[MacDV] Re: Progressive Scan

[Frank Farwell]

On Monday, June 2, 2003, at 09:13 PM, Preston wrote:

> Your basic TV won't benefit from a progressive scan signal as I  
> understand it.

correct you wont notice any difference at all. its possible it may look  
worse. the HDTV has a progressive scan setting for viewing progessive  
scan material.
>
> best
> -Preston
>
>> I'm a serious hobbyist. I have a standalone DVD player that brags  
>> that it can play progressive scan videos.

you will see the improvement only if you TV has a progressive scan  
mode. DVDs are encoded with progressive scan that why they look better  
on a progressive scan monitor (your mac monitor is progressive scan)

>>  I have a Sony TRV-17 MiniDV camcorder. It records interlaced video.  
>> If I edit this video in iMovie with the intention of sending it iDVD  
>> or DVD StudioPro and then to a SuperDrive, is there anyway I can  
>> massage it so that my DVD player will treat it as a progressive scan  
>> video?

No once recorded as interlaced it can't be changed. Of course man has a  
way of inventing things so who knows.

>>  Would there be any appreciable avantage to doing this? ...a more  
>> film-like look? ...sharper images?

actually the effect can be sort of strobe like on a regular TV it will  
not be as good. except on a HDTV as mentioned then it will look better.

some very general (basic)  info here:

http://216.239.33.100/search?q=cache:XGf4Ow6u4cwJ:www.amnesiak.com/ 
ee478/ 
HDTV_Presentation.ppt+progressive+vs+interlaced+scan&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

here is more specific detail

http://www.panasonic.com/consumer_electronics/dvd_players/progscan.asp


ok this kind of wordy but will answer most your questions that may come  
up.

DVD- movies (most of them not all) are shot at 24 frames (conventional  
film) per second progressive scan the TV does 60 frames per second. so  
your TV does what is called a 3:2 pulldown  showing some frames 2 times  
and others 3 that can and does cause jagginess. Because one field of  
one frame gets paired with another frame that it does not really belong  
to.  You can see this really well on say a big LCD HDTV  monitor take a  
DVD at your big electronics store and switch between interlaced and  
progressive scan mode with TV in progressive scan mode (unless its  
automatic) something that is a smooth line like say a building or wall  
will look much smoother. In interlaced scan mode its jagged.

A HDTV can do inverse 3:2 pulldown which pairs the parts of one frame  
only with the proper frames they belong to - the old way just mixed  
them up parts of one frame with parts of the previous or next frame  
they do not belong to. this is why progressive scan is smoother/sharper  
looking.

until people have HDTVs there is no benefit shooting progressive scan  
and it will generally not look as good. I imagine as 5-10 years go by  
more camcorders will do this mode as more TV owners will have HDTV.

for now there is no benefit to progressive scan unless your audience is  
mostly HDTV equipped and of course has a progressive scan DVD player  
which the majority of the market does not yet. Again in 5-10 years the  
majority will probably own a HDTV and a progressive scan DVD player.   
Progressive scan players are just coming down below the $100 mark, so  
more will be sold. but the more expensive ones generally have better  
Mpeg decoders to get the best quality. One of the best DVD players  
(with high end decoder) for the money was the panasonic RP65 now  
discontinued. but still can be found in places like amazon, ebay and  
places you find used or closeout stuff. the under $100 ones now that  
are progressive scan use cheap decoders. this includes the new  
panasonic S35 progressive scan player. the picture is better but the  
high end decoders do a much better job than the cheap ones.

hth

ff frank farwell