[Discuss] OT: HD TV capture and bittorrent

[R. Langkamer]

On 3/26/07 7:25 PM, Adam Parkin wrote:

> Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong, but just because when you 
> download a show off of Bittorrent and it was recorded off of a HD signal 
> doesn't mean that *you're* watching it in HD.  An HDTV signal is 
> typically 720 or 1080 horizontal lines of resolution, whereas your 
> typical AVI you'd find off of a torrent is usually in the 400-ish 
> horizontal resolution (512x384 seems to be a common resolution) which is 
> about the same as SDTV.  So while the recorded show was originally 
> broadcast in 720/1080p, the encoded AVI (or whatever format you grab) is 
> typically a much lower resolution.
> 
> It certainly is possible to download shows which are true 720p 
> resolution (ie the encoded downloaded file is truly 720 horizontal lines 
> of resolution), but then the problem becomes how do you play it on your 
> TV as a HD signal (for example, if you use a typical TV-out like what is 
> found on most video cards nowadays, the full computer resolution is 
> usually scaled down to SDTV resolution before being displayed on the TV, 
> so you're still not seeing a true HD signal).


	Don't get me wrong, I know the difference, and I was not trying to 
imply that I was getting HDTV on a non HDTV. :)
	That being said, an HDTV video file (even at the common lower xvid 
resolution) is still *FAR* better than regular TV. :D
	The funny thing is I use to download SVCD video files and burn those to 
CD and watch them. Now that my DVD player has native "divx" capability, 
I only download the xvid files. Besides, the SVCD versions quickly 
disappeared once the first "divx" capable DVD players hit the market 
back in early y2k.
	Unfortunately I am not overly happy with the performance of my "divx" 
capable DVD player. As such I am planning on deploying a playback only 
mythtv box. I have no incoming TV signal to speak of so I don't need a 
rig capable of recording, only playback. I do still need ripping 
capability though.

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