Creating avi at 1366x768 to play in dvd (divx) player

[onemoreone234]

I am trying to create a video file that will have a lot of text and will display on a 42" 1366x768 TV. What is the best way to get great text quality? My thought would be to create an avi file at 1366x768 (native resolution for the TV) and put it on a disc (divx?)
If my DVD player will play divx and I use an HDMI output to my tv, will it really display without scaling up or down?
Will this give me a sharper picture than using a standard 720 resolution or even 1080 where it would have to scale down?
Thanks,
OneMore

[guns1inger]

To date, no divx certified player plays a video wider than 720 pixels.

If you want to use 720p native then you have to either author a HD DVD or BluRay disc and use an appropriate player, or use your PC.

[manono]

My thought would be to create an avi file at 1366x768 (native resolution for the TV) and put it on a disc (divx?)

But unless your DivX player plays Hi-Def files (and there aren't many such players) you can forget that idea.

If my DVD player will play divx and I use an HDMI output to my tv, will it really display without scaling up or down?

It will always be scaled to the native resolution of a fixed-pixel display.

Will this give me a sharper picture than using a standard 720 resolution or even 1080 where it would have to scale down?

I suppose that encoding it for the highest resolution your player accepts would be the best idea. That might be 640x480, or even 720x544, if it's from a 4:3 source.

[onemoreone234]

Thanks for the help!
And from what I am understanding, even if the DVD player will upscale to 1080, it will not play a 1366x768 avi. If the file is 1366x768, will the dvd player just read it at 720 and then upscale to 768 to display correctly on the TV even though I am using an hdmi cable? Or will it output at 720 and the tv will do the conversion?
Last question on this, if it will upscale to 1080, why would it not upscale to 768 (native resolution for the tv)?
Thanks,
Onemore

And yes, it is widescreen.

[manono]

If the file is 1366x768, will the dvd player just read it at 720...

It won't play it at all if it's an AVI being played on your DVD/MPEG-4 player.

Last question on this, if it will upscale to 1080, why would it not upscale to 768 (native resolution for the tv)?

Who said it will upscale to 1080? It won't. It will upscale to the native resolution of your TV set. Now, it may accept 1080p/i input from an HD-DVD or Blu-Ray player or from Hi-Def cable or satellite, but it will be downscaled to the resolution of your TV set.

[jagabo]

And from what I am understanding, even if the DVD player will upscale to 1080, it will not play a 1366x768 avi.

That is correct. Most players will simply give an error message like "incompatible format". Some players that can play HD Divx:

http://www.ziova.com/
http://www.popcornhour.com/onlinestore/
http://www.z500series.com/
http://www.buffalotech.com/
http://www.tvixbox.com/

If the file is 1366x768, will the dvd player just read it at 720 and then upscale to 768 to display correctly on the TV even though I am using an hdmi cable? Or will it output at 720 and the tv will do the conversion?

If you use a player that supports high resolution files it will usually still likely be limited to transfering the video at one of the standard HD resolutions: 1280x720p60 or 1920x1080i30, and possibly 1920x1080p24 or 1920x1080p60 (depending on whether the player and TV support them). Even if you manage to send 1366x768 (or whatever the native res of your TV is) it will probably still get scaled to account for overscan -- unless your TV supports 1:1 pixel mapping. On 720p sets this is usually limited to the VGA input.

Last question on this, if it will upscale to 1080, why would it not upscale to 768 (native resolution for the tv)?

As far as resolution and frame rates are concerned, TV equipment is not as flexible as computer equipment. Most are limited to the "standard" HD resolutions listed above.