DV playback quality DVI out to TV vs. DVD to TV

I've exported from Final Cut Express, using Quictime Movie, unchecking the make self contained box a 1:15 min. movie.
As I've played back that movie from quicktime 7 Pro and Quicktime X, no surprise, the DV movie does not look so good on my MB Pro screen, or on my attached monitor. But, when I connect DVI out to HDMI in on a vizio HDTV the quality is only so so. I have not deinterlaced in any steps in my process.
I then went ahead and burned the movie with iDVD. The DVD playing to the same TV from the connected DVD player looks terrific.
What am I missing to have best quality Quicktime movie file for playback on a TV from a connected media server?
Quicktime Movie specs:
CODEC: DV
File Format Mpeg 4
Stream Bit Rate 29.6Mbps
NTSC, 720 x 480 29.97 fps
A Ratio 4:3
Interlaced
Colorimetry 4:1:1
Thanks.

This actually makes since to me. If you're trying to play a movie that is 480 wide on a 1080 screen then you are blowing it up over 2x so the quality will suffer greatly. The reason it looks better from a DVD is most DVD players uprez, or upsample the video playback. SD directly from your computer to an HDTV likely won't look as good. You might try playing it through a device like a cable box or sat tuner that allows uprez.
However, here's the positive side, you can play back HD 1080 movies directly through your HDMI cable without the need for a Blueray player and get stunning quality HD. In short, use a DVD player for SD movies, and the DVI>HDMI cable for HD stuff.

Similar Messages

Playback quality poor when burning files to DVD

I am burning quicktime files to a DVD. (I want to keep them as quicktime files so the recipients of the DVD's can manipulate the files if needed.)
After burning the file (2.81 GB) to a DVD-R (4.7 GB capacity) The playback of the burned DVD file is odd. It seems to have all the information (video and audio) But it will freeze on the first video frame while the audio keeps going. Not sure why this is happening.
Does anyone have any ideas of how to prevent this? OR, possibly a different file format to use? I don't want the files in a an iDVD menu because then you can't extract the files and manipulate them with ease.
If anyone can help... THANK YOU SO MUCH IN ADVANCE

I'm thinking you burned the dvd as a data dvd.
Your mac can't keep up with a video that is burned as a data dvd. You need to copy the DVD content to your hard drive to be able to play the video with no problems.

DVI out to component in (DVCPro HD)

Repost... Sorry, accidently posted in FCE, would like to ask again here.
Other than buying the Matrox MXO, I'm stumped.
I need to capture a clients PowerPoint into a FCP HD timeline so that they can see all their transitions, then I'll use Compressor to create an HD file which will play on their digital signage box. (plasma HD screen)
I already have a successful workflow with evey aspect EXCEPT getting PP in a HD sequence. PowerPoint is on a MacBook Pro (DVI out) to a quad G5 with a BlackMagic HD extreme card that accepts component in. I've tried a scan converter that has component out, and a simple DVI to component cable. BlackMagic card sees nothing in HD.
Matrox MXO says it'll do DVI to component (Y, Pb, Pr) all day long for a grand.
I would really like to explore my options at NAB this year, but the client won't wait that long.
And yes, the signage box will play PowerPoint presentations (.ppt files) that look great right now. However, when playing a PP presentation you can not overlay an instant messanging system crawl which is a must for them. This is why the PP must play as an MPEG2 HD file.
Any help is most welcome!
--Bob

Understanding the client wants their own transitions, so there would be a bunch more work. But if you do go this way I would suggest putting a "proxy" clip of the entire show (point a camera at the original PowerPoint playback) on V1, then cover that with your clips and transitions on V2. Should make the timing a lot easier.
But it does seem ridiculous that you should have to do that at all. Maybe a post house can help with a quick translation.

How achieve highest playback quality from shared iMovie HDV Project?

