Unless your videos exceed an hour in length using a dual-layer DVD with AVCHD then you will not see any difference. Your 720p TV simply cannot display the difference for you to see. As a matter of fact, I've played back 1080p AND 720P video on a 40" TV and most people couldn't tell the difference. A 720P video on a 1080P TV will be noticeable. Win 10, i7

I'm having trouble understanding this exchange. Is bulldog asking if he should buy a 1080p TV or is he asking if a 1080p video burned on a blu-ray disc would be better quality than the same video burned to an AVCHD DVD?

If the latter, does it make a difference? All of my home videos are about 20 minutes max so I'm content to burn to AVCHD DVD. However, I want the best quality. Is there a difference in quality (not talking about menus) of the same 1080p video on AVCHD DVD or blu-ray? HP Pavilion Elite 410f. AMD Phenom II 1045T (six core), ATI Radeon HD 5570 Graphics Card w/1GB, 8GB memory, terabyte HD, generic multi optical, LG BD burner, both Lightscribe, Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit. Formerly used Ulead/Corel VideoStudio.

Reminds me of the time I've pulled my hair out with PD8 by one of the few beginners to use BR disc and editing hours of HD Disney videos. Anyway, using a BR burner, I have tried burning an AVCHD HD project on a regular DVD disc and also a 25 Gig BR Disc. I then played it on my PS3 along with a 1080I TV. They both look awesome !!!!

I think both discs are the same but BR holds more data. It comes down to all the factors of capturing, editing, and the bit rate of the burn. You can get the same results with a BR disc versus an AVCHD DVD disc.

The problem that HDEDIT has is that his BR player may not be able to read AVCHD format. As for a BR burner, the prices has dropped to a more reasonable investment. You can also use it as a regular DVD burner too.

As for the TV, 1080P is the way for viewing BR. However, if your disc is not a true 1080p and everything prior to that, it will look the same. Another big factor is the new " refresh " rate on some of these new sets. They need to be high to keep up with the signals.

BD and AVCHD are NOT the same !

BD requires 3 times the amount of storage to hold the same amount of timed video. AVCHD (high amount of video compression) was developed for camcorders so that they could hold a reasonable amount of video in a small amount of storage. Over the past 5 years AVCHD has become a popular format because of its compactness and the simple fact that the majority of viewers cannot discern the difference on their TV sets. When viewing HD content on a large screen (>60") and with lots of quick action BD is better. AVCHD is essentially a good compromise and since it can be recorded on a standard DVD, 30 minutes of high quality video is attainable. Using a dual-layer DVD, the time is doubled to just over an hour.

Because of the high degree of compression, AVCHD will always take longer to render. Try it out with PD9 and see for yourself.

A good rule of thumb when creating video is to produce it in a format that is the highest available in quality. That way it can always be down-converted if need be. A 720P video will never look great on a 1080P screen, no matter how much video massaging one is able to apply to it. Win 10, i7

Gents,

I think the Question was "Do you think it is worth the investment to move up to Blu-Ray burner for my PC? ".

My answer is yes. If you make BD disks you won't have to worry much about the ability of the Blue Ray Players to play BD format. I'm nervous making AVCHD disks even though my PS3 plays them marvelously. But if I take them to the Cabin I doubt the Samsung HT-BD1250 will do the same?

So if you want to share your masterpieces with Grandma, or you nephew, I'd go for the Blue Ray Burner. Regards,

Jim

Asus Z87-A Motherboard - O/C if needed to about 4.6 Ghz.
Intel i7 4770K CPU
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1 TB, 1.5 TB, and 3 TB Data Drives - Slide in Drawers as needed.
LG's HL-DT-ST BD-RE BH10LS30 Blu ray Burner
Samsung SH-S223F 16x DVD Burner
Gigabyte GTX 660Ti NVidia Geforce Graphics Card

I'm a little dense. I can only deal in simple, very narrow concepts. HD said the following in his second post that has me confused:

"When viewing HD content on a large screen (>60") and with lots of quick action BD is better."

Whereas Alexpho said: "I think both discs are the same but BR holds more data."

Let me phrase my question as narrowly as possible. I shoot some home video on my AVCHD based consumer camcorder. In my case it is shot at 1080i but for sake of this discussion let's say it is 1080p. The video includes some fast action. My finished video is 15 minutes long. I don't render it yet, I go directly to "Create Disc" in PD9. My TV set blu-ray player does indeed play AVCHD DVDs so that isn't the issue or the question. My TV is 1080p. At the "Create Disc" phase of PD9, I create both an AVCHD DVD and a blu-ray disc (assume I have a blu-ray burner) at the highest possible quality for both.

