Micro Mart Forum / Digital Photography & Video / Technical Forums

720p on DVD

Spedley — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 21:37:19 GMT

Is there a standard for 720p on a normal DVD? If so, does it play on most players?

I know many DVD players will play DivX movies etc but I believe this is a non-standard feature.
If I want to record a local footy match at 720p do I have to scale it down to 576i to put it on DVD to ensure that most people who wants a copy can play it on their DVD players?

free alternative

jbarber23 — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 05:35:44 GMT

Hi all,

Does anybody know of any free photo editing software also any free software thats like power director.

Also any other free software that people ues like anti virus and any others that you find usefull.

Many thanks

Codec's

Mitch — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 08:37:16 GMT

Can anyone tell me where I can find a decent Codec pack from? Free if possible. I am having problems with xVid and Divx decoding and encoding.

Firewire card power question

yeoboy — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 19:21:24 GMT

Just built a system based on a 7200 and DS3R board, It does not have firewire, I had a pci card lurking and have discovered a 4 pin power socket on it, Anybody know if it requires this source as I will be connecting an expensive camcorder to it.

dvd colour sampling question

maticus2 — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:27:19 GMT

I`ve been swoting up on how DVD`s work and I was surprised to find that dvds only show colour at half to one quarter the resolution of the original image (witch now explanes why ITV1 looks so bad). so I was wondering why does colour sampling rates have to be cut by factors of 2? isn't there a more flexible and forgiving system in use?

Projector Asvice

Davo1 — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 21:21:16 GMT

My brother is going to put a projector into a room for watching movies but doesnt want to spend a fotune, about £300 would be nice. Saw a thread on this previously but the link and projector being discussed seem out of date.

I dont think he is planning to connect a PC to it,if he does would that make any difference in choice?

The viewsonic PJ151D got a decent write up in MM a couple weeks ago but seemed more aimed at work use and does 800 x 600 resolution make any difference with widescreen movies? (confused as it say the projhector supports 720p and 1080i standard?.

I think Slippy also mentioned the BenQ MP511 as decent bet.

Any comments welcome

Edit: Bugger can a mod edit the title please, thx in advance

which tv?

garyhopkin — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 20:40:04 GMT

Ok guys

im in the market for a new tv for living room (sky and media centre) and have narrowed it down to 2 and really cant decide..which would you go for:

[url=http://www.dixons.co.uk/martprd/store/dix_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0495246484.1215890989@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccceadeeikhejfgcflgceggdhhmdgmh.0&category_oid=-21226&sku=384730&page=Product&fm=null&sm=null&tm=null]THIS[/url] toshiba lcd for 680 inc delivery,or [url=http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/panasonic-th42pz80b-review-20080514109.htm]THIS[/url] panasonic plasma i can get for 680 from tescos (friends missus is staff).

is there a clear decison or are they much the same?

cheers

Video Players and HD Decoding

FreakShow! — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 23:06:57 GMT

Hi all,

So armed with an ATI 4870 I'm trying all sorts of things out. I've tried the games, I've tried the GPU folding and now I'm looking at HD video.

There's not much properly encoded HD video about. I've found one [url=http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/530/HD-DVD_Demo_1080p_VC-1_DDPlus_5.1.html]here[/url]

Now, I know that PowerDVD and Intervideo both support the HD decoding chips from Nvidia and ATI, however, do they support using the chip from files, or is it only from Blu-Ray drives?

Are there any video players out there that support the use of HD decoding chips from file?

I've had a good search, but can't seem to find much.
TIA :)

MKV Codec

FreakShow! — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 19:26:33 GMT

Hi,

I have a matroska video that I want to convert using the AVIVO Video Converter as part of my GPU.

I was using K-Lite codec pack, however, when moving the quality bar, it opens some part of the codec, and as I scroll the bar, it opens more and more of them. Which then takes all memory away and AVIVO crashes.

I tried a [url=http://www.free-codecs.com/Matroska_Pack_download.htm]Matroska codec pack[/url] but this does the same. AVIVO wants a codec to be installed for it, or it just doesn't understand it. Is there a better codec that I can use?

LED, LCD monitors.

Teafie — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:28:48 GMT

There is alot of talk at the mo about LCD monitors, whos back lights are LED's apparently enabling the monitor to produce something like true black.

Ive been browsing through e-tailers and none of them list what kinda back light they use.

Or am I missing something obvious.

Thanks in advance.

