question about "down-conversion"
01-05-01, 03:43 PM
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My rear-projection TV doesn't do an anamorphic squeeze.. and I don't think it can be accessed through service mode (I read it somewhere just now). I heard that getting a DVD-player with good Down-conversion can help increase my picture quality. Does anyone know what "down-conversion" is? What's the difference between a player that's good at it and one that's bad? Any idea on which dvd-players are really good at down-converting?
Any help would be terrific. Thanks.
01-05-01, 04:14 PM
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Long Answer:
Any DVD movie that has been anamorphically (16:9) enhanced contains a high-resolution picture. If you have a 16:9 (widescreen) TV, you can unsqueeze this high-resolution image, which has been optimized for viewing on widescreen sets.
If you own a standard (4:3) TV, however, the player has the ability to add black bars to the top and bottom of this image, making it watchable on a 4:3 TV. Because of the black bars, the actual movie image needs to be smaller, so the DVD player will eliminate some of the horizontal lines to "make space" for the addition of the black bars. (By selecting in the DVD player's menu between 4:3 TV and 16:9 TV, you are telling the DVD player to downconvert or not. Once set, this function occurs without you ever noticing it. you can compare your player's ability somewhat by choosing 16:9 to see the original image and then 4:3 to see the downconverted image.)
IIRC, a typical downconversion removes every 4th line and displays the result. Different players perform different conversions, and therefore the results are sometimes better, sometimes worse. Manufacturers such as Sony take into account all of the lines and create an average, rather than arbitarily dropping entire lines, so that the image is slightly softer in appearance but produces fewer artifacts.
Because the difference is subtle, I wouldn't think you could go to the store and effectively compare results. Your best bet is to dig up some reviews to get information on the downconversion abilities of specific DVD players.
Short answer:
Buy a Sony; it has a good reputation for downconversion.
[This message has been edited by DigIt (edited January 05, 2001).]
Any DVD movie that has been anamorphically (16:9) enhanced contains a high-resolution picture. If you have a 16:9 (widescreen) TV, you can unsqueeze this high-resolution image, which has been optimized for viewing on widescreen sets.
If you own a standard (4:3) TV, however, the player has the ability to add black bars to the top and bottom of this image, making it watchable on a 4:3 TV. Because of the black bars, the actual movie image needs to be smaller, so the DVD player will eliminate some of the horizontal lines to "make space" for the addition of the black bars. (By selecting in the DVD player's menu between 4:3 TV and 16:9 TV, you are telling the DVD player to downconvert or not. Once set, this function occurs without you ever noticing it. you can compare your player's ability somewhat by choosing 16:9 to see the original image and then 4:3 to see the downconverted image.)
IIRC, a typical downconversion removes every 4th line and displays the result. Different players perform different conversions, and therefore the results are sometimes better, sometimes worse. Manufacturers such as Sony take into account all of the lines and create an average, rather than arbitarily dropping entire lines, so that the image is slightly softer in appearance but produces fewer artifacts.
Because the difference is subtle, I wouldn't think you could go to the store and effectively compare results. Your best bet is to dig up some reviews to get information on the downconversion abilities of specific DVD players.
Short answer:
Buy a Sony; it has a good reputation for downconversion.
[This message has been edited by DigIt (edited January 05, 2001).]
01-05-01, 04:23 PM
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thanks for the info.
too bad I have a Toshiba 2200
I kinda wish some of the less expensive Sony-dvd players would have the zoom-fxn. Maybe I'll wait until the newer players are out.. hopefully with lots of features...
too bad I have a Toshiba 2200
I kinda wish some of the less expensive Sony-dvd players would have the zoom-fxn. Maybe I'll wait until the newer players are out.. hopefully with lots of features...
