My image keeps on having quality loss when it gets imported into iMovie!

I'm having a problem with iMovie. I'm stying to import an HD image for use in an intro. The image was made in Photoshop. It has a gradient in the background. When I drag it into iMovie, it looks weird. I have 2 links below. The top one is how it is supposed to look. The bottom one, is how it looks in iMovie. How can I fix this?
http://i342.photobucket.com/albums/o415/basstone97/2j3fkus.png
http://i342.photobucket.com/albums/o415/basstone97/Picture1-2.png
I'm not worried about the size, I know how to export it as HD, but the quality is REALLY bad, and I can't have that. Any help?
P.S. I'm planning on uploading it to youtube.
Thanks,
-Matt

you are working with some very special material.. concerning video making and compression:
your logo (nice artwork!) contains grey gradients..
grey is a difficult color, when you have to mix it out of R G B.. (=grey is not a 'bright black', but a color in video...)
and you have these gradients.. imagine to build a circle with 8pin LEGO-bricks.. that gets.. 'steppy'
I made a test:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4brblWLAS7c
shows the low-quality video.. indeed, 'steps'..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4brblWLAS7c&hd=1
shows the HQ-version..
imho, the HQ version is acceptable, keeping in mind that this is a huge video, streaming thru a thin wire.. ;)))
I dare to say, it doesn't get any better..

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Message was edited by: Old Toad

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