PJCNET

1080P DVD Video Players are NOT Normally HD!

Many people are being mis-sold DVD players in the UK believing that they are able to watch HD (High Definition) movies in high definition, but unfortunately this ISN’T usually the case. Many of these people will be watching DVDs and unless they’ve actually experienced true HD in the past, most people won’t know any different and will continue to live with this lie.

The DVD Players in question often have HD and/or 1080p written on the box in big bold letters. The sales person at your store will sometimes even mislead you that the DVD player has HD, High Definition or 1080p. So how do they get away with it when the product isn’t HD at all?

In fact most of the DVD players in question have HD upscaling or 1080p upscaling, which ISN’T true high definition at all and this isn’t always understood or made clear by sales personnel. Unfortunately many of these DVD players have “High Definition” and/or “1080p” displayed on the box in large bold while “upscaling” is displayed much smaller which is in my opinion purposely trying to mislead the customer which is bordering on a scam. In fact all HD upscaling does is convert your low definition standard DVD output to a high definition output by basically enlarging / blowing up the picture. It’s therefore most certainly NOT a true high definition video and doesn’t look as good either even though it does connect through an HDMI cable.

Please don’t confuse standard DVD’s with HD DVDs. HD DVD’s are truly high definition DVD’s as they do output in true high definition, mainly 1080p. The problem is HD DVDs DON’T work in most DVD players today even if they have HD or 1080p upscaling. In fact the HD DVD format is completely dying out, most films aren’t released in this format now and it’s quite difficult to purchase titles in this format in the average high street shop in the UK. It’s therefore in my opinion NOT worth searching and paying a considerable amount more for one of the few DVD players that really do play HD DVDs in true high definition. Instead I recommend investing in a Blu-Ray player (please see below for more details).

Blu-Ray Disks:
The New Standard in True High Definition Video

If you want to experience true high definition video and movies at home, then one really needs to purchase an HD Blu-Ray player. This format is taking off as the new standard for true HD movies, new titles are released in this format and they’re already readily available in most high street shops in the UK Etc. Newer Blu-ray players are backward compatible meaning they will also play standard definition DVDs using HD upscaling which is explained earlier in this article. Blu-ray players are still a lot more expensive than DVD players although the price has and still is coming down. You can already purchase an entry level Blu-Ray player in the UK as cheap as around £100 on-line at the time of writing which is well within most people’s budgets if they really want one, put please remember that it’s pointless having an true HD player without a suitable HD display / TV to take advantage of the increased resolution, please see the section titled “Choosing a Suitable HD display / TV” below for more details.

The Blu-ray disk format is far superior to the much older DVD format as it can store a lot more data, allowing much more space to achieve much higher quality resolutions. For this reason Blu-ray is also likely to eventually to take over as the preferred choice for PC optical disks over DVDs. If you compare the DVD and Blu-Ray disk formats, a single layered DVD can hold around 4.7GB of data when a Blu-ray disk can hold a massive 25GB. There are dual layered DVD’s that hold around 8.5Gb of data, but there’s also dual layered Blu-ray disks available that hold a massive 50GB. What’s more is the amount of layers is set to increase to quad layered Blu-ray disks holding 100GB of data and eventually even 16 layered Blu-ray disks that have already been demonstrated by Pioneer at the time of writing which promises to hold an unbelievable 400GB of data. In fact we could see even more layers available as time goes on, so it’s likely the Blu-ray disk will continue to remain popular in the foreseeable future.

Choosing a Suitable HD display / TV

The Difference Between HD Compatible, HD Ready and True HD Displays / TVs (UK):

As I’ve already mentioned earlier in this article, there’s little point in having a true HD Blu-ray player if you haven’t got a suitable high definition display to output it to. If you want to experience full HD 1080p then you need a full HD 1080p display, NOT just an HD Ready display and certainly NOT just an HD compatible display or you will be losing quality.