VCR out to TV

johnbarry — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 21:04:49 GMT

I have a Daewoo VCR and it doesn't want to give a decent ouput via Ant out, yet it gives a decent through output to other appliences.

Also it gives a perfect picture via AV ie the aerial is plugged into Ant in and it's a perfect (BBC1 etc) picture watching it through AV on the TV.

I just can't seem to get a frost less picture via the Ant out to TV.

Ok Video is dying a slow death but I still wish to use them ie Sky to VCR scart record sky and watch via the Ant out. The VCR only has one scart where as my other video has 2 scarts. with that I have sky in (scart) then out to TV (scart) without the Ant out (to TV) giving a good picture, I cant go out via scart while another scart is being used from Sky.

ignoring the Ant, it's exactly the same when watching a Video.

Any ideas on what could be done to improve the Ant out to TV like it should be.

i have tried it on other TVs with the same results.

CH5 via AV

CH5 Via ant out

how do i enable S-Vid in

Jarrick — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:50:01 GMT

hey there,

I have a mini DV camcorder with an S-Vid out which i can connect to my graphics card (nvidia 7800gtx) via a cable that came with the graphics card: it has nine pins on a round end connecter where it goes in and the cable splits into S-vid in, S-vid out, Y out, Pr out, Pb in, comp in. So i just connected the s-vid in to the camcorder and the nine pins end into the graphics card and turned on the camcorder and played the recording.

trouble is, it's not being detected anywhere. i tried windows movie maker and Total media monitor but they don't detect it. can't find anywhere on my pc that activates that port either.

anyone have a clue?

I have xp home, nvidia control pannel and latest mobo and gpu drivers

just updated my site - take a look and leave feedback :)

alex3410 — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 21:41:29 GMT

Hey all i have just finished giving my site a overhaul i hope you like it, take a look and feel free to leave feedback here or on my Blog

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Adobe Bridge CS3

nightlight — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 08:04:46 GMT

I have a annoying nephew who uses my pc as it as CS3, which he has at school, so he uses mine for school projects, but he will meddle with the settings.
Now I havea slight problem with Adobe Bridge in CS3, when you start it up it shows contents, folders, drives, etc, but all the drive letters,folder titles have vanished.
How do you restore them.

Image Editing - a few questions

dov — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 18:58:55 GMT

Hi folks, a few questions concerning digital image editing - stills, not video.

I'm a keen digital photographer, and in the way of things, most of my time is spent at the computer editing my images.

I use Element 6, a 1.67 ghz pc, 2gb of ram, a rage 128 pro-ultra GL graphics card and a 19" Samsung syncmaster 193T.

I want to upgrade my kit, as I'm fed up with the sluggishness of things (i'm all up-to-date with anti-virus, anti-spyware, etc. so that's not slowing me down).

So onto my questions:

1. Should I move to apple? Expensive, but are things that much better these days?

2. Assuming I stay with PC, what monitor should I get? I want a 24", but which one?

3. Does a fast graphics card make a difference when working with photoshop?

My budget could stretch to a Mac, but i don't really want to spend more than I need (who does?) - I was hoping for a PC about £500 + £3-400 for the screen.

I'm happy building the PC myself, and I don't really have to budget for software (at least if I stay PC), as I'm happy with XP, office 2000 and elements 6.

Any other comments, observations would be most welcome.

Thanks in advance, Dave

image copyright

Sparks — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:05:16 GMT

Hi Folks

I am researching some detail for a writing project and I am seeking some images of various equipment and hand tools . Lots of these images are about on the internet but its not obvious who owns the image.

I have no desire to get involved in legal discussions about image copyright with some bright young thing fresh out of uni and looking for their financial security from my back pocket. so my query is simple. am I safe in downloading some of the images available even though there is no indication of copyright on the image. My instinct is to leave them alone and create my own images but I have a time limit and the clock is ticking. advice and thoughts would be welcome.

sparks

free photo book

alex3410 — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 16:24:25 GMT

[url=www.myphotobook.co.uk]www.myphotobook.co.uk[/url]

enter the voucher code
DP1285JU

valid until 31-07-2008

for new customers only

it gives you £12.85 which can get you a small book for free or money of a larger one

mine came yesterday and i love it :D

£7.99 a good price for a 1gb sd card?

mattyspurs — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 12:14:24 GMT

Spotted a poster on the window of klick in town today offering a 1gb sd card for £7.99
is this a good offer?

