Quote: Should I expect to see a higher quality picture if I burn my standard def video projects (from 8mm cassettes and mini-DVs) to Blu-ray disk, than to DVD (when viewed on an HD TV)? I don't have a Blu-ray burner, but would get one if it means a better final product.

Thank you,

Jim

I doubt you would see any improvement in quality, you can not create greater quality from a low or standard quality source.

Standard Def is Standard Def, no need to burn a BluRay when a DVD is best choice.

The one advantage of a BluRay disk is the 25 GB capacity. You can likely put more standard def video on a BluRay disk, but that would not increase the quailty of the video. Standard Def video is one of the standards for BluRay.

BluRay disks can only be played in a BluRay player.
If you have or want a BluRay player on your TV, BluRay players will play DVD also.

Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

Thanks, Carl, for your reply. I do have a Blu-ray player, just not a Blu-ray burner. Just to clarrify, even on a rather large HDTV, 65", a Blu-ray disk version will not be any more detailed than a DVD version?

Jim PowerDirector 365, AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 8-core processor 4.05 GHz, 32GB RAM, Windows 10 64-bit OS, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER

Quote: Thanks, Carl, for your reply. I do have a Blu-ray player, just not a Blu-ray burner. Just to clarrify, even on a rather large HDTV, 65", a Blu-ray disk version will not be any more detailed than a DVD version?

Jim

It should be the same as the DVD.

This should be a list of the resolutions that BluRay video supports, notice two of them are 720x480 and 720x576 which is standard definition. Same as a DVD.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray_Disc#video

If you could magically make the standard def video into HD video then you would have an improvement in quality.

The only advantage you would get is in the future, if you get a HD camera, you would be set to create BluRay Videos.

Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

Quote: Should I expect to see a higher quality picture if I burn my standard def video projects (from 8mm cassettes and mini-DVs) to Blu-ray disk, than to DVD (when viewed on an HD TV)? I don't have a Blu-ray burner, but would get one if it means a better final product. Jim

Hi Jim !

I have got loads of old footage going back to Super8, through VHS, sVHS-c DVD, and now AVCHD and the difference in picture (and sound - where it exists at all) is breathtaking. But in terms of the value of the images, you don't get much more precious than being able to watch and hear and remember your Dad's reaction to your now-thirty-five-year old Finance Director's first emergence as a newborn ! Absolutely priceless.

In my humble opinion, spend as much as you can reasonably afford "up front". Whilst various programs will claim to enhance old footage, there is no substitute for good old footage ! Quality does not grow back. So capture every last ounce of information that you can. And save it securely. And back it up. It may well be that transcribing analogue A/V to digital is best done by professionals for you in preference to by you. This is what I meant by "spend your money up front". It seems to me timely to consider what "priceless" means to you!

My Dad dancing with the aforementioned was shot on equipment that cost £1250 which, coincidentally, was half my gross annual salary. So what is this footage worth to me now? And, before answering, please remember that you cannot retrieve quality that was not there in the first place.

Then, once you have the best possible quality origination digitised, you can edit and enhance away to your heart's content. Every "enhancement" action involves some change to the original, so what you do is worth careful thought.

1920x1080p Hi Def TV is utterly brilliant (and, by the way, on paper already BEYOND the capabilities of Blu-Ray). My guess is that in a few years' time, Blu-Ray Disk recording will be as unbelievable as recording on wax cylinders. Some solid-state storage devices (possibly SD cards or their successors) will have made Blu-Ray ancient history.

So what does that mean for us here and now? Well, DVDs played through a modern upscaling player outputting to HDMI are really quite high enough quality. And you can get your material quite satisfactorily on to DVD via the HQ option in Cyberlink. A standard DVD only holds about an hour of HQ video, but my patience holds less. My old films were less than 5 minutes long. Spliced together I could get a reel with 30 minutes on it. Two reels and my audience was more than happy to kill to escape !

In all this verbeage, what is my advice? Spend as much as you can on preserving quality to digitising analoge A/v material. Power Director 10 with a computer such as yours will produce brilliant watchable priceless video, but mot to the ultimate quality standard.

What will?

[Pleaseplace your bets here...] BigEric
(Like any complex skill, good videography gets easier with practice. And talent. And planning. And a love of the process)

If you have film to transfer, this machine is about the best film transfer machine for Home 8mm and 16mm film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-Kyj1Vh5Y8

This is the machine professionals use.
Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

Quote: If you have film to transfer, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-Kyj1Vh5Y8 This is the machine professionals use.

I had heard of the spot/scanning method being the Pro choice, but I always thought it too expensive for amateurs, so have used the telecine alternative, which loses detail by projecting the film onto ground glass and then videoing the result. I have followed through some web addresses and discovered a service with a baseline cost of £20 per 200ft reel plus media, cleaning and splice repair costs etc. So I am sore tempted to retry the transcription process and take heed of my own advice! I mean what value do you place on priceless?

A great heads-up, Carl312. Many thanks. BigEric
(Like any complex skill, good videography gets easier with practice. And talent. And planning. And a love of the process)

Quote:
A great heads-up, Carl312. Many thanks.

You are welcome, that was a little bit old video, it dates back to 2003.

There may be better ways to transfer film now, but I have not seen one that is good and reasonable cost.

Film scanning is almost a thing of the past for the home user.

Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.