Video Quality: PC vs DVD Player

[guitarguy2501]

Hey, so I recently bought an LG 1080p tv which I have my comp hooked up to (via dvi to hdmi) and a basic Sony DVD player (via component)

within the comp I have 2 GeForce 8800 GTS SLI-ed and had no problem at all getting the 1080p, whereas my DVD player is still at 480i which is understandable.

So here's my question: would I have better quality playing DVDs off my comp (even if the comp is at 1080p, would it play the DVDs at that quality?)
also, I have a bunch of ripped DVDs stored on my comp which I ripped at a basic 720x480 to save time/space. Would my comp somehow upconvert those files to 1080?

Thanks for any insight you can give. I'm real excited about this new HD tv and wanna try and get the most from it

 

[taso11]

In theory you computer has the capability to give you better picture quality. It all depends on your dvd software. Remember that it can't create the added resolution, but it can calculate and extrapolate a best guess or stretch to fit. Your tv also does basically the same thing to fit the 720x480 to 1920x1080. There is also progresive scan that would add to picture quality. Some dvd player software can do it and there are progressive scan stand alone dvd players. Check and see if yours has the capability. So honestly as it stands try it both ways and see what looks best. You can also look into better dvd playing software for your computer. There are a lot of picture quality reviews on the internet for you to research.

 

[guitarguy2501]

yeah, my DVD player says it's progressive scan yet my tv keeps saying 480i which also is confusing but I'm not sure there's much I can do about that.
Thanks for the advice though, I should probably use something better than WMC

 

[taso11]

I forgot to mention. There are some really good upconverting standalone dvd players too. I have an Oppo dvd player that beat other upconverting dvd players 10 times more expensive. So your dvd player makes a difference too. So does your connection depending on tv. HDMI and DVI are the best. Component can be equal, better or worse depending on tv and dvd player. Cables make a difference too. Monoprice has good cables at a good price. Monster are marginal and way overpriced. If I think of anything else I'll post again lol.

 

[jsrudd]

Most DVD players are not set to progressive scan by default and so you would have to enable it to get 480p video. That being said, its a DVD so it's probably not going to look great upscaled to 1080i anyway.

 

[baverdi]

I am not a genius in this area, but if you have a big tv you might want to scale down the resolution on the tv for dvds because jsrudd is right lower resolution is bad on higher res tvs

 

[Guest]

You canot put a peanut back in it's shell, so no you canot improve tha quality beyond the original copy, although you can change variouse things like size and dimensions and formats that the file can viewed with.