Displaying Slideshows - on a PC or TV?

[leonard]

Hi Everybody,

In the PicturesToExe Forum I raised the topic "How to produce high quality video CD/DVDs?" and received a very limited but useful response. It occurred to me that a fresh start in this area might interest a new audience that could supply some more answers to enable me to solve my problem.

For ease of reference I quote from my original topic:

"I find PTE4 and PTE5 are both excellent for producing slideshows for viewing on a PC (not up to Barry Beckham's standard of course) but adequate in terms of sharpness, colour rendition and layout etc to please the discerning viewer.

Unfortunately, in my case, the same can't be said for the same slideshows that are output as avi's and then burnt to CD/DVDs and displayed on a domestic TV. The output loses it's crispness and there is a fall off in colour reproduction. I have tried several different 'output' routes using a variety of software (up to and including Adobe Encore DVD v2) without any real success.

So my questions are these:

1. Is it possible to get the same high quality that is obtainable on a PC CRT when played back on a domestic DVD player and viewed on a TV. If YES what is the secret?

2. Does it depend on the codec selected in PTE? If YES, which one?

3. If NO, does it depend on the authoring software? If YES, which one?

4. Is the choice of DVD player important, If YES, which one?

5. If NO, is the choice of TV type important, ie CRT, CRT high definition, or LD/plasma?

6. Does the image type, size, cropping, resolution etc have a bearing on the result?

6. Are there any other factors that may contribute to this 'problem'?

I should add I use the PAL TV standard."

Perhaps to start the ball rolling let me raise the question "Why not Both"?

On the face of it given that PTE has the capability of outputting an avi which can be imported into say Adobe Premier Elements 2 to create the rest of the video, it would seem very straightforward. In fact the mechanism is quite easy. On the face of it one can have both.

So what is the problem? The problem is that this video show when viewed on a standard TV leaves a lot to be desired. Gone are the finely focussed crisp images now replaced by slightly soft ones which I find unacceptable, as if they were out of focus. They might be OK for family and friends, but I certainly wouldn't part with hard earned cash.

I've asked several slideshow producers (not commercial) who all claim that they are satisfied with the results. (see LumenLux's reply in the other Forum).

Lin Evans (see his reply in the other Forum) gave a response which I thought was well reasoned and on the face of it seemed to satisfy my quest, but given only 2 replies to my enquiry this can hardly be called a convincing argument.

What I can say is that when the video is played back in WinDVD7 (or 8) on a PC the playback is fine, so the problem seems to lie with authoring program/TV.

On this 'evidence' you can't have both.

What do other members think? Have you had problems similar to mine, and how did you solve them? It may be, of course, that the TV method can't possibly match the PC. I would certainly like to know the aswer to that question.

leonard

Having just posted this on the Forum I see Ken Cox has added a post on a similar subject. Maybe I shall find an answer on the links he provides.

leonard

[Ken Cox]

for starters Leonard

see

http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3943

and

http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index....amp;#entry25500

this is some of the testing that is ongoing -- it has kind of slowed down at the present time because of the status of the program beta's

Al and myself have burned Hawk's test files to verify there is a problem with the 16:9 feature using the dvd builder --- i did it following a step by step discussion with hawk via msn messenger at noon today.

The other day while in discussion With Maureen via msn messenger she said she was in the process of putting up her new webpage where there is a wealth of info

http://www.maureenalbright.com/home.htm

also

Roger "CONTAXMAN" Walton has info on his site

http://www.bishopthorpe-camera-club.com/Re...s/resources.htm

the resources by members are plentiful -- when Igor ever gets caught up he plans on an info section where all these gems can be accessed easily

ken

[Maureen]

Just uploaded the new version of my www.digital-av.co.uk web site.

Still tweaking it as some pages still don't have the links to the pdfs and new notes yet.

Will have to leave the video & DVD section until after Christmas as haven't had as much time to test it all out.

Left it to the more experienced experts to work out first.

Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas,

Best wishes

Maureen

www.digital-av.co.uk

The old site had so much information but it was hard to unearth it all

[alrobin]

Just uploaded the new version of my www.digital-av.co.uk web site....

Looks very professional, Maureen - a big improvement over the old site! It should be easier to keep updated, too, and add new information as it comes along.

Now comes the big job of populating it! You didn't have anything else to do over Christmas, did you? Hope you have a Happy one.

[ronwil]

It is looking great Maureen. Looking forward to downloading the sequences. Best wishes for Christmas and the New Year.

Ron [uK]