Can you explain high definition?

[SkScotchegg]

Hey there, I wondered if you could answer some of my questions and help explain what HD really means?

For example, if I play a HD movie on my PC on my monitor which says "HD ready", then am I playing it correctly?

Or do I need some sort of HD graphics card too? How does this all actually work?

And also what is this I've heard about HD sound? does that mean we have to have a HD sound card and speakers/headset too?

Cheers in advance,


SkScotchegg

 

[Raikiri]

HD is simply the resolution of the video, there are a few standards (720p, 1080i and 1080p).

720p = 1280x720 pixels progressive, if your display has the same or higher res than this (all 17"+ screens will) then you can play 720p files at their proper size.

1080i = 1920x1080 interlaced, it is actually half the resolution of 1080p but twice the frame rate and displays half the image at a time (odd numbered lines followed by even every 1/25 or 1/30 of a second, because it's so fast you only see one single image). Most 720p LCD televisions support this however I think monitors that don't support 1920x1080 or more will scale it down.

1080p = 1920x1080 progressive, same as 720p but higher resolution. Will be scaled down if the monitor can't display 1920x1080 or above.

All graphics cards for years have been 'HD' as they support 1280x720 and above, any modern card is capable of displaying over 1920x1080.

HD sound I'm not so sure about, I think it is mostly used in Blu Ray and HD-DVD movies atm and is simply uncompressed sound (for example a FLAC audio file rather than an MP3) and, given the correct set up will sound better. However it will run through any speakers connected to the source.

 

[Greenlizard0]

Is it as simple as that? If that's the case - why do we need seperate HD DVD players to play a movie of that format?

 

[gurusan]

Is it as simple as that? If that's the case - why do we need seperate HD DVD players to play a movie of that format?

Because normal DVD's are of pretty low resolution in comparison and it requires different hardware to decode those huge images and play them back at 30+fps with high quality sound

 

[n1kunj]

Is it as simple as that? If that's the case - why do we need seperate HD DVD players to play a movie of that format?

Because the HD-DVD discs are physically different to DVD discs, it's the same reason why you can't play DVD discs in a CD-Rom. Same with Bluray.