PowerDVD: HD Scaling problem

[Kim Jespersen]

I think I have a scaling problem when playing Blu-rays and HD DVDs on my computer. The problem is the picture is sharper but lacks the HD vs SD wow effect and the player size is like playing back regular DVDs.
When playing 720p MKVs the screen size of the VLC player is larger than 576p playback as is the Quicktime playback on fx. HD trailers vs. SD trailers of Apples trailers site and both playbacks has the HD vs SD wow effect.

This leads me to think that either the PowerDVD, AnyDVD HD or my grafic card is downscaling my Blu-ray and HD DVD playbacks for some reason, which I was hoping somebody could help me with.

My system
Windows Vista
LG GGC-H20L Blu-ray/HD DVD player
ASUS EAH4550 grafic card
Monitor LG L1915S (Res. 1280*1024) VGA connected
TV Panasonic 37PX70 (res. 1280*720) HDMI connected
PowerDVD Ultra V8
AnyDVD HD 6.5.2.8

Screens are set up as "expanded" with monitor as primary and TV as the secondary (expanded). I usually start the movies on the monitor and drag it to the TV.

TIA
Kim

[Krispy Kritter]

I had a hard time following what you are saying, but lets cover a few basics. There is a big difference between the SD and HD trailers at quicktime.com and that isn't the same as the difference between DVD and Blu-Ray. DVD would fall into the HD 480P section of their trailers, so compare the 480P version to the 720P or 1080P version of the same file.

Also, your TV is only 720P. So anything with a resolution above 720P is getting scaled down to fit the screen.

[Baldrick]

HDCP may cause this. But AnyDVD HD should disable the HDCP if your panasonic doesn't support it. And my PowerDVD version will give me a error message if HDCP doesn't work.

You can also try TotalMedia Theatre (trial available) and see how it work.

[jman98]

From the moment it began to support HD DVD and BluRay, PowerDVD has been deliberately crippled in that it will only display HD video at true resolution if the monitor is connected via HDMI. Since your monitor is your primary connection and it's VGA connected, PowerDVD is doing what its Sith Lords in Hollywood demanded and not displaying the image at full resolution because "you might copy it". I am not kidding.

I have no idea if making the TV primary will solve this problem or not. I have a pretty negative opinion of PowerDVD these days and I honestly believe that each new release is worse than the one that proceeded it. Worse in terms of being less consumer friendly and functional.

[Kim Jespersen]

From the moment it began to support HD DVD and BluRay, PowerDVD has been deliberately crippled in that it will only display HD video at true resolution if the monitor is connected via HDMI. Since your monitor is your primary connection and it's VGA connected, PowerDVD is doing what its Sith Lords in Hollywood demanded and not displaying the image at full resolution because "you might copy it". I am not kidding.

I have no idea if making the TV primary will solve this problem or not. I have a pretty negative opinion of PowerDVD these days and I honestly believe that each new release is worse than the one that proceeded it. Worse in terms of being less consumer friendly and functional.

Thank you all for your answers

This was actually what I feared the most, I was just hoping AnyDVD would take care of that so HD playback was possible even on a VGA connection.
I guess I'll have to try other players to see if they will accept the VGA connection.

[edDV]

According to this review, the Panasonic Viera TH-37PX70 37in Plasma TV has only 1,024 x 720 pixels. All inputs get scaled to 1024x720 regardless of source resolution.
http://www.trustedreviews.com/tvs/review/2007/05/02/Panasonic-Viera-TH-37PX70-37in-Plasma-TV/p1

SD DVD native resolution is 720x576 so would be upscaled to 1024x720 for display.

HD 720p or 1080i would be downscaled to 1024x720.

Your computer card should be set to 1024x720 to avoid double scaling (display card and TV).