Watching both discs on my TV through the blu-ray player, does the blu-ray disc provide a superior picture (resolution, fast-action play, etc) or would the two discs of the described home video be identical? HP Pavilion Elite 410f. AMD Phenom II 1045T (six core), ATI Radeon HD 5570 Graphics Card w/1GB, 8GB memory, terabyte HD, generic multi optical, LG BD burner, both Lightscribe, Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit. Formerly used Ulead/Corel VideoStudio.

Philly Bill,

According to Wikipedia "AVCHD has been designed to be compatible with Blu-ray Disc format, and can be used for distribution of high definition video, albeit with reduced quality and interactivity compared to Blu-ray Disc"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AVCHD

Regards,

Jim

Asus Z87-A Motherboard - O/C if needed to about 4.6 Ghz.
Intel i7 4770K CPU
16 Gigs Corsair Vengeance DDR3 Ram
OCZ 448 Gig SSD (for OS and related Video Editing Programs)
1 TB, 1.5 TB, and 3 TB Data Drives - Slide in Drawers as needed.
LG's HL-DT-ST BD-RE BH10LS30 Blu ray Burner
Samsung SH-S223F 16x DVD Burner
Gigabyte GTX 660Ti NVidia Geforce Graphics Card

Jim, that's interesting and thanks for it. I still wonder if that answers the question. It would explain for instance, that Hollywood video shot in a format better than AVCHD and distributed on blu-ray should certainly not be rendered to AVCHD format for the disc. However when you are starting out with AVCHD and using PD9 to create a distribution disc, does creating it as blu-ray improve the video over an AVCHD DVD?

I realize I'm torturing the subject. Someone here noted that blu-ray burners are now cheap and I agree. It is certainly within my budget to buy one and well justified if there is a quality improvement.

Bill HP Pavilion Elite 410f. AMD Phenom II 1045T (six core), ATI Radeon HD 5570 Graphics Card w/1GB, 8GB memory, terabyte HD, generic multi optical, LG BD burner, both Lightscribe, Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit. Formerly used Ulead/Corel VideoStudio.

Bill,

My experience is you can never significantly improve the captured video regardless of output format. My old VHS video still looks crappy no matter what I do to it, similarly my old DV tapes look like DV, and my HD stuff from my Sony looks great.

However, the nuances you are looking at here may be different. I bow to those with far more experience in various HD format output than I. Regards,

Jim

Asus Z87-A Motherboard - O/C if needed to about 4.6 Ghz.
Intel i7 4770K CPU
16 Gigs Corsair Vengeance DDR3 Ram
OCZ 448 Gig SSD (for OS and related Video Editing Programs)
1 TB, 1.5 TB, and 3 TB Data Drives - Slide in Drawers as needed.
LG's HL-DT-ST BD-RE BH10LS30 Blu ray Burner
Samsung SH-S223F 16x DVD Burner
Gigabyte GTX 660Ti NVidia Geforce Graphics Card

Quote: does creating it as blu-ray improve the video over an AVCHD DVD?

Based on the profile PD currently uses for AVCHD on DVD, I believe the bitrate is ~16Mbps. The profile PD currently uses for BD discs, the bitrate can be ~24Mbps, maybe even higher, depending on what the PD SVRT3 technology does with certain camera source footage. So the answer depends on your source footage, if your source footage is of high bitrate (>~16Mbps) and the content of what's being filmed warrants high bitrates, the use of BD would be preferred over AVCHD on DVD.

Jeff

Jeff, great answer that others on this forum should heed. My Panny SD9 records at a maximum of 17mbps so I shouldn't worry about any difference. As we all know, the current camcorders often go up to 24mbps so if quality is paramount then maybe a blu-ray burner is warranted.

I guess whenever I spring for a new camcorder I'll get a blu-ray burner as well.

Bill HP Pavilion Elite 410f. AMD Phenom II 1045T (six core), ATI Radeon HD 5570 Graphics Card w/1GB, 8GB memory, terabyte HD, generic multi optical, LG BD burner, both Lightscribe, Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit. Formerly used Ulead/Corel VideoStudio.

Quote: BD and AVCHD are NOT the same !

BD requires 3 times the amount of storage to hold the same amount of timed video.

More space is required for the same amount of footage if the BD is encoded in MPEG-2 but certainly not if it is encoded in H.264 generally - PD gives you the option of both. As an example, 30 minutes of H.264 footage with a bitrate of 17mbps should use roughly the same amount of space on an AVCHD DVD as a BD if they are both encoded in H.264 (using exactly the same production settings). If the BD was encoded in MPEG-2 though then more space would be needed.

AVCHD DVD can only be encoded in H.264 up to a maximum bitrate of 18mbps whereas BD can be encoded in MPEG-2 or H.264 and, as Jeff has already mentioned, you can encode in H.264 up to a maximum of 24mbps.

I shoot in 1920x1080 at 24mbps in H.264 and, as my projects can be quite long, I use blu-ray quite extensively.

Cheers,

Andrew



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