High Definition video

[AdamW]

This seems to apply most to Computer Hardware. I have downloaded a few "High-Definition" video clips off the net, some in DivX-HD, some in Windows Media HD.

And boy, wow! Amazing quality video, makes DVD look like artefact-ridden poo. You can expect this very same resolution and quality from Sky HD satellite telly towards the end of the year.

Reason this post is under hardware is this: I have an Athlon 2200 with 1.5GB of memory and a good graphics card. Yet I found that the highest quality videos were using most of my CPU power! I even hit 100% for a second or so with one of the DivX-HD ones!!!

In case anyone else wants a look, try here. But be warned, even quick PCs may struggle!

I think we may be at one of those periods in time where only the latest and greatest computers will perform a particular application satisfactorily. Haven't had one of those since Windows XP came out

Edit: Just tried again and I only went up to 60% CPU useage... then remembered I was running several programs before. D'oh!

 

[kendor]

You can expect this very same resolution and quality from Sky HD satellite telly towards the end of the year.
:

I worked on HDTV in the 80's on a joint venture production between the BBC and NHK Japan called the "Ginger Tree" and the pictures were indeed amazing but there were problems with having such high resolutions, for one the sets looked awful with all the tape joints and small tears on the set all visible where the normal cameras would not have picked them up.

One has tro question where it all is going to end up? are we upgrading for the consumer or are we upgrading for the manufacturers?

how Far do we go before it doesn't make a difference to the human sense of vision?

 

[AdamW]

Well, I for one will be happy to buy high-definition equipment when it reaches a price I can afford. If you recall, when integrated digital TVs first came out, you would pay a premium of about £500 over the price of the non-digital model, which was already pretty expensive as widescreen TVs were still a premium product. One of the problems they had with HDTV in the US was the high price of equipment.

How far do we have to go? Well, I read about an experiment they did in Japan with ultra-high-definition video that they made by "tiling" together several HDTV recordings, from the top of a van driving around the city. Some people watching it felt sick because the motion was too realistic!

I'll be satisfied once I have a Star Trek-style holodeck.

 

[kendor]

I'll be satisfied once I have a Star Trek-style holodeck.

with Holobabes?

 

[AdamW]

Well yeh, naturally!