 32 bit Vista Home, 4GB mem, ATI video card (512mb) Its a couple of years old, but handle SD footage ok.
I often get asked to shoot Weddings, Bands & Events (I'm no professional, just a keen ameteur). I shoot this footage mainly in SD (PAL) using a Sony HDRFX1 & and HDR-SR12e.
Okay, so i know there is a difference in Picture clarity at source. the FX1 out performs the SR12 easily, and so this is used for the odd cut away and not the main event.
When I import my footage into PP, all looks OK with the FX1 footage, but the SDR footage is really blurred (out of focus) and washed out. Though playing it back through the Camera or hooked up to a TV, it doesn't look half bad.
So, what am I doing wrong? Why is PP making this footage look horrible and even making the FX1 footage look rather un loveable.
This is the case in Both the Preview window (Highest Quality) and when I export to file or DVD.
I have exported to Verbatim discs (This has made a slight difference) using Encore (using both Dynamic link and exporting as an AVI).
I don't touch transcoding setting, I let Encore sort that out.
I see talk of Codecs - I use mostly the Mpg2 DVD "Main Concept Codec" as my stuff ultimatley ends up on a disc (no other codecs are available to me) - Should i be looking for a better one? - But surely this won't make the footage any clearer in the Preview window in anycase.
Maybe I am Importing it wrongly, as the SDR is a HDD, I just import the usual way... So I can't see i am doing anything wrong there.
I understand that this is a large post and I have so many questions about getting it right. But my main problem is the end product just doesn't quite live up to my expectations, or as it looks on the Camera (or playing from the camera on a 40inch Bravia) before importing in to PP.
I have tried playing the DVDs back through several DVD players and Monitors, it looks virtually the same.
Any suggestions as to improving this would be greatly appreciated.

No problems Harm
I appreciate you taking the time to help me out with this issue.
Let me go through what I do, hopefully you can pick any holes.
I import from FX1 via capture in PP - usuing the DV preset (No option to change except for HDV) - you referred to "capture in MS DV AVI type2" but I have no option to chage any setting. It's either DV or HDV.
I import the Footage from the SDR via Sony PMB (Picture Motion Bridge) and then import into PP using the double click on project panel method, then set up a series of BINS to make it all very tidy.
I then use 1 sequence and sync up the footage, then just use keyframes to mix in and out where required.
This is all in 720x576 PAL
The quality problems are noticable in the preview window (Set to highest quality)
To test if this is really what I am going to end up with at the end of my project I have exported as an AVI file and played it on my PS3. The footage still looks washed out, Blurry etc.
I have also expoted to a DVD via Encore using Dynamic Link and importing a renederd file and palyed this back on both a Toshiba DVD (upscaler) and PS3. I have also tested it on A Sony Plasma (Though this actually makes it more washed out but a smoother feel) also through a Bravia 30" LCD (this looks the same).
Also played back on PC using VLC, WMP, Nero & Media Player Classic - all give very similar results.
However, playing the files direct from the Camcorder give a different impression. The footage, whilst not as pretty as High Def, is what you expect from a Single Chip handy Cam.
I will say one thing, the footage is clearer when viewed in PMB (Sonys Picture Motion Bridge)

Workflow for dv 480p to HD up-conversion & weird ways to do it? Thoughts?

