Wmv Hd

Soarer

Hi guys.
Dunno if this is in the right section. If not, mods feel free to move.

Here's my problem.
I downloaded all of Microsoft's WMVHD clips in 1080P the other day. Now, the only place I can view anything like HD is in work, where one of the new Dell machines has a 24" 1900x1200 monitor. I threw the clips onto the machine, and started watching through Media Player.
Must say I was disappointed.
I was expecting pin-sharp picture quality, but it looked grainy.
Does Media Player need certain codecs to output in HD?
Or would I be better off downloading another player?

Thanks in advance.
Soarer.

8T8

No you shouldn't need codecs though you could try installing WMP11 might make difference might not it's hard to say.

It can be fairly subjective in terms of the monitor your using being up real close to the display obviously allows you to see any flaws in the source. Graphics driver may also be a source of problems if it is an old one that supports DXVA & WMV HD as WMP10 is fairly buggy in this area.

You could try switching to VMR9 mode in WMP11 click tools->options->performance under the video acceleration heading click on advanced. Now under the video acceleration click on use "high quality mode" then okay and okay again to close the options menu. Now try playing a clip again and see if there is any noticeable visual difference.

{VMR9 requires Direct-X 9 installed}

Finally it may be you were expecting too much in terms of quality some of those clips are a bit old so may not be the best to judge on.

SouperComputer

Unfortunately LCD panels cannot resize pixels and are not fantastic (read crap) at displaying images above or below their native resolution.

At 1900x1200 you are 20 pixels off in both directions, enough to noticably distort the image.

8T8

None or at least close to all of the 1080p trailers on the WMV HD site are actually 1920x1080 pixels.

If you check the properties you will see they are 1440x1080 so his display should be okay for playing back the content though watching it in full screen mode may not be a great idea perhaps due to the resizing.

Edit: Some of the newer 1080p WMV HD trailers are missing I'm not sure as to why but it could be some sort of regional IP detector that blocks you out from getting the page, direct download links taken from Google fail on my end. They are definitely blocking something as from Google I know there is a Batman Begins 1080p trailer on the WMV HD site I even sourced a copy from an alternate location but it is DRM protected so the only way to play it would be through a US proxy.

Soarer

Thanks for the replies guys.
@8T8: I'll give all that a go when the boss isn't looking!!;)
@Souper: What size should I set the screen to? Like I said, maximum is 1900x1200, but before I ran the clips, I changed it to 1900x1080. Should I change the 1900? Or should I have left it at 1900x1200 (tbh, the desktop icons looked more natural in 1900x1200. When I changed to 1900x1080, they seemed a bit "squashed")?

SouperComputer

Wierd, it has been a while since ive looked alright.

As 8T8 said, avoid fullscreen or it will distort the video.

SouperComputer

Thanks for the replies guys.
@8T8: I'll give all that a go when the boss isn't looking!!
@Souper: What size should I set the screen to? Like I said, maximum is 1900x1200, but before I ran the clips, I changed it to 1900x1080. Should I change the 1900? Or should I have left it at 1900x1200 (tbh, the desktop icons looked more natural in 1900x1200. When I changed to 1900x1080, they seemed a bit "squashed")?

If the screen has 1900x1200 pixels, then that is the resolution you should use regardless. What model is the screen?

Soarer

@Souper. It's a Dell Ultrasharp 2407WFP, as far as I know.

8T8

There is an actual 1080p {1920x1080} resolution WMV HD trailer on NVIDIA's site this is the direct link 242MB in size anyway if you want to see 1080p in action try that.

(It's not protected either so it's playable in any region)

Soarer

Thanks 8T8.
So I should be able to watch this in fullscreen, without adjusting anything? I realise it'll be out by 20 pixels like Souper said earlier, but that shouldn't make too much of a difference, should it?

I'll try it out, and let you know how I get on.
Thanks for your help.
S.

subway

widescreen tv is 16:9
widescreen pc is 16:10

thats the missing pixels.
if you watching hd on your pc make sure the "zoom" is set to 100% or 1 or whatever...
you should see small black bars at the top and bottom