Making high-definition discs

Frequently asked questions for playing back high definition video on a TV:

*Q1. What are high definition and standard definition?*

A. HD and SD are video resolutions defined by the dimensions of the frame size. Standard definition is 720x480 or 720x576 depending on the geographic location. High definition is anything greater than this. The two most common HD resolutions are 1280x720 and 1920x1080. Since digital video uses precise measurements of frame size, all digital video is either SD or HD.

*Q2. Can I make a DVD that is high definition?*

A. No, DVDs are standard definition by design. They must be composed of mpeg2 video with a resolution of 720x480 (NTSC) or 720x576 (PAL). DVD players will only play actual DVDs.

*Q3. Is there any way to make a DVD look as good as my HD video looks?*

A. No. You can make it look very good by encoding it with the highest quality, but it will always be standard definition. This will probably look noticeably worse than your source footage if it is high definition.

*Q4. Isn't HD-DVD a high definition DVD?*

A. No, it is a specific term referring to a format backed by Toshiba. It lost a format war to Blu-ray. To burn and play an HD-DVD, you need a special burner and special player. Although it is a dead format, some find it useful and inexpensive to buy an HD-DVD burner and HD-DVD player.

*Q5. Can I make a Blu-ray DVD?*

A. No, there is no such thing; Blu-ray discs are not DVDs. They will not play in a DVD player even though the discs look physically the same.

*Q6. Can I make Blu-ray discs (BD) on the Mac so that I can see my video in high definition?*

A. Yes. You need a Blu-ray burner and Blu-ray discs. You also need to encode and author the discs.

The current software options are as follows:
1. Use Final Cut Studio to encode and author a BD, using a BD burner.
Pros: Excellent quality, nice looking menus, subtitles can show the chapter name.
Cons: Only a few menu choices.

2. Use Toast v. 9 or 10 with the Blu-ray plug-in to encode and author a BD, using a BD burner.
Pros: Inexpensive and fairly quick.
Cons: Limited choices of very "stylized" menus, chapters cannot be named, encoding quality may not be as good.

3. Use Adobe Encore to encode and author a BD, using a BD burner.
Pros: A great deal of control over the whole process, allowing complete design of the disc.
Cons: Expensive, complicated, and prone to bugs.

*Q7. Does iDVD make Blu-ray discs?*

A. No, it makes DVDs which are playable in a DVD player.

*Q8. Does DVD Studio Pro make Blu-ray discs?*

A. No, it makes DVDs which are playable in a DVD player.

*Q9. Can I do anything to put HD video on a DVD, with a standard DVD burner?*

A. Yes, you can make what is called an AVCHD disc. This puts approximately 45 minutes of HD video on a physical DVD. The result is not an actual DVD, and it will not play back in DVD players. It is essentially a Blu-ray structure on a physical DVD-R. It will play back in most Blu-ray players. Final Cut Studio and Toast (v. 9 or 10 with the Blu-ray plug-in) have the ability to make these.

*Q10. Are there other ways to play high-definition video in HD?*

A. Yes, if you play back from a device rather than a disc of some type. AppleTV and the Playstation 3 can play high definition video to a TV. There are numerous other media playback devices that are essentially hard drives with a specialized enclosure. Also, you can attach most digital TVs to any modern laptop or desktop computer, although interlaced video may not always display properly and might show combing artifacts.

This is the 1st version of this tip. It was submitted on May 7, 2010 by Jeremy Hansen.