Asking because my old folks just got a new digital camera and it didnt come with any memory card
luckly ive gt a spare 128mb card for them but its a 7meg pixel camera and i doubt that card will hold many high res. photos.

Font Design Program

tadaska — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 02:18:09 GMT

Hi guys,

Do you know of any program that can design cool looking fonts? Something on the lines of the MMF title at the top of this page.

I'll be designing a small website and I want it's name on the front page in some nice colourfull font on the background picture.

How can I do this?

Thank you

Video editing advice, just starting out

simon007 — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 00:23:04 GMT

Video editing advice, just starting out.

I am looking to buy a new camcorder that is easy to edit
and need good easy to use software to do this.
Some of the video I make will be uploaded onto my webpage.
In a way simply titling clips and splitting larger files into more managable sizes
would be a good start. After this a piece of software that allows conversion from raw data file ( mpeg 2 )
into almost any format desired. At the moment I have Easy Joiner and Easy Splitter (free software) on my pc and
these are ok for basic stuff with windows movie maker adding a nice finishing touch.
I am looking at the hdd with dvd hybrid camcorders but I am not sure how easy these are to edit, I know hd camcorders are extremely
stressful for most computers to edit. MiniDv are an option as well but I would be appreciate advice/tips on camcorder, software and
power requirements for editing.

Simon

Vidomi problems?

didevldo — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 18:32:03 GMT

Hi, I have been slowly putting my DVD's onto my hard drive (and external hard drive for trips away) by using DVDShrink to rip the main film, and then using Vidomi to shrink the file size down using the settings suggested by slipstream in his MPEG encoding race thread.

Unfortunately i am experiencing a slight problem in that on playback with MPC and FFDshow filters (settings from slipstream again!:)) the audio is coming out really strange. The best way to describe it is like it is under water or something but no speech is recognisable. This doesn't happen every time though.

Does anyone have any suggestions for a cause and possible remedy to this problem?

Cheers,

Didevldo

Suspicous of Hauppauge WinTV PVR-150 MCE Kit

gunman127 — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 01:56:40 GMT

A client needs S-Video and composite video inputs for his PC.

I've never had any work like this before, so is this a suitable card?

And should in function properly in versions other XP MCE ?

Shrink and Merge DVD's

Spedley — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 18:06:31 GMT

I have 13 football matches on DVD, each one is on two discs (the small 1.4GB DVDs) and are approximately 40 minutes per match. They are filmed in widescreen at 576i - I think.

I want to put them all on a single DVD (dual layer if I have to) and want to know the best free method of re-encoding the files to about 350MB each (4.7GB/13) which I make to be about 1.2Mbps for both audio and video. I'm sure this is possible.

Reccomendations?

Vhs to Dvd

compaq2 — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 15:22:01 GMT

i have been given the full set of star trek films on vhs.......all in great condition, i want to copy them to dvd for my own use

so i can put the tapes away and leave them in good condition.

can anyone suggest a decent capture card that will allow me to do this? either internal or external?

im not worried about computer specs cause most of my rigs are upto it.

thanks.

moderators if you feel im talking illegally please delete or remove thread.

Need help in picking a sub-£90 camera

longorefisher — Sun, 18 May 2008 23:08:29 GMT

Hi there,
I'm looking for a good Digital Camera that can handle your average jobs (i.e. holiday snaps and weddings etc) without compromising on quality. Ideally I'd like it to have an optical zoom and be lower than about £90 (I'm still stuck in secondary school and delivering papers isn't going to produce a Bill Gates fortune :P). Additionally I really need something that is just point and click (My parents have the "bells and whistles" jobbies - I just need something that can be whipped out of my pocket, aimed and shot).

I've been looking and have narrowed my choices down to 2/3 cameras

Kodak Easyshare M753 7MP
Fujifilm Finepix A920 9MP/A820 8MP

I was just wondering could anybody help me and/or give me an insight into this price range (I think online reviews are slightly impersonal) and whether the cameras I have selected are any good (Personally I'm favouring the Fujifilm at the moment but my mind is still open)

Any help is greatly appreciated.
Many thanks

Using video camera/laptop to replace bino's

ews — Tue, 27 May 2008 22:58:48 GMT

Hi All.

This is just a thought that came to me this week. My knowledge in this aspect is zero, so please bear with me.

My thoughts are that one could feed a laptop with the output from a digi/video camera ( with x10/20 optical zoom). the camera would be fixed to the grab rail in our 4x4. I have made a fitting for her wheelchair to take an adapted pan/tilt tripod center section to hold a digi camera.