HD Compatible ONLY means that the display will allow a true HD input via an HDMI cable and it DOESN’T mean your display will really display a true HD video in high definition. Instead the HD input will be reduced to the true resolution of your display losing the added quality that makes it high definition in the first place. These displays are usually cheaper than HD Ready and much cheaper than True HD displays.

HD Ready displays are also NOT true high definition although again they will again allow you to input a true HD input via an HDMI cable. HD Ready displays are however better than just HD compatible displays, but not as good as True HD displays. HD Ready is usually in 720i, 720p, 768i or 768p (please see the section directly below for more details), but the resolution can vary. It’s still much crisper than low definition and 720p is currently good enough for watching Sky HD television (please see the “Sky+ HD TV” section below for details why). Sometimes HD Ready TVs also have the 1080p symbol in advertisements like “HD Ready 1080p” and in my opinion this is again trying to deceive the customer as it’s NOT true 1080p. These display are usually cheaper than True HD displays, but more expensive than just HD compatible displays.

True HD displays (also known as true 1080i / 1080p) allow you to input a true HD input via an HDMI cable and will display it in full resolution without any loss to your picture quality although 1080i isn’t as good as 1080p (please see the section directly below for more details). True HD, mainly 1080p is the best choice for watching high definition movies although also the most expensive.

720i, 720p, 768i, 768p, 1080i or 1080p?

There are various standards for HD ready and True HD definition TVs displays Etc. They are mainly 720i, 720p, 768i, 768p (HD Ready) and 1080i and 1080p (True HD). Personally I would stay away from 720i, 768i and 1080i where possible as “i” stands for interlaced. Interlaced updates the display twice in every frame updating odd and then even lines, the display can appear to shimmer or flicker when watching closely which could noticeably reduce the quality of your video. “p” however stands for progressive and updates the entire screen for each and every frame sequentially in one pass ensuring there’s no flicker. “720″, “768″ and “1080″ stand for the number of horizontal lines displayed down your display making up the picture, having 1080 lines give a noticeably clearer and crisper picture. In fact 720i or 720p gives a resolution of 1280×720 and 768i or 768p gives a resolution of 1366×768 while 1080i or 1080p gives much higher resolution of 1920×1080, so with 1080 lines you also get more vertical lines considerably increasing the resolution. Therefore 1080p is certainly the preferred choice for watching true high definition movies at the time of writing as there will be no flicker or loss of resolution. Surprisingly Sky TV still aren’t using the best 1080p for their HD broadcasts, please see the section below for more details.

Sky+ HD TV ISN’T Broadcast in 1080p, Why?
(Sky TV is available to residents in the UK)

Although Blu-Ray disks are available in 1080p format, unfortunately at the time of writing Sky TV in the UK only broadcasts HD television in a choice of 720p or 1080i format, NOT 1080p format which is certainly the best. Because 1080i creates a somewhat flickery output for many, most people with large HD screens choose to watch in 720p instead. It’s a shame if you’ve got a true HD 1080p television as although you can usually still watch in reasonable 720p which is still better than standard definition, you won’t be getting the most out of your high definition television watching Sky. Because of this many Sky+ HD subscribers with 1080p TVs will be bitterly disappointed and often won’t realise until after their purchase. Sky do disclose this drawback although you do need to read the in depth information provided. Sadly at the time of writing this situation is unlikely to change soon as Sky would have to make considerable changes to implement 1080p. Virgin cable TV takes most of programmes from Sky TV and is therefore subject to the same constraint. Incidentally, changing the subject slightly, Sky+ HD also broadcasts in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound when available, not 7.1.

Legal Disclaimer

This article includes entirely my personal opinion and is without prejudice to Sky, Virgin or any other organisation. Although I have tried to make this article as accurate as possible, PJCNET cannot be held responsible for any mistakes made or any indirect losses incurred as a result. When purchasing high definition equipment, we advise people to seek a professional opinion. This article, any comments and all other articles are covered by our full legal disclaimer.

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