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Blu-ray vs. HD DVD Round Two

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the i-coulda-been-a-contender dept.

An anonymous reader writes "A second set of four movies are now available on both high-def disc formats, allowing for another set of head-to-head comparisons — and unlike last month's first round comparisons, Blu-ray fared much better this time. In fact, in comparing Warner's four latest Blu-ray disc releases ('Firewall,' 'Lethal Weapon,' 'Blazing Saddles' and 'Full Metal Jacket') to their HD DVD predecessors, High-Def Digest found three of the four titles to be more or less at picture quality parity. The key difference between these titles and Warner's Blu-ray launch titles last month? On all three of the titles receiving high marks, Warner switched from using the MPEG-2 compression codec to VC-1, which the studio has been using from the start on its counterpart HD DVD releases."

2 of 218 comments (clear)

  1. Picture quality by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Picture quality is a function of the codec used. Format: irrelevant.

  2. Re:I'm not buying either by Phreakiture · · Score: 5, Informative

    But yeah, they should clarify resolution with the same numbers used in computer monitor displays, such as 1280x960. 480p, EDTV, 540p, etcetera does not tell me much and isn't intuitive. But anyone can see 1280x960 is better than 640x480 which is better than 320x240.

    480i = 640x480, 704x480, or, in the case of DVD, 720x480, interlaced

    480p = 640x480, 704x480, or, in the case of DVD, 720x480, progressive.

    540p = 960x540, progressive (1/4 of 1080p)

    720p = 1280x720, progressive.

    1080i = 1920x1080, interlaced.

    1080p = 1920x1080, progressive.

    1080p at 60 frames/sec is outside of the ATSC spec, but I think the HDDVD and BD formats support it.... don't quote me. 540p is also outside of the ATSC spec.

    Within the ATSC spec, all of the interlaced modes are 30 frames/sec. The progressive modes (except 1080p) can be 24, 30 or 60 frames/sec. 1080p can be 24 or 30 frames/sec.

    The thing to note is that except for the 480 modes, the pixels are square. For this reason, you can use the Y value (540, 720, 1080) and multiply it by 16/9 (the aspect ratio of the screen) to get the X value.

    Now, my challenge to you: Which is higher resolution, 1920x1080 or 1600x1200? You may not use a calculator.

    By comparison, which is higher resolution, 1080p or 720p? You won't need a calculator.

    --
    www.wavefront-av.com