I have a Sony HDR-HC9 1080i HDV tape camcorder and I am able to play back HD video to either a Mac computer or to a Panasonic Full HD 1080p TV. Playback quality of unedited HD holiday video footage to TV using HDMI cable and to the computer via Firewire is superb. This excellent playback quality is also preserved in an edited iMovie Project in HDV format 57 minutes long and 48 GB in size which I made from the original 90 minutes holiday video footage.
The problems arose in trying to preserve this high quality when sharing the iMovie Project. Before I bought this HDV camcorder I had a Sony DV tape camcorder and I always used to make an archive tape from an edited DV Project by exporting the iMovie Project back to tape. However, when attempting to do the same with this latest HDV 48 GB Project the computer message informed me that it would take about 43 hours to do this. So that is out of the question!
Next I decided to make a Quicktime movie from the iMovie HDV Project using Full Quality compression via Apple Intermediate Codec (1440 x 1080). This took 12 hours to do! Computer viewing of the resultant 44 GB movie gave excellent image sharpness in still views, but for views of moving objects and also panned footage from the camera, closer viewing showed fine comb-outlining on most objects, but especially on narrow vertical objects. Is this what some of you call "jaggies" and is it an interlacing artifact? Whatever it is it was NOT in the iMovie Project but was introduced by the compression process Project->>Movie. Still worse was the jerky playback of the movie. The "IMovie Inspector" info confirmed that the movie had been made during the compression process at 25 frames per second whereas playback was in the range of only 3 to 10 fps! Previously made shorter Quicktime HD movies have not shown this jerky playback and played at 25 fps. Can anyone explain why this jerky playback occurred with the the longer 44GB movie?
Finally I made a DVD by dragging the uncompressed iMovie HD Project icon directly onto a DVD theme in iDVD and burning. The result was OK on both the computer and on TV but not great. Close viewing on the computer showed an effect which looked like a thin film of water rippling horizontally. This effect also showed in TV viewing of the DVD. Interestingly, this effect was almost eliminated when "Deinterlace" was UNCHECKED in the iDVD player viewing options.
My own conclusion is that the highest quality for archiving and playback is achieved by storing the large edited iMovie HDV PROJECT on an external hard drive and playing it back at full screen size on the Mac computer. In this way the iMovie editing functions such as the Timeline are hidden from view and cause no distraction when watching the superb HDV quality.
IS THERE A BETTER WAY?
Please comment and advise.
Vee Kay

I have a Sony HDR-HC9 1080i HDV tape camcorder and I am able to play back HD video to either a Mac computer or to a Panasonic Full HD 1080p TV. Playback quality of unedited HD holiday video footage to TV using HDMI cable and to the computer via Firewire is superb. This excellent playback quality is also preserved in an edited iMovie Project in HDV format 57 minutes long and 48 GB in size which I made from the original 90 minutes holiday video footage.
The problems arose in trying to preserve this high quality when sharing the iMovie Project. Before I bought this HDV camcorder I had a Sony DV tape camcorder and I always used to make an archive tape from an edited DV Project by exporting the iMovie Project back to tape. However, when attempting to do the same with this latest HDV 48 GB Project the computer message informed me that it would take about 43 hours to do this. So that is out of the question!
Next I decided to make a Quicktime movie from the iMovie HDV Project using Full Quality compression via Apple Intermediate Codec (1440 x 1080). This took 12 hours to do! Computer viewing of the resultant 44 GB movie gave excellent image sharpness in still views, but for views of moving objects and also panned footage from the camera, closer viewing showed fine comb-outlining on most objects, but especially on narrow vertical objects. Is this what some of you call "jaggies" and is it an interlacing artifact? Whatever it is it was NOT in the iMovie Project but was introduced by the compression process Project->>Movie. Still worse was the jerky playback of the movie. The "IMovie Inspector" info confirmed that the movie had been made during the compression process at 25 frames per second whereas playback was in the range of only 3 to 10 fps! Previously made shorter Quicktime HD movies have not shown this jerky playback and played at 25 fps. Can anyone explain why this jerky playback occurred with the the longer 44GB movie?
Finally I made a DVD by dragging the uncompressed iMovie HD Project icon directly onto a DVD theme in iDVD and burning. The result was OK on both the computer and on TV but not great. Close viewing on the computer showed an effect which looked like a thin film of water rippling horizontally. This effect also showed in TV viewing of the DVD. Interestingly, this effect was almost eliminated when "Deinterlace" was UNCHECKED in the iDVD player viewing options.
My own conclusion is that the highest quality for archiving and playback is achieved by storing the large edited iMovie HDV PROJECT on an external hard drive and playing it back at full screen size on the Mac computer. In this way the iMovie editing functions such as the Timeline are hidden from view and cause no distraction when watching the superb HDV quality.
IS THERE A BETTER WAY?
Please comment and advise.
Vee Kay

