Wasting my time recording videos in high definition?

[cameraz]

I've been recording videos at 1280 x 720, and then burning them onto standard DVDs. Since my DVDs are 720 x 480, and my television is standard (actually enhanced definition), am I losing something by recording in high-def and then converting to standard def?

The videos come out letterboxed on my screen, which I am not crazy about, but they fill the screen on my friends' high-definition sets. Also, in the future I plan to get a high-def TV.

So I guess it all boils down to a quality issue. Since I am burning to standard DVDs, should I record in a lower resolution?

Thanks.

[johns0]

You lose quality but your not going to notice it on crt tv but if you get a hdtv at least 37" and play the 1280x720 on a blu-ray player authored as avchd you will notice a big difference,if your friend has a blu-ray player that plays avchd then author the 1280x720 with multiavchd and burn to dvdr and play it there.

Also you will notice the quality difference when you play the 720x480 dvd on a hdtv as compared to the 1280x720.In other words if the recording are important keep the 1280x720 and encode to dvd spec and in the future author the 128x720 to avchd.

[jagabo]

Get a Western Digital TV HD Media Player for playback on your TV and keep your videos HD. In the future when you view them on a new HDTV they will be HD.

[zoobie]

if you want to record HD, you'll need to buy the accomodating display equipment to actually see it
in short, yes, you're wasting your time...but it's your time to waste

[edDV]

How are you capturing 1280x720?

The SD 720x480i output from a HD cable or sat box will get good results. Test that vs your 1280x720 to 720x480p downscale. While this saves time, you will not have an HD option (separately saved HD files) unless you capture HD in the first place.

[Cornucopia]

To add to edDV's bit, how are you authoring/burning your discs?

If you author and burn to std def DVD-Video ONLY (my assumption), you are losing any resolution your original source or intermediate may have had. For good.
I hope you're at least keeping a copy of the original HiDef source on your harddrive or on a data DVD disc, so you can go back to it when the rest of your system is fully up to HD standards...

Scott

[jagabo]

If you do a decent job of downscaling your 720p caps you will find they look significantly better than you can get capturing 480i directly.

There are some other issues to consider. What is the source of your 720p video? I find my cable box performs a nasty blend deinterlace when it converts 1080i source to 720p output. I can get much better results capturing 1080i sources as 1080i and then running an inverse telecine, or even a drop field deinterlace to make a 720p or 480p video. 720p broadcasts (like ESPN HD) look fine captured at 720p.

[cameraz]

I am using a Panasonic digital camera which is capable of recording video at 1280 x 720. I edit my videos in Adobe Premiere, and then author them using DVDflick. I keep the 16:9 aspect ratio, but the frame size gets converted to fit on a standard DVD -- 720 x 480.

I keep my original video files so that in the future I can burn to Blu-ray discs when I get the proper equipment and a high-def TV.

[edDV]

I am using a Panasonic digital camera which is capable of recording video at 1280 x 720. I edit my videos in Adobe Premiere, and then author them using DVDflick. I keep the 16:9 aspect ratio, but the frame size gets converted to fit on a standard DVD -- 720 x 480.

OK. It wasn't clear you were talking about a camcorder source.

I keep my original video files so that in the future I can burn to Blu-ray discs when I get the proper equipment and a high-def TV.

So then you aren't wasting time by recording in HD. 1280x720p is also great for computer playback.