Hi,
I'm preparing to output my dv feature film 92 minutes long (720x480p, 4:3, letterboxed, not anamorphic), and want to put it into various formats. I don't think I can afford a teranex upconversion but was wondering:
1. If I output using a kona and capture can I a.) do the settings so I can open the film in widescreen? b.) In that case is it unnecessary to do a render and then letterbox that render...can I simply output it and have the kona software letterbox? c.) Would it be best in a professional setting to output to hdsr and then output from that to hdcam and digibeta copies and d.) downconvert back to dvd from there (with the advantage of the widescreen if I so desired instead of doing the dvd from my original work)?
2. I am cheap and always find weird solutions...HAS ANYONE HEARD of ANYONE doing something so nutty as taking their 480p dvd (or possibly a direct output of the project through hdmi) and putting it through a high end television up-resolution dvd player such as the oppo 970hd and capturing the video output back into fcp as 720p or 1080p? Quite frankly, why wouldn't this be possible? Why would it look any better or worse than upresolutioning a 480p through anything short of a teranex from what I'm reading out there?
3. I've been told if I get a kona or do anything involving output and then recapturing a QT I might want for use for blu-ray (where I have to output from one mac, and go into another that also has fcp) I'd need another mac to do the capture...If I wanted my own system, I was told an intel mac mini would have enough power to recapture...no reason for it NOT TO...HAS anyone recaptured an HD QT on a mac mini that they put fcp on?????
I know I'm going to get a lot of flak for asking these questions, hate letters, "you're a bimbo", whatnot...BUT REALLY HAS ANYONE ACTUALLY done 2 or 3? And comments on 1 appreciated
THANKS

Slow down buddy...you're firing off way too many questions. And please use punctuation and capital letters...reading your posts is challenging. If you go to NYU, please write as if you are delivering a term paper. I hope this isn't how you deliver term papers.
but here it's scarier as I'm talking going 4:1:1 to 4:2:2...
Yeah, well...I capture HDV as ProRes all the time. That is 4:2:0 to 4:2:2. It doesn't add anything, it doesn't make things look worse. Just carries it over. You have less falloff when color correcting 4:2:2 converted from 4:1:1 then if you color corrected 4:1:1 directly, but that's about it.
When I talked to a technician there who is the only one of two in my wanderings in the last few weeks who isn't an idiot I said has ANYONE come in who is an fcp person asking IS THIS POSSIBLE...he said no I said why do you think that is...he said...because people aren't aware the technology is this good...no one has bothered yet I live in NYU film school land?
It isn't possible as this is NOT how it was designed. Really, no professional I know of would try that...waste of money trying to figure it out. If you want you can try. See if they will loan you a floor model to do this. Just isn't worth my while to test. Not when there is gear that is designed for this and will to a PROFESSIONAL level conversion, not consumer.
in this lhi is it equivalent to the kona 3 in performance and does it use the same software when going from sd to hd?
Yes, and yes. But it is HARDWARE upconversion...similar software interface. This is the card I asked AJA to make for years. They finally heard me.
And when you say the mxo2 is now able to as well do you mean there's software that will do as good a job upresing as the aja?
HARDWARE. The MXO2 upconverts via hardware. Different software interface...easier in fact. And yes, it does a BANG UP job. I have done this both with a Kona 3 and MXO2. I like the results from both.
is the studio compressor going to give you acceptable competitive up-res compared to the hardware options?
It is decent. You can tell the difference, but it does a good job. I would opt for the capture cards first, but lacking that ability (I have footage often that has no tape masters anymore...lord knows why) I use Compressor and it looks pretty good. Gotta make sure all the Frame Controls are set to best.
but I find it hard to believe you can do them and not have to tweak the contrast/color a bit after
Well, it will still look like scaled SD. No way to make it look like HD original. It is softer, and there are more artifacts, but that is because you blew up something to 10 times it's size...there will be issues. Even via hardware, but they can mask the noise better.
As well, is there any preference in broadcast deliverable these days for 720p/1080p or 1080i?
Mainly 1080i 29.97 and 1080psf 23.98. A few places take 720p59.94. But it varies from network to network. There is no standard...which stinks.
if my project was shot in progressive is it best to just leave it there and would you opt to just go to 720p from a 480p project for a general master and just ignore the 1080p format altogether at this point?
If you have no deliverable requirements then stick to SD. No reason to upconvert. However, if I was required to deliver an HD master, and was provided no requirements, I would go from 480p to 720p or 1080p...not go interlaced. But, that is all up to the client. What they want, I give them.
Of course I totally blanked on blu-ray which does have to have the 1080p codec first before going to the h.264 or am I wrong? I read in any case you can blu-ray burn mpeg2?
I have zero experience with BluRay. But blowing up SD to make a BluRay disk makes no sense. Why deliver a high def DVD of SD material? I think an standard SD DVD would look better...especially given the upconvert capabilities of modern DVD players. My HD DVD upscales VERY well.
Shane

Any DVD player software that upscales?

