detail information

HVD Comparison against standard definition:

For those interested in playing back High Definition content, but cannot afford a Blu-ray or HD DVD player, this player is capable of playing High Definition titles made available on the Chinese HVD format.  The HVD disc format features a native resolution of 720p, which matches the native resolution of the vast number of High Definition displays, including the projector used in this review.  As this player does not require a HDCP compliant display for its HDMI output, this means that one can watch the disc using HDMI or a HDMI to DVI adaptor even if their display has no HDCP support. 

In this page, we will compare several scenes in the documentary 'The Travelling Birds", which NeoDigits kindly sent us along with the player.  As this documentary had a French soundtrack with Chinese subtitles, we were unable to tell what was being said during the documentary.  On the other hand, most of the documentary basically showed different types of birds, nesting, in flight, fighting and various colonies.  As the image was constantly moving throughout most of the title, this made it quite difficult for us to capture a still detailed scene.  The picture quality clearly showed an improvement in the 720p mode against the NTSC and PAL modes, particularly when showing scenery, buildings, fields, trees, straw and text.  In most cases, the difference was only really noticeable during playback, which made it virtually impossible to try and photograph the difference in most cases. 

*** Important notice regarding the screenshots below ***

Like the screenshots we captured for the HD upscaling tests on the last page, we will be using the same projector and camera set up for these tests also.  See the important notice on Page 5 for further details on what to watch out for.  Even though it is possible for us to capture the standard definition formats on our capture card, unfortunately there is a vast difference in what is captured on the card and that captured by the camera.  As we cannot place the camera spot on in the middle of the picture due to the set up, these screenshots have been taken at a slight angle as with those taken on the previous page, which would also add to the complexity in trying to compare them against screenshots taken by a capture card.

For these tests, we took a snapshot at 720p to capture a screenshot with the HVD played at its native resolution and another two at 480p and 576p to give the effect of what the playback would look like on NTSC and PAL displays respectively.  One other thing to note is that as the projector does its own upscaling to present the images at its native 720p format, the image detail will obviously look better on the projector than with a true standard definition display, which does not have any upscaling capabilities.  All the images are close-up zooms in order to show the detail.

Chinese Subtitles

As text added to an image is generally as detailed as the resolution will allow, this test aims to show how many of a difference there is between standard definition and high definition, at least with playing back a HVD disc on this player.  The text in this screen is actually burned into the image and not subtitles that can be toggled on/off.  Interestingly, while there is virtually no difference in the image itself between the three images apart from the text, we can see a noticeable difference on-screen during playback as the rock's detail is sharper and more detailed looking in the 720p.  However these screenshots do show a clear difference in the text:

Have a look at the digits '3500':

The following shows what happens when downscaled to NTSC 480p:

Finally, at PAL 576p:

The following table shows a quick comparison

Bird's nest of straw

As with the HD upscaling tests, one clear difference between the 480p/576p and 720p tests is the detail in scenes with a complex texture.  In this case, we have compared the detail of a bird's nest as the detail of the straw is quite difficult to show in standard definition, even with the projector doing its own upscaling to 720p to display the image:

Have a look at the straw detail and wood grain in the following 720p image:

The following image shows what happens when this is downgraded to 480p:

Finally, at 576p:

The following table shows a quick comparison

Bird's nest of grass and straw

In this test, we compare another example of a bird's nest, but this time including strands of grass along with the bird.  Unfortunately, we were unable to capture much difference in the picture quality of the bird; however there is a clear difference between the high definition and standard definition versions of this image.

Have a look at the fine strands along the lower right of this 720p image:

When downscaled to 480p, most of the strands virtually disappear:

Finally, downscaled to 576p:

The following table shows a quick comparison

Birds in flight

As HVD uses MPEG2 at 720p, one thing that some may wonder is how well does it cope with a lot of action, particularly since the maximum disc capacity is the same as with a traditional DVD-ROM.  In this test, we see a clear example of the full screen in action when a large flock of birds in the image head for the sky.  Due to the birds rapidly flapping their wings, we are unable to see really any difference in picture quality between the standard and high definition images, never mind trying to capture it.  However, we can hardly see any MPEG artefacts when we pause the image for a snapshot: 

Image detail at 720p:

Same frame, but at NTSC 480p:

Finally, the same frame at PAL 576p:

The following table shows a quick comparison

Vegetation

As we mentioned earlier, the main scenes this documentary clearly shows off its high definition capabilities are those that include vegetation, such as grass, tress, plants and so on.  In this test, we captured a close-up of a scene showing vegetation along with a few birds, in order to capture a clear comparison:

Have a look at the detail below the right bird in this 720p image:

When downscaled to NTSC 480p, most of the detail is lost:

Finally, downscaled to PAL 576p:

The following table shows a quick comparison

Ending Credits

Like the subtitles, there is a very clear difference between the credits shown at 720 and then shown at either 480p or 576p.  While the disc is playing, it is actually quite difficult to read the text while it is shown at 480p/576p due to how 'pixely' it looks:

The following image shows the credits at 720p:

Notice the difference when downscaled to NTSC 480p:

Finally, at PAL 576p:

The following table shows a quick comparison