DVDs are limited to standard definition. So, yes you can make a DVD of your material but it will be limited to 720x480.

You could create a BluRay disc to get HD.

Does your television have a USB port? Put the HD .mp4 file on a flash key and play it from that.

To clarify my post to the OP, a quote from the online Help of the DVD A Studio 5/Pro 5.2 initial builds.

"You can also burn high-definition video to a DVD for playback in a Blu-ray Disc player using the BDMV format:"

This is not supported by SCS software any more and the quoted text has also been removed from the online Help. There are workarounds as the linked threads suggest, but best use what Chienworks suggests.

The difference in quality between an mp4 and an mp4 (720x480) is HUGE. At least on my widescreen 65" TV.

How are you feeding this to the TV ... USB stick ... DVD player ... BluRay player?

If you want the best viewing quality for this ... use an upconverting BR player.

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the help. I actually found some answers last night after I posted, but the forum was having problems and I couldn't post what I found.


vkmast - I did try some searching, but I didn't use very good terms I guess. Thanks for the links and the clarification. I will go and check them out.

Chienworks and Brighterside. Yes, I'm plugging a thumb drive into the TV and playing from there. Sounds like if I want the best quality viewing, that's what I'll have to do (at least until I buy a BR writer)

Brighterside, I"m not sure what you mean by and upconverting BR player. Will those take a DVD and make them look prettier? So, to do that, I would make my DVD with the standard mp2 file and then it will use the 1080, or do I have to use the mp4 to make the video and then it will upconvert? Sorry, I'm a little ignorant on these things.



I'm still curious about whether "Should I pick the "widescreen" version of mp2 for DVDs? Looks like the only difference is the pixel aspect ratio. Will that make the picture distorted? I sort of think it will.

Thanks guys!

Most (if not all) BR players will, when playing a standard DVD, "upconvert" to a better looking image (than a standard DVD player) on your HDTV.

Some are better at this than others. BR players are getting cheaper every day. The resulting image is not BR quality, but it is a *major* improvement over what you will see from a standard DVD player, or a USB stick file.

Ok, Cool! Good to know. Of course, my stick works well when I put an HD render on it!

I ran a quick test of a small loop of my video and it appears that the widescreen doesn't distort so that appears to be the way to go. I'm hoping that when I actually cut to a DVD it will still fill the whole screen. I just viewed it from my USB.

Joe

So, should I pick a widescreen mp2 or will that just distort the picture?

If your source video is 1080P, then it shouldn't be distorted.

Thanks MSmart! :)