I assume Apple DVD Player does not upscale standard def dvd's
Any playback software that will ?

I don't know what "upscale" means, but the only other DVD players for Mac OS X that I know of are
http://player.interactual.com/default.asp?code=MAC
and
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

Field Order for Upscaling DVD player

I have a edited HDV project that I have output to DV using the following settings:
Video Compressor - DV NTSC
Field Order: Lower Field First
When I play this on a standard DVD player everything looks fine. The field order looks correct and the object edges look smooth.
However when I play the same DVD in an Upscaling DVD player on an HD TV (720p) there is a "comb effect" around the edges of objects.
I would like the video to play well on both types of setups (non-scaling and upscaling)
What am I doing wrong? What encoder should I be using to get the correct output on both upscaling players and standard?
Thanks,
Mike

>What am I doing wrong?
Downscaling HDV and then upscaling it again for HDTV. Best not to do that and just leave the video HD all the way for HD display.
Get a Blu-ray player is my advice.

Upscaling dvd player software for imac

Hello,
Do you know which is the best software to watch dvd-s on an Imac , on full resolution?
Like the equivalent of an upscaling dvd player?
mthx
I know i can not ask about the best ripper, so I wan't:-)

I have never had a problem with Apple DVD Player, available in your Applications folder or simply by inserting a video DVD.

Upscale DVDs, divx, etc to 720p/1080p in OS X

After a lot of playing around, I have finally figured out how to upscale DVDs, DIVX, etc on OS X. You will really notice the difference if you have a big HDTV connected to your mac. YMMV.
Anyway, to get started, you will need MPlayerOSX (www.mplayerhq.hu). Once you install MPlayer, go to the preferences and put these options under the Miscellaneous section, in the "Additional Parameters" textbox: "-idx -zoom -sws 9 -vf scale=1280:720:::9:10 -ssf ls=74.0 -ssf cs=7.0" (without quotes of course). You can also append "-ac hwac3 hwdts" to the additional parameters if you are using an external receiver connected to your Mac.
Restart MPlayerOSX and then try playing your favorite DVD. Good Luck!

Thanks a lot for your reply.
Especially for the "Why This Works"
I'm going to contact Apple's Pro Apps Department tomorrow, during business hours and see if they can tell me where I can download just the codec or if they can send the codec to my QuickTime App as a Fix. If that works, it'll be a quick & easy solution to share with the rest of Apple Support Communities & with the Apple Support Line. So everyone else checking in on the same problem, won't have to wait weeks for a smart user like you to come along & save the day
If Apple Pro Apps Department can't help.
Then I'll definately do the FCPX Trial method you suggested.
Thanks again Graham.
You are going to level up a ton when everyone else hears about this.

Can my Qosmio G40 upscale standard DVDs

Hello,
all I was just woundering if my qosmio G40-10s can upscale standard DVDs because my PS3 can and they look awsome,
I hope it does now that hd-dvd is over I have tried opening them with the hd-dvd player but it wont have any of it any help would be super
thx

How do you mean upscale? On the external screen?
Usually this depends on the player you use, so if the standard player wont do then you can try e.g. the VLC player (www.videolan.org) or the "Media Player Classic" which is included in the "K-lite" codec pack (just google for "K-lite")
Otherwise I would appreciate to hear some feedback from you regarding that issue.
Greetings

Upscale standard-DVD to 720-HD Timeline = Bad Scratchy Audio

My client has new HD footage for me to add to his old Directors Demo Reel on DVD. I was able to import the DVD and open a timeline to match its properties. The problem is now his New Footage which i downloaded is HD-720p. As per his request, I'm trying to stay on the New 720p Timeline and add the old footage from the DVD (which apparently includes 48htz Uncompressed audio). I resized the video to fit, which works okay, but the original audio plays like it's scratchy and all digital garbled sound.
I've tried re-fusing his original to many different formats in search of a way to correct the audio problem, but everytime I do it sounds terrible. Is there a way to do this correctly? Thanks for any answers.

