How can I view HD on my new gear? Please help a novice

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Daza

10 posts

Wannabe Geek

#23351 26-Jun-2008 11:29

Hey there,
I have recently purchased a new telly and DVD harddrive recorder -see below in sig for models.

I really want to check out the HD capabilities. It is not full HD but is capable of 720 and the DVD player says it can upscale to 1080. I only have saturn at the mo - no freeview as yet. I have to say I am pretty happy with the pic at the mo through Saturn (thought it would be worse), but really want to se the difference of HD.

The DVD player has Divx capabilities which I have registered and set up in the hope that maybe I could download a free movie trailer in HD - couldn't have been more complicated - I found one, downloaded it and it turned out to be AVI, tried to convert it (4 program downloads later) and no further along!- what a mess!

Can someone point me in the right direction as I am a bit new to all this HD stuff. Can I rent an HD movie that will play on my kit? Or are they either SD or Blueray?

Thanks in advance for any feedback - Daza

Dingbatt

6756 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#140672 26-Jun-2008 12:11

Not sure if you are able to connect your Laptop to the tellie, but if you are, you can try the microsoft HD WMV site:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/musicandvideo/hdvideo/HDVideo.aspx

It has some HD clips that can be played using MediaPlayer.

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

B1GGLZ

1961 posts

Uber Geek

#140689 26-Jun-2008 13:10

Hi Daza

I recently purchased a Freeview HD from Dick Smith and put up a new UHF antenna. I use an HDMI cable (supplied in the box) between STB and my Panasonc 32".
The difference in picture quality alone was well worth the investment. A bonus was the lack of ghosting which is evident on some analogue channels.
On the downside though I do get some sound dropout and pixellation occasionally (rarely) in some weather conditions but I can probably fix that by relocating the antenna.
Overall it was well worth the expenditure.

Biggles

Daza

10 posts

Wannabe Geek

#140792 26-Jun-2008 23:14

Hey guys, thanks for your help. Downloaded some of the clips from that site and hooked up the laptop - looked pretty good. Found this link on another thread here which is quite cool for comparing - looked at this site while laptop was hooked up to plasma so it was quite cool seeing the difference of the same shot (and the potential of my plasma!)
Check it out http://www.cornbread.org/FOTRCompare/index.html

Hey do you need to buy a new UHF aerial for freeview? Can I ask what the box from Dick Smith cost? What is the resolution on freeview?

Also, what happens if a 1080p broadcast is played through a 720p screen?

Lastly what is the highest res you can get from a DVD? (that will play in my player)

Cheers again

rb85

115 posts

Master Geek

#140920 27-Jun-2008 15:44

Daza: Hey guys, thanks for your help. Downloaded some of the clips from that site and hooked up the laptop - looked pretty good. Found this link on another thread here which is quite cool for comparing - looked at this site while laptop was hooked up to plasma so it was quite cool seeing the difference of the same shot (and the potential of my plasma!)
Check it out http://www.cornbread.org/FOTRCompare/index.html

Hey do you need to buy a new UHF aerial for freeview? Can I ask what the box from Dick Smith cost? What is the resolution on freeview?

Also, what happens if a 1080p broadcast is played through a 720p screen?

Lastly what is the highest res you can get from a DVD? (that will play in my player)

Cheers again

If you already have a UHF and/or Sky Sat. you wont need to buy anything else. See here.

HD (720p/1080i/1080p) content will be displayed at maximum resolution depending on your hardware (HDTV, HD Player, HDMI Cables etc...), so 480p -> 720p -> 1080i -> 1080p.

DVD (I think) best quality is 16:9 and 704 pixels × 480 lines. Also known as SD or Standard Def.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/ is a great place to stream HD trailers.

B1GGLZ

1961 posts

Uber Geek

#140937 27-Jun-2008 16:33

If you can receive prime on UHF with your present antenna then it will work with Freeview HD.
Check DSE website for prices.
You need a TV that handles HD. My Panasonic 32 LX500A handles HD only on HDMI input so the Freeview HD STB is connected to the TV via the supplied HDMI cable. It carries picture and sound. The info panel on Freeview (when selected) will tell you on screen if the program you are watching is HD or SD. HD signals display in HD and SD signals in SD on the TV so HD on a 720p screen is not a problem. The HD signals record on DVD OK as SD. It's all automatic. Likewise widescreen programming shows in true widescreen and 4.3 show as 4.3 (black bands each side). It's pretty intelligent. Using HDMI input my TV will not allow changing of aspect ratio. Once I figured out the correct output aspect from the freeview box (several available options) I can now record all programs on the DVD in true widescreen format but only in SD. Using the DVD tuner for analogue I have to play around with the aspect ratio and lose a lot of the picture top and bottom. I believe most new DVD recorders and players are capable of upscaling to HD but you probably have to use HDMI to make it work. I think the SD TV transmissions get upscaled to HD by the STB. They certainly look good anyway. If only Prime was available on Freeview it would be great. I have to use Sky to get a good picture from Prime.