Problems with playback quality of animated DVD on television

I'm sending a ~20 minute (uncompressed, millions of colors) animation in QuickTime out of Final Cut Express HD in a format of HD-1080i and trying to get a very high resolution DVD for television (HD TV). Before taking the QuickTime video to any DVD writing software the aspect ratio (16:9) is correct and resolution is immaculate.
However, all my efforts to get a super-high resolution DVD of this animation, whether I go through iMovie or only to iDVD have gotten me a lot of written and wasted DVDs in my tests. The resolution is very poor.
QUESTION:
How do I get a very complex animation that requires very intense color and clarity to a DVD for playback on a HD TV using my software? In my arsenal is Final Cut Express-HD vers. 3, iLIfe '06 incl. iMovie and iDVD, Toast (if needed).
Please advise.

HHHMMM….. where to start. First, you can’t possibly
hold yourself to commercial quality unless you have a
commercial budget.
I don't expect commercial quality - just to be able to display the millions of colors and the extreme clarity on any TV and even better still on a HDTV. So far I only can get the quality I seek on a computer display. All my efforts to find a solution for television playback have resulted in a fuzzy and jerky animated feature. Here again I'm not looking for commercial quality - just clear, crisp and smooth.
Hollywood spends millions on
feature films. Compression hardware alone can run
several thousands if not hundreds of thousands of
dollars. Compared to iDVD included in a $79 software
suite? However, even the Hollywood produced DVDs must
rely on the DVD specification and as such, 1080i is
currently lost on them. So your answer to “isn’t iDVD
supposed to write anything I give it” is that if iDVD
takes your QT file (Which BTW, should be in the DV
format) it WILL compress it to a DVD MPEG 2 compliant
file. This means 720x480.
But I don't want any compression other than the final step MPEG2. And after reading this reply today - THANK YOU - THANK YOU - I at least understand now that I can't even use iDVD because it doesn't offer MPEG2 as a compressor.
I have located a mpeg2 encoder program that is shareware and will try to find a formule to use after iMovie HD additions of themes and chapters.
So the first step to take
is to recognize the limitations of equipment and
understand the standards. So now we should examine
the workflow to see if there is anything that can be
done. Other than knowing what Flash is, I don’t know
much about it. Can you select a frame size for doing
your animations? If so, guess what, use the 720x480
frame size. This is what iDVD is going to make it
(again, FCP may offer more options to you but that
isn’t listed in your arsenal).
Final Cut Pro isn't needed for what I'm doing, is it? I have already gotten exquisite playback quality for computers using FCE HD and I'm now trying to get the playback quality on a TV as good as I can get it.
Next, from within FCE,
do not change the settings when exporting via QT. You
want to export it as it is in FCE, you don’t want to
change it. iDVD is expecting a DV file. Any other
file and quality will likely take a hit. Finally, why
DVDs? Flash is typically web based. And computer
monitors have a much higher resolution than a TV.
Flash is generally web based but it can be used to produce a single QuickTime movie if the elements are primarily drawings as my animated feature is. Then on to Final Cut Express all of my imported clips are in QuickTime and thus are already compresssed by QuickTime's excellent compressor. I found that I do not get a good result if I allow any further compression - at least not on computer displays - as long as I export with QT conversion, compression none, millions of colors and specify the size I want it to maintain.
You
could output your Files and serve them up via a data
DVD to be played on a computer. Just curious.
I am already getting excellent playback quality on computers but now I need playback quality on any television because it is not intended only for computers.
Mike
Thanks Mike. You've already been a help in getting me away from iDVD for this project. iMovie may be OK still because its "HD". Got any more suggestions for my situation?

