Will next-gen DVD players improve standard DVD picture quality?
2006/09/04 16:18:01
Do you know if the new HD DVD players will improve the picture quality of the existing DVD standard def movies?
-- Submitted by: Rod Winch, via e-mail
Answer by:
Asher Moses
New HD DVD players will only improve the picture quality of existing DVD
titles if they have an inbuilt upscaling processor, which takes the
standard 576p DVD signal and adds additional data to bring the image up
to either 720 or 1080 lines of resolution.
Beware that since the DVD
itself has been encoded at 576p, the upscaler has to literally guess
what data to add into the image in order to increase the resolution.
Depending on how good the upscaler is, this can result in better image
quality than if the DVD was played at its standard resolution, or much
worse image quality.
Currently, no home theatre-based HD DVD players are on the market, so
you'll have to wait and see which future models boast upscaling
capabilities.
Don't forget -- in order to actually see the extra detail in
high-definition content, you'll need to make sure your TV offers a HD
resolution (1920x1080 for full effect). Otherwise, the signal will just
be downconverted to the TV's native resolution.
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