What is the difference between HD DVD and SD DVD?

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Level 1

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What is the difference between HD DVD and SD DVD?

I don't understand the difference in the preferences section of DVD standard where it says SD DVD or HD DVD? What is the difference? I'm not burning a blue ray dvd. Are there DVD's that you can buy that are specifically made for HD? I always use DVD-R

imac 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, Mac OS X (10.5.8), 1 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM

Posted on Feb 5, 2010 7:27 PM

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Answer 1

Feb 5, 2010 7:40 PM in response to skyrondenet

Aside from CD-ROM and LaserDisc, there are/were three main delivery methods for optical discs:

DVD-Video (standard definition)
HD DVD (high definition)
Blu-ray (high definition)

HD DVD has been abandoned by its developers. HD DVDs will only play on some Macs and a couple of (now obsolete) Toshiba HD DVD players.

DVD-Video is standard definition only and DVD players will only play standard definition.

Blu-ray is a completely different delivery format, but most Blu-ray players will also play DVDs.

-DH

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Answer 2

skyrondenet Author

Level 1

1 points

Feb 5, 2010 8:05 PM in response to David Harbsmeier

Thank you for that information. Soooo. I set all my preferences for HD 1080i in Dvd Studio Pro because that is what I shoot in now but I can't figure out how to burn a DVD with HD footage. Any suggestions? I am just making the HD transition for my wedding video business.

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Answer 3

Feb 5, 2010 8:07 PM in response to skyrondenet

If you create an HD DVD, it won't play in DVD players. As I stated above, DVD is standard definition only.

The only viable optical disc deliverly method for HD is Blu-ray. DVD-SP cannot author Blu-ray discs.

-DH

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Answer 4

skyrondenet Author

Level 1

1 points

Feb 5, 2010 8:18 PM in response to David Harbsmeier

I am eventually going to get an external blu ray burner. I guess I'm just not sure what settings to use in preferences? ie. what size 4:3 or 16:9? Can you recommend settings to use that will make my footage look best when played on a regular tv?

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Answer 5

skyrondenet Author

Level 1

1 points

Feb 5, 2010 8:20 PM in response to skyrondenet

also, why does dvd studio pro offer "HD" templates? That is what I am using and have no idea where to go from here.

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Answer 6

skyrondenet Author

Level 1

1 points

Feb 5, 2010 8:23 PM in response to skyrondenet

The encoder settings on my clip read at 1080X1280 as that is the native size. Should I change it to 720X480? Sorry for all the questions. This is really confusing to me.

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Answer 7

Hal MacLean

Level 6

14,833 points

Feb 6, 2010 3:01 AM in response to skyrondenet

If you want to be able to play your disc in a set top player of any kind, set your DVDSP preferences to be 'SD' (Standard Definition) and not 'HD' (High Definition).

Whilst you can create HD discs in DVDSP, they will only play in a few players - as David said. DVDSP cannot create Blu-Ray discs, and making HD products won't help you there either. The structures on a HD disc are different to a SD disc... use SD.

As for your footage, however you shot it, you need to get it into SD dimensions (720x480 if running NTSC) and convert it to MPEG2. Your audio needs to be AC3, and Compressor is the tool to do this for you, not DVDSP. If you use DVDSP it will get encoded, but you will have such little control compared to how Compressor does it.

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Answer 8

skyrondenet Author

Level 1

1 points

Feb 6, 2010 10:46 AM in response to Hal MacLean

I will export it through compressor and see what happens. Thank you! Hopefully it will work. Can I export it in compressor so at least it is 16:9 in dimension?

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Answer 9

Hal MacLean

Level 6

14,833 points

Feb 6, 2010 12:25 PM in response to skyrondenet

yup.

Have a go, see what you get... 😉

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