My DVDs look better on SDTV than my laptop?

A

agcohn

Well-known member
I've filmed a number of rugby games this semester, but when I burn them to DVD they look heinously bad when played back on my laptop, but they look very sharp when watched on a normal TV. Why is that? I used standard settings (no 24p or anything).
 
It is because your laptop has a higher resolution than your minidv footage that is 720x480. A NTSC tv has a resolution of 640x480 so it fits your minidv footage just right. The laptop screen blows up the original resolution of the footage to fit the resolution of the screen.
 
Wano540 said:
It is because your laptop has a higher resolution than your minidv footage that is 720x480. A NTSC tv has a resolution of 640x480 so it fits your minidv footage just right. The laptop screen blows up the original resolution of the footage to fit the resolution of the screen.
Click to expand...
Is there any way to get the footage to look good on both a computer and a TV? I'm looking at putting together a portfolio sooner or later, and I don't want my footage looking terrible if they play it back on their computer.
 
agcohn said:
Is there any way to get the footage to look good on both a computer and a TV? I'm looking at putting together a portfolio sooner or later, and I don't want my footage looking terrible if they play it back on their computer.
Click to expand...

No, not really. If it is on a DVD then it will be 640x480 and there is nothing you can do about it.
 
Part of it is that analog TVs are designed to optimize a wide range of video sources that might be less than perfect. LCD computer screens are less forgiving. However, your choice of DVD player on your laptop can be a big factor as well. I think Windows Media Player is horrible with DVD playback. My DVDs look better with player programs like WinDVD and PowerDVD.
-Dan
 
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