IPad 2 Video playback Quality Issue (Low Contrast and grayish black)

Does anyone notice that the video playback quality is really bad on the iPad 2? If you try to play any video (youtube, apple trailer, your own converted video) on the iPad 2, any black images will turn grayish... Just put your iPhone, iPod touch, or even the older iPad next to it, then you will notice a BIG difference. The color is similar to what happened when you set the gamma incorrectly on a display.
Also, you will notice this more if you change the orientation of the device, the contrast will be corrected for a fraction of a second.
I've tried this on other iPad 2 and they all share the same problem. I tried to talk to the Apple Genius Bar and they refused to give me a proper answer on this, instead simply claiming that is just the way it is... I wanted to refund this but I've passed the 14 days rule and also I got it from a authorized retailer and so Apple just won't take it back.
I believe it can be fixed by software... Any idea? or I shall throw it away T_T

I'm on the phone with apple support right now. I work at a post production house, and we/our clients keep having this issue - everything looks great on screen and on the ipad 1, and theres a huge gamma shift on the ipad 2. they need to fix this ASAP. like Jls21 already said, a lot of us use ipads for work purposes - unacceptable!
this thread ( https://discussions.apple.com/message/15100980#15100980 ) seems to blame the h.264 codec/compression settings…? does anyone know of another codec that prevents this gamma shift on the ipad 2?
this is from the tech specs page:
Video formats supported: H.264 video up to 720p, 30 frames per second, Main Profile level 3.1 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps per channel, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) up to 35 Mbps, 1280 by 720 pixels, 30 frames per second, audio in ulaw, PCM stereo audio in .avi file format
is there anything that jumps out to anyone regarding workarounds for this issue?
we've used both Compressor and MPEG Streamclip - there's no quality difference between them, in case anyone is trying that.
okay so, i was transferred to a senior technical rep and he looked it up - apparently apple is getting a bunch of complaints about this issue and they've submitted it to their developers. the more people that call and complain, the higher up on the priority list it goes to be fixed in a software update. there is no workaround known, and it's a standard issue across all ipad 2's.

Playback Quality Even Lower in FCP X?

For better or worse, I am currently using my MacBook Air 1.86GHz 2GB RAM on OSX 10.6.8 with Final Cut Pro X. I am working on a 40-45 minute film project that involves large quantities of AVCHD footage from my Canon HF 10 and I am utilizing a new 1TB Western Digital external hard drive (the model that is powered via the USB without a wall AC adapter).
Due to my set-up, playback in FCP X is choppy and that makes it difficult to work in FCP.
My two part question is this:
First, is there a way to lower my playback quality beyond just the two settings in the FCP X preferences for "Better Performance" and "High Quality"? Would this even help given the need for my files to travel via USB into FCP?
Second, is the problem unrelated to my settings for playback quality - would acquiring a USB external HDD with an AC adapter allow for better speeds and therefore smoother playback in FCP X?
What it all dials down to is: Is it the CPU and RAM on my MacBook Air that is causing choppy playback or is it the USB transfer and how can I improve playback?
I'd rather not have to export a .mov file every time I want to check whether my cuts are being made properly - playback in FCPX is dropping frames like there's no tomorrow.
Thanks in advance for the help!
-Jack

Hi Jack,
USB drives are definitely a bottleneck, whether bus powered or plugged into the wall. Editing AVCHD (e.g., h264) footage takes a lot of horsepower as well.
I'd advise you to transcode your footage to Prores (you can do this by selecting 'optimize media' either during import or afterwards in the event browser by choosing "Transcode media"). However, you might end up even having to use proxy media since the USB throughput still might not be enough. Proxy media is a lower resolution version using the prores proxy codec.
Try these out with just one or two short clips and see if that helps performance.
With regards to your second question, if you are using a 3.5" drive, I'd advise using AC power and not the bus. This isn't for performance reasons, it's more for hard drive safety reasons. A 2.5" drive usually doesn't need as much power, and is generally safe to be bus-powered (as long as you aren't using any other bus powered USB devices at the same time).
EDIT -- if at all possible, upgrade your RAM. I don't know if the Airs allow that though. That would definitely make a difference.