I have been having problems with getting my audio on only 3 sequences that are nested in one larger sequence with many others. 10 sepeeate sequences for a live band DVD. The weird thing is that these three songs are not back to back and one of the songs in between is perfectly fine and one after is fine too. So i learned that clearing my cache may help...tried that...and then also learned that I should export to MPEG-2 DVD first also as it isnt good to have Encore do too much. 1h:15m long total run time. I did the export last night and woke up to an error code 6 from nVidea and the exporting stopped. I know this has got away form the original post subject but this whole scenerio of me trying to finish this project is related. I am getting extremely frustrated with trying to finish this project. Many hours of editing only to be stopped by software hangups. I know there are things that can make software not run smooth but i am just trying to weed those things out. So i dont know if clearing the cache worked as far as getting the audio right and if exporting to MPEG-2 DVD first will help either. Maybe splitting the sequence and exporting the two seperately into the MPEG's and putting them together on the timeline in Encore.
SPECS:
Windows 7 64 bit
16 Gb RAM
nVidea GTX 580
i7 quad 860
Should be plenty of horsepower in here to do this job.

Import VHS Tapes to DVD and iMovie

I have many old VHS tapes I want to finally digitize so I don't lose them. Most are old football games, generally between 1-2 hours per tape. I am working off of a new iMac - 27inch 3.1gHz 1TB hard drive.
I want to do 2 things:
1 - Backup each tape to a high quality DVD for backup purposes - to be played in a DVD player
2 - Store lower quality versions on my iMac hard drive to be viewed/ edited/ possibly uploaded to YouTube or other web based video sites
I have iMovie, and would like the ability to edit if possible - nothing major, ading scores, dates, etc...and possibly manipulating video (cropping of scenes, etc...) but not much.
I have researched and found a few different options. Most threads I have read seem to indicate the need for one of the following:
Canopus ADVC300
Canopus ADVC55
Elgato Eye TV Hybrid
I am willing to spend $100 - $200, but this I'd rather not go crazy. At a certain point it would just be easier to sed them away to be professionally archived to DVD.
Any advice?

I have many old VHS tapes I want to finally digitize so I don't lose them.
I have done lots of that.
To get your VHS video into iMovie, use the Grassvalley ADVC300. With the ADVC300 Audio and Video go in, FireWire comes out. It also comes with a nice Macintosh application that works flawlessly with iMovie 06 and iDVD 09/11 (I have used it a few times with iMovie 11).
The program that comes with the ADVC300 has some nice filters that can improve video and audio of the source material. The ADVC300 will take Audio and Video from any source (VCR, Tivo, Satellite Receiver) and convert it to FireWire (iMovie will treat it like a camera).
http://www.grassvalley.com/products/advc300
I would use iMovie 06 with iDVD 09/11, why?
iMovie 09/11 uses 'single field processing' meaning every other horizontal line of the video is thrown out, which reduces the sharpness of the footage. iMovie 06 uses ALL of the image to form the video.
If your primary workflow is editing DV clips and making DVDs, iMovie '06 is better suited.
Your movie will arrive at iDVD in DV format, which is an ideal match for making a DVD: same resolution, same pixels aspect ratio, and original quality. If you share your movie from iMovie 09/11, it gets re-rendered at 640x480 or less, and then iDVD upscales it back to 720x480. The end result is obviously not as good.
iMovie 06 and iDVD 11 is a "lossless" combination.

