Soooo confused...iDVD & QT7
If it matters, I am using a new 20" iMac 2GHz and Tiger. When I insert a DVD movie, iDVD automatically opens. I am not too impressed with the picture quality, though. I looked at different trailers with QT7 (not the pro version) and they look great. So, I try to view a DVD movie using QT7 and am unable to do so. I drag the DVD icon from the desktop to QT7 on the dock = nothing. I double click the DVD and try dragging every file on that disk to QT7 on the dock = nothing.
Is QT7 standard able to play DVD movies (legal, by the way, not pirated!)?
If so, how?
Can I expect better picture quality with QT7 than iDVD when viewing DVD movies?
Is QT7 standard able to play DVD movies (legal, by the way, not pirated!)?
If so, how?
Can I expect better picture quality with QT7 than iDVD when viewing DVD movies?
Comments
Originally posted by mcpaulus
When I insert a DVD movie, iDVD automatically opens.
Do you mean DVD Player? iDVD is for creating DVD's not playing them. DVD Player works great for playing DVD's.
Quicktime can not directly play DVD's. If you want to try something else to play your DVD's, try VLC:
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-macosx.html
My confusion arises from using the Help screen on QT7 which says:
Opening and Playing Movies in QuickTime Player
You can use QuickTime Player to play media stored on your computer's hard disk, a CD, a DVD, or the Internet.
To open a movie on your hard disk, a CD, or a DVD, do one of the following:
In the Finder, double-click the file.
Choose File > Open and select the file.
Drag the file to the QuickTime Player icon in a Finder window or the Dock.
When I read this it seems to imply it CAN play DVD movies. But apparently, only movies you record from a home movie camera or something. Too bad, though, DVD Player is kind of grainy while trailers in QT7 are crystal clear. I will try the link you suggested.
Thank you very much for your help.
Originally posted by mcpaulus
You can use QuickTime Player to play media stored on your computer's hard disk, a CD, a DVD, or the Internet.
What this means is that you can burn movie files to a DVD computer disc, and play them in quicktime, it doesn't mean it can play DVD Movie discs. I agree that statement is a little misleading.
I have QuickTime Pro 7 and it doesn't play DVD's, even one I made myself with iDVD.
Originally posted by mcpaulus
DVD Player is kind of grainy while trailers in QT7 are crystal clear.
In fact, it does make a huge difference that you are on a 20" iMac. Your problem lies entirely with the high resolution of you iMac's monitor (which is 1680 x 1050). The native resolution of a DVD is 720 x 480 and 854 x 480 for widescreen (for all practical purposes).
Basically what this means is that for each pixel in the DVD, the computer is interpolating it and displaying it as about 4 pixels (2 x 2). So, your "grainyness" is actually compression artifacts showing up more clearly because of the monitors native resolution.
You can see what I mean by viewing a movie in its native resolution. All you need to do is not play it in full screen. Press "Cmd 0" (Apple key & Zero key) while DVD Player is playing a DVD.
Some DVD software can change the resolution of your monitor while playing DVDs, unfortunately Apple's DVD Player cant do that. However, you can manually do it in System Preferences and then manually change it back after you have watched the movie.
Just remember, computers, especially ones with high resolution LCD displays are not the greatest for watching movies. You will always get a sharper, more well defined image on a TV.
Originally posted by 4fx
Basically what this means is that for each pixel in the DVD, the computer is interpolating it and displaying it as about 4 pixels (2 x 2). So, your "grainyness" is actually compression artifacts showing up more clearly because of the monitors native resolution.
I think you had it right initially. The computer is blowing up each pixel. It isn't compression artifacts as much as straight interpolation artifacts. LCDs don't like non-native resolutions at all. It is one of the reasons I wouldn't be a big fan for gaming because they tend to lose a lot of sharpness.
Originally posted by Telomar
I think you had it right initially. The computer is blowing up each pixel. It isn't compression artifacts as much as straight interpolation artifacts. LCDs don't like non-native resolutions at all. It is one of the reasons I wouldn't be a big fan for gaming because they tend to lose a lot of sharpness.
Its both actually, though you will notice the compression artifacts much less on movies than on home videos due to better compression, better lighting and the fact that film and pro HD dont have compression artifacts like the DV codec does. When I view DVDs full screen on my 23" cinema display the compression artifacts show up all over the place, even on movies. Artifacts are a natural part of MPEG2 (and almost all video codecs) compression, its just a matter of how much.
Most modern 3D games actually allow you to change the resolution, so the sharpness of LCDs isnt as much of an issue, though some people would say that response time is a big deal (color is the biggest disadvantage for me). Some 2D games also allow you to do this as well. EV Nova does this by providing you with a greater viewing area (as opposed to increasing the relative size of the objects.