| Video Noise June 2007
Getting the Most from SD DVD with Hi-Def Video
Displays (Cheap HDMI Cables Too!)
If your DVD player can upsample to
720p, 1080i, or 1080p, and you’re using component-video cables instead of an HDMI or
DVI cable to connect the player to your high-definition display, you might be surprised to
know that you’re quite likely getting only 480p resolution. To discourage piracy, the
film and electronics industries have agreed that copy-protected DVDs will not be played at
high resolution via component-video connections. Although all DVD, HD DVD, and
Blu-ray players are supposed to follow this rule, a few companies have chosen to ignore
it. Otherwise, if you want your player to upsample to 720p, 1080i, or 1080p, you need to
use an HDMI cable.
Although seldom labeled as such, almost all
standard-definition DVDs are copy-protected, especially those released in the last five
years. Some do have logos on the back of the box that indicate which copy-protection
scheme is used. There are at least three such schemes: Macrovision; the MPAA scheme; and
Sony’s own proprietary scheme. The MPAA logo is fairly common on DVDs: two
overlapping discs (i.e., an original and its copy), with a circle around them and a
slash across the discs. The logo is tiny and easy to miss. I’ve never seen a
Macrovision logo on a DVD box, or the Sony logo, if there is one for their copy-protection
scheme.
The MPAA scheme was broken almost before the first DVDs
encoded with it appeared. Any determined hacker can find software that will defeat the
scheme, yet it remains the most commonly used -- which makes it clear that the film
industry isn’t really serious about protecting their product from pirates. DVDs that
say "will not play on computer drives" are also copy-protected, but many DVDs
protected by other schemes will play fine in computer drives.
Most people using the component-video connections on newer,
HDMI-equipped DVD players are doing so because HDMI cables are so expensive. At most
electronics retailers, HDMI cables start at $50 and go way past $135 -- a lot of money
just to be able to upsample DVDs to hi-def resolutions. But what if you could buy an HDMI
cable for $17.50 that has 24-gauge conductors, outer netting, and gold-plated contact
surfaces? It’s a little stiff and might not be a good match for a lightweight DVD
player, but if those aren’t deal-breakers, www.monoprice.com can take care of you. And if even $17.50 sounds like
too much, www.monoprice.com has you
covered there too. For less than $6, they’ll sell you an HDMI cable with 28-gauge
conductors, gold-plated connectors, and no netting. This cable’s thinner conductors
make it much more flexible than the $17.50 model, but the smaller conductors mean that
12’ might be the maximum length you should ever use.
Take the sting out of HDMI with a reasonably priced HDMI
cable and you’ll finally be able to see just how good your player is at upsampling.
Don’t forget, there are about six pixels in a hi-def image for every pixel in an SD
DVD. If you have a big hi-def screen that makes your Blu-ray or HD DVD discs look
fabulous, SD DVDs will have big, blobby pixels in comparison. It’s like looking at a
photo in a magazine or newspaper through a powerful magnifying glass: you see detail you
really don’t want to see.
Some SD DVDs, though, look spectacular when upsampled to
hi-def. The ones I’ve seen that look fabulous on 1080p displays are all
computer-generated animation titles: Cars, Finding Nemo, Shrek 2, Robots,
etc. Most other SD DVDs, including cell animation, look grainy and soft on big hi-def
screens (60" and larger). The only way to fix that is with a sophisticated video
processor, which start at around $3000.
But even then, the images won’t be as good as from a
true hi-def source; the pixels are just too big to reveal that much detail. To make SD
DVDs look better on a hi-def display, move farther away from the screen than you sit for
hi-def programming. You’ll be surprised how much this will help mask the larger DVD
pixels and the missing detail.
...Doug Blackburn
db@hometheatersound.com |