MacBook Pro DVI-Out and FrontRow Color Anomalies

ok, so i've got one of the first generation MacBook Pros 2.0GHz processor, 2GB RAM, etc. i want to use the DVI-out to connect to my Sharp Notevision projector, which has a DVI-input. i have a standard DVI cable and when i connect, everything is fine. i can display at the projector's 1280x1024 native resolution and finder and other application windows look just fine, color-wise.
however, when i jump into FrontRow (or play any Quicktime movie or use iTunes to play movies), the color shifts and looks horrible. the glow around the icons in FrontRow are oddly red, and other nuetral colors look greenish or otherwise. its almost like you've got a component cable connected with two of the channels swapped.
the same projector works fine and displays accurate color with my AppleTV and if i connect the laptop to one of my Cinema Displays, the colors for movies are all accurate. i thought maybe the DVI cable was bad, and bought a replacement and the new cable produces the same off-color results.
any help or guidance here would be greatly appreciated!
thanks,
scott

Another update, I did some research and it seems that ATI are cagily admitting to the fact that there might be a problem with the X-series;
http://support.ati.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=894&task=knowledge&questio nID=26586
http://support.ati.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=894&task=knowledge&questio nID=21266
http://support.ati.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=894&task=knowledge&questio nID=25682
You'll notice that ATI tell you to contact the manufacturer of your computer if the graphics are integrated into the motherboard. Like with Apple. Much joy to be had there.
I phoned their technical support and got talking with a specialist who was mystified and suggested 'turning off the airport'.
Also, it seems that Apple rather significantly "underclocked" the GPUs in their macbook pros;
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/04/19/applemacbook_pro_gpuspeed/
http://www.maconintel.com/news.php?article=178
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=306024
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=194647
Could be running the GPUs are running on a lower voltage and maybe they're not working right, or the signal isn't stable enough to pick up an EDID? It seems to be quite a mystery. Perhaps the osx86 community will have some tricks up their sleaves for twisting the x1600's arm. Still doesn't explain why the monitor worked that one time.
This probably isn't an issue for anyone who doesn't want to plug their laptop into an external display, but I suspect it's a widespread problem just waiting to rear its ugly head, especially as HDTVs become more ubiquitous.
Anyone else struggling with external display devices, or with solutions, I'd appreciate your input.

T400 DVI Out through Mini Dock

The T400 has no DVI output plug. However with my old A31p which likewise has no DVI-out, I can get DVI from it through its docking station. Is it the same for the T400? When docked to the ThinkPad Advanced Mini Dock, will I be able to get DVI from it?

Unfortunately, according to the Specifications posted at
http://shop.lenovo.com/ISS_Static/merchandising/US/PDFs/t400_and_t500_datasheet.pdf
the T500 has DisplayPort but the T400 does not. So no digital video output from the T400 unless through docking station.
I would strongly prefer the brighter WXGA+ LED-backlit screen which is only available on the T400 (T500 only has WXGA), AND the DisplayPort that is only available on the T500.
It seems you can't get both the higer resolution LED and the digital output on the same Txxx series notebook.