How to make file playable on DVD-player

Hello all,
I am new to Premiere Pro CS4. I have to make a videofile of approximately 13 minutes, which is playable on a DVD-player (type LG DV9900). The source format is 1440x1080p, and I really wish to keep this quality. There will be no sound or music whatsoever.
Could someone help me to choose the correct videoformat. I would also like to have a good fps (to assure a smooth image). The videofile has to fit onto a regular DVD (4,7GB). At this moment I have a .wmv-videofile in good quality (438mb with fps 50), but unfortunately my DVD-player won't play it.
I already tried it with .avi (Divx codec), but then the file is WAY to large.
Please help as it is quite urgent, trade fair is about to begin on monday :).
Thanks
Oliver

On a related note, would this setting be good if you wish to play the video on a DVD player with upscale capabilities?
I have a 20 minute video that was shot at 1920 X 1080. I'd like to encode the video with the highest settings that a DVD can handle. I figured a upscaling DVD player may require that the DVD be encoded in a special way - or maybe not.
Can anyone help me determine what settings I should encode my video onto a DVD?
thanks!

I want to create a HD disc with my Adobe Premier Elements but I am getting low resolution. When I go to share the DVD to disc the form only offers 8pixels at the bottom. How do I burn this DVD in HD with higher number of pixels?

I want to create a HD disc with my Adobe Premier Elements but I am getting low resolution. When I go to share the DVD to disc the form only offers 8pixels at the bottom. How do I burn this DVD in HD with higher number of pixels? I have read other forums on burning HD DVD's but I do not see the option to turn the 8 pi into 40 pi the one forum recommended. I want my DVD to be HD so I may sell these videos online for my business. I can't sell them the low quality they are burning now. Hopefully you can help me. Thanks.

desalvom
Thank you for your reply.
You cannot burn your high resolution video that you can view on your computer to an AVCHD on DVD disc
that will replay through a regular DVD player. But players are marketed under a variety of names with
different support opportunities. One manufacturer may call its product MultiMedia Player, media player, Blu-ray player,
etc.The bottom line is the specifications for each of the players that are candidates for the playback of
the AVCHD format on DVD disc or the format of interest.
If you upload your HD (1920 x 1080) video to YouTube, YouTube converts the video to flash format, but it goes up as the HD video.
But, beware. Look at the YouTube viewing setting when your uploaded video is playing back. The YouTube default is not
HD. It might be 360p, 480p. If you have a 1080p video, then before the YouTube playback, you should be looking
at the video with the YouTube 1080p HD setting for best viewing. That is a YouTube matter.
Best results depend on you
a. setting up the Premiere Elements project preset to match the properties of the source media. That means, if
you have 1080p source, you (manually) or the project (automatically) set the project preset at
NTSC
DSLR
1080p
DSLR [email protected]
or the PAL counterpart, depending on your region need.
b. if you upload your video to YouTube using the Premiere Elements feature, there is a HD preset, but you cannot
customize it.....if you need customization, then you can export your Timeline to a file...in this example
Publish+Share
Computer
AVCHD
with Presets = MP4 H.264 1920 x 1080p30 or PAL counterpart
and then customize the preset under the Advanced Button/Video Tab of that preset. In increase quality, you might look to increase
the Bitrate under Advanced Button/Video Tab settings - without compromising the file size.
Then you would upload that file to YouTube at the YouTube web site.
All of the above are factors that need looking into in order to determine the why for what you wrote
I have published a shortened advertisement video to YouTube- say 5 minutes-
and it is low quality
Often SD video upscaled to HD can present poorly. But, you are dealing with a HD workflow so that should not be introduced into the matter. The setup of the project and
the properties of the source video are important, but let us start with the above and rule in or out those considerations first.
Thank you. As always, any clarification needed, please do not hesitate to ask.
ATR

DVD upscaling?

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