DSTV HD vs SD comparison pics

S

sybawoods

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Here are some HD vs SD comparison pics. I used the RF out of the decoder to stream the equivalent HD pic to SD widescreen. Still pics don't really do justice, but I guess if you click into the zoomed image you'll get an idea of the quality difference. These were taken hand-held with my point 'n shoot, and I've tried to resize as close to 1280 x 720 as possible.

Swimming SD
2751624338_c15a5e0750_o.jpg


Swimming HD
2750790049_343edeaecb_o.jpg



Basketball SD
2751623264_6b92a863be_o.jpg




Basketball HD
2750788865_fcb57bbd84_o.jpg



Archery SD
2750788323_585dcb73d8_o.jpg

Archery HD
2750787635_9396cbece8_o.jpg
 
Thanks. Nice to show some pessimists that it is worth it.

Look at the difference in flags, tiles around pool, vivid colours and clarity, in basketball shot the clarity of crowd inbetween the players and lastly the grass and mop thingy in the crosbow shot, also the time display :). Dang.
 
Bloody hell. The difference is amazing!!!
Is that on a HD ready TV?Because thats what I have.
Also how are you getting the HD signal? DSTV?
 
Can you perhaps upload them to a different image hosting site please?
 
sybawoods said:
Here are some HD vs SD comparison pics. I used the RF out of the decoder to stream the equivalent HD pic to SD widescreen. Still pics don't really do justice, but I guess if you click into the zoomed image you'll get an idea of the quality difference. These were taken hand-held with my point 'n shoot, and I've tried to resize as close to 1280 x 720 as possible.
Click to expand...
Interesting comparison. :)

BTW - not many people consider the 400D to be a point 'n shoot. :eek:
 
As i understand it, to differentiate between 1080p and 720p you need to be sitting at most 2 meters from your screen (which is closer than recommended), for a 50" screen assuming 20/20 vision. I'm normally at least 3.5 meters from my TV, and it wont be a 50" probably. Besides that, are there any 1080p broadcasts worldwide? I know 1080i is quite common.
 
Wow thanks Sybawoods for that.

Pretty impressive. From the way I understand it you used 2 different TV's.
The SD tv was playing from a HD source yes?
Was the SD widescreen tv an LCD, Plasma or CRT?

.
 
Ivork said:
Wow thanks Sybawoods for that.

Pretty impressive. From the way I understand it you used 2 different TV's.
The SD tv was playing from a HD source yes?
Was the SD widescreen tv an LCD, Plasma or CRT?

.
Click to expand...
I got the feeling he used the same display and just switched inputs from HDMI to RF
 
Rouxenator said:
It's good - but still not 1080p

I'll wait.
Click to expand...

Silly comment.

These are just photos. You can't make any judgements based on photos off a TV screen. At the very least, you would have to see frame grabs. I'm guessing he did not have a way of capturing it, but I can already see, by the difference, that it is a big improvement.
 
Is that on a HD ready TV?Because thats what I have.
Click to expand...
It's a 42" Sony Grand Wega, rear projection LCD, native resolution is 720p (1280 x 720)

It's good - but still not 1080p
I'll wait.
Click to expand...
It's gonna be a long wait. 720p is the international HD broadcasting standard. 1080p is limited to Blu-Ray and HD DVD. The odd pay-per-view broadcaster has experimented with broadcasting one or two shows in 1080p, but the compression and bandwidth required makes it very restrictive.

What's more important is MPEG-2 (old standard) vs MPEG-4 (better). Multichoice has gone MPEG-4, which is very good. Most of the US, which went HD quite early, is still stuck on the old MPEG-2 standard, because of MPEG-2 hardware investment. Sometimes being late in the tech race helps because you can learn from others mistakes ;) .

If you're referring to 1080i, its a non-issue. 1080i is interlaced, and is really not suitable for fast-moving sports broadcasts, causing motion blur. The 1080i vs 720p debate is well documented. Google is your friend.

I got the feeling he used the same display and just switched inputs from HDMI to RF
Click to expand...
Spot on.
 
Last edited:
Setup my DSTV HD yesterday and can confirm the picture is really good. I've been watching h264 HD streams from my PC on my plasma for a while now, so no newbie when it comes to HD.
 
If you guys need an installation guide that clearly indicates what is needed for the installation of the various HD and SD PVR combinations, PM me, and I will gladly send it to you in .pdf format.
 
Honestly, the picture doesn't look that much better,
although the resolution is just over double.

Obviously 1280by720 is better than 720by576 but you have
to take into account the viewing distance. Watch the tv
at more than 3 screen heights away and the picture
starts to look the same.
 
@peterch

I beg to differ, the difference is remarkable. As far as I am concerned the opening of the olympics on SD compared it to the HD version, is miles apart. Never mind the fact that my full TV screen now gets used and the surround sound.
 
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