MBP freeze DVI out to a monitor

When I first got my 13inch 2010 MacBook Pro about two months ago, I connected it with an external monitor via MiniDisplayport to DVI cable. And since then I had experienced random freeze, the screen would suddenly turn to light green or some other color, keyboard and everything else stopped working, and I had no choice but to reboot. However in the last 10 days I removed the connection to the external monitor and so far I have not experienced any problem. I think I have isolated the freeze issue. Does anyone know what's going on here?? Is it possible for me to reestablish the connection without experiencing any crash in the future? thx

I have the same problem. When no external monitor/TV is used, no issues ever. When using HDMI-DVI and using HDMI as sound output, freezes every 15-45 mins. When using just video, no audio, freezes every 30-90 mins.
When I called apple support, they said no known issues. I ran the low level Apple hardware diagnostics (ASD 3S138) OS and EFI, and my mac passed every single test. (DVI port is not listed on the diagnostic)
Everything is up to date, and my MBP is was purchased in August (3 months old).
My buddy has a MBP 13" from a year ago, before they added the capability to output sound through DVI-HDMI, and he has never had an issue.
This seems to be a hardware issue, and only seems to be happening on the 13" MBP with the new DVI out that allows sound that was released mid 2010.

CK-200 poor music playback quality

Hi, I've just installed the car kit CK-200 (ISO cable version) into my car and I'm very disappointed by the music playback quality.
I have Nokia C7 with the latest firmware (14.002) and I have also updated the car kit firmware into 3.0.
There's no problem with the phone call quality - I would say it is comparable to the other car kits (for example to CK-7W I've had before), but if I want to use it for playing music, it still plays it in "phone call-like" quality. I have tried different players, but no success - still the same low quality.
If I turn the FM transmitter on and tune up the car radio to the transmitters' frequency, I get much better quality then via this car kit (although sometimes it's noisy from other broadcasting radios).
In the product description of this CK-200 they highlight very good sound quality thanks to some DSP technology - I hope there's more than this.
Do you have any idea what might be the problem here?

Hi
The CK-200 is a mono output car kit that is only designed for calls, not music.
If a handset is playing music via the mono Bluetooth channel, this is a fluke, and not part of the design of the handset.
The CK-100, 300, 600 are all stereo car kits with music capability.
The DSP settings on the CK-200 manage the voice vs background noise in the car so the driver can be heard more clearly by the other caller.

Keep windows running when macbook closed using dvi-out?

Is there a way I can keep windows running when I close the lid on my macbook when using dvi out?
at the moment it goes to sleep and logs me out and the dvi out looses connection and goes dark.

in jad file add 2 more keys:
Background - True
FlipInsensitive - True
regards
piter

MSAI FX 5600 VTDR DVI out & LCD monitor problem

I'm having problems with the card if I connect my TFT monitor using the DVI out on the graphic card. The problem usually occurs when resuming from standby mode or durring the initial startup of the system.All over the screen i see moving golden dots . This stops when I change resolution. If i connect the monitor using the VGA out everything is fine. I've tried the monitor on different card (gigabyte Ati Radeon 8500 Dvi out) and everything was OK. I've checked the cables and tried different driver.
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My system:
AMD Athlon Xp 1800+
768 Samsung DDR 333
Gigabyte VRXP
Msi FX 5600 VTDR 128
320W power supply
CTX 730G LCD Monitor

Try with the latest NVIDIA ForceWare drivers: http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us
Uninstall old drivers > Reboot to safe mode > Use Guru3D Driver Sweeper > reboot into normal mode install new drivers > reboot.

Macbook DVI out?

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I too use a Dell 20" LCD as a monitor for my MB. I have used both the DVI and VGA adapters and the picture is a bit clearer with DVI, but probably not enough to notice if I wasn't looking for it.

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I have a 15" macbook pro (2nd gen i believe, it has the full aluminum casing and touchpad supports gestures). I was wondering if the DVI Out supports up to 1920x1080 resolution (without any scaling, ect.)? I was looking to buy a 1920x1080 native LCD monitor and want to make sure the output can handle that.
Thanks!

My old MBP 17" from 2006 output via DVI to 1920x1200 - specifically a DELL 2408WFP - without incident or difficulty. Looks beautiful too. Much less eyestrain when using at a desk.

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