King Kong SD DVD vs HD DVD comparisons
King Kong HD DVD 720p
King Kong SD DVD 480i upconverted to 720p
King Kong HD DVD 720p
King Kong SD DVD 480i upconverted to 720p
King Kong HD DVD 720p
King Kong SD DVD 480i upconverted to 720pHere you can see the visible differences between upconverted Standard Definition DVD and High Defintion DVD. The differences are much more apparent if you click on the images to enlarge. The XA2 is being used to play back the SD DVD as well as the HD DVD.
In summary, the HD DVD versions are visibly sharper, more detailed, have greater depth, and the colors are less muted compared to SD DVD. Viks said it best, "When we go out to the movies now, the picture looks soft."
Note: The differences are even more apparent in person vs the pictures. I took a few snaps of some facial close ups but they just didn't turn out right. For whatever reason(s), I've always struggled to take quality pictures with my Canon S400. I am not sure if it's the limitations of the camera, the auto settings or if I am doing something wrong. The camera is rested on a speaker stand so it's relatively steady but maybe not tripod steady. Maybe a camera expert can chime in? But from the shots above you can still get some idea of the differences in picture quality. Update 5/17: Per Mike's suggestion I changed the ISO to 50 and the results are much better! Thanks Mike. I re-took and re-uploaded the comparison shots above.
As great as HD DVD looks, I am pleasantly suprised by how good SD DVD looks on the player. The saying "What you don't know can't hurt you" probably applies here. If you are not exposed to the HD image, then you could probably be satisfied with the SD image. But once you get accustomed to the HD image, it really is hard to go back. My initial impression is that XA2 with the Silicon Optix Reon solution has less macroblocking than my Denon 2910 which has the Faroudja DCDi FLI-2310 solution. I'd need to go back and compare though as I could be guilty of placebo here.
My current video display setup:
- Mitsubishi HC3000 1280*768 DLP projector (uncalibrated)
- Da Lite 106" Cinema Contour High Contrast Cinema Vision
- Toshiba HD-XA2 1080p HD DVD player (output set to 720p)
- Monoprice 50 ft HDMI cable
posted by baconandeggs at 11:24 AM
4 Comments:
you're probably reaching the resolution limits of your camera. it's good to keep the camera on a speaker to prevent camera shake. make sure that you are taking the picture in the lowest ISO setting available to your camera. also use the camera's timer function to take the picture so that you pressing the button doesn't introduce any camera shake. that's about as much as you can do...or get a new camera! =P
btw, if these images are any indication about the differences in HD DVD, it's gonna be hard for me to not make some kind of upgrade...
ISO at 50 (lowest for S400) seemed to improve the image quality significantly. I also used the timer which helped stabilize the shot. So maybe I can hold off on that new DSLR..wouldn't want to be a "poser!"
ok, i take it back. your SD images must be out of focus. HD DVD can't possibly be THAT SHARP and SD DVD can't possibly have that much less detail. =P
looks like your HD DVD purchase is worth every penny.
yep, absolutely worth every penny. no buyers remorse here ;-)
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