Upconvert DVDs with PC

[mjreddy]

I was wondering if playing a dvd from a computer onto a tv using a pc over a hdmi cable with hd resolution means that the content is automatically "upconverted" the dvd. I mean will playing the dvd using an upconverting 1080i dvd player look better? If so, is there any dvd software for the computer that will upconvert... Thanks for your help!

 

[Varun]

The picture quality is actually better than almost any set top DVD player you can buy.

Check this out:
http://www.hardware.info/en-UK/articles...and_nVidia_crush_highend_DVD_players/1

 

[w00t]

Originally posted by: Varun
The picture quality is actually better than almost any set top DVD player you can buy.

Check this out:
http://www.hardware.info/en-UK/articles...and_nVidia_crush_highend_DVD_players/1

Interesting.....

 

[mjreddy]

I read that review, and it helped me understand a little bit, but the author added in the comments that the dvd players were all set to display on the monitor @ 480p, that would mean all players tested were merely progressive scan players... "upconverting" players such as the oppo hd model display @ hd resolutions of 720p or 1080i don't they, so would they not fair better in these tests? Are the video cards function in the same was a progressive scan player? or like a true upconverting player? Ultimately, what would look the best?

 

[themisfit610]

Here's the story. It's a bit of reading, but it's required

DVDs can have one of 3 formats (assuming you live in NTSC land).

1) Progressive 24 fps (23.976 actually)
The MPEG-2 stream is progressive like your computer monitor. Pulldown flags are in the bitstream to "fake" standard NTSC 30fps interlaced video so that it will work with a standard non progressive scan TV. This is the vast majority of hollywood movies originating on film

2) Interlaced 30 fps
Common for stuff that's shot on video, like cheaper TV shows, and some films shot on DV. The MPEG-2 is actually interlaced, and has to be deinterlaced (made progressive) to enable playback on a computer monitor / non CRT HDTV.

3) 24fps progressive, encoded at 30fps interlaced
Bad. A 24fps movie that has been "hard telecined" to 30fps interlaced.

Now, what a progressive scan DVD player does, is it figures out which format your DVD is. If it's 24p, then it just removes the pulldown flags, and sends happy 24p to your progressive scan TV, and all's well. If it's interlaced, then it deinterlaces it. Booyah. Nothing too fancy, though better DVD players have better deinterlacers.

An upconverting DVD player takes the source video and scales it to fit the HDTV specs. Frequently, these hardware scalers use inferior resizing algorithms that give the image a blurry look. It's usually better than the source, but the image has to get scaled at some point, either by the DVD player or the HDTV. Quality can vary.

A PC is mostly software based in this scenario and as such can provide superb quality. Using a player like Media Player Classic, and configuring it to use the VMR9 video renderer, and specifying a pixel-shader powered bicubic resize algorithm will ensure sharp, fast resizing to HD resolutions. Using ffdshow in conjunction with this to process the video further (add a sharpening / detail enhancement / noise reduction filter) can also increase quality.

The details on how to do all this can get a little confusing, and I am being long winded as it is. Direct your attention to the forums at Doom9, specifically the "software players" forum. There you can ask the people who write the software how it all is supposed to work

Good luck. The HTPC is really good stuff

~MiSft