Any thoughts any one.

20 free prints with free P&P

alex3410 — Tue, 27 May 2008 15:31:58 GMT

20 free prints with free P&P
[url=http://www.snapfish.co.uk/promo100uk]http://www.snapfish.co.uk/promo100uk[/url]

enjoy

DIVX to DVD

Mitch — Mon, 19 May 2008 18:08:50 GMT

Chaps,

I am trying to burn a DIVX file to DVD with Nero 7 Ultra. ("Make you own DVD" in Smartstart) Although my DVD player reads it OK, when it plays it is very jittery with pixelation. Any ideas how I convert a DIVX AVI to MPEG2?

Thanks,

Mitch.

can you make your own s-video to scart cable?

w3l54666 — Sun, 25 May 2008 16:24:04 GMT

hey there mm family. just a question as per the thread.

many thanks.

w3l54

compress jpg files in bulk?

alex3410 — Mon, 19 May 2008 21:20:53 GMT

hey all i need to compress large amounts of jpg files and was wondering if anyone knows of any good free software to do it?

What DVD software to use

norw4ever — Sun, 18 May 2008 16:57:25 GMT

Hey guys,

Usually make my home dvd's using Nero which has served me well.

But I REALLY hate thumbnails on the DVD menu. I'm after something that will just let me add either buttons or text without the annoying thumbnail of each mpeg i have on the dvd.

If anyone can recommend something, preferrably free but whatever that would be great as I just cannot seem to find what I'm after.

Thanks

Digital SLR body for Minolta-fitting lenses

RonC — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 10:27:26 GMT

Thanks, Micromart for the new series on digital Photography which started today - 18th July, and the suggestion to re-use film camera lenses with digital SLR body in future.

Does anyone have information on suitable bodies to reuse MINOLTA-FITTING LENSES now that Minolta is gone, please ? I have a Sigma 35 - 70 mm (not used often), and a Minolta AF 75 - 300 mm, which worked very well with film and slides.

Finally, anyone have experience of using a converter to re-use lenses with other body fittings, please ?

Many thanks ! RonC

Recover photos from SD memory card

Spedley — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 18:50:47 GMT

Does anyone have any tips on recovering photgraphs from a corrupt memory card?

paper query?

isdaritden — Fri, 09 May 2008 20:46:10 GMT

I'm of the opinion that this be the right place to post this question?

Hi folks,as some of you know im REALLY into the kids footy at the mo.Was looking to do some t-shirt printing for them and as its a while ( well yonks really;)) since i messed with anything like that,was wondering if anybody has any advice on paper for me please? i found this gaff whilst browsing and the prices seem keen but is the paper upto much? Your thoughts? thanks;)

john

http://photopaperdirect.com/scripts/prodList.asp?idCategory=88&gclid=CIidh_2QmpMCFRKS1QodhGbFoQ (link thingy)

Reduce background noise

marc.knuckle — Tue, 06 May 2008 22:45:15 GMT

i have a home video that i have put onto the pc and now converted with Super converter to avi and at a better ratio for my screen. the last problem is there is music on in the background that makes it difficult to hear the talking.

is there any freeware that can reduce but not remove thaudio in the background but leave the talking?

also if there is, i have never used this type of software before so would appreciate step-by-step instructions:D

cheers

Burning Dvd Video & Pictures

columbo77 — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:02:41 GMT

My brother brought me a coupld of Mini DVD';s from his holiday and some pictures from a wedding while over there. He wanted it all on one Dvd for people to look at.

I used Nero vision on three different computers and they all crahed several times at different points during creation.

Does anyone know a free program that can create this DVD for me with menu etc.

Thanks in advance.

Can't view video clips on TV's DVD Player??

Speedee1 — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:47:07 GMT

Hi, I'm not sure where to post this; I hope this is the best place! :D

Why do video clips, that you record on your digital camera, not play on your TV DVD player when you burn them along with JPEG's that do view OK?

Thanks - you will stop my brother-in-law from asking me the question every time he sees me. :P

Unable to play embedded videos on BBC News website

Caroline5 — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 09:30:55 GMT

Hi, my system is Athlon 64x2 4200+, 1GB ram, Geforce7600GT. My problem is that I can't get the embedded video which the Beeb has started to incorporate into its news website to work. All the other video content on the site works absolutely fine, including the iPlayer, as does other stuff such as YouTube etc. However, if I click the Play button on a news item the little screen will appear together with the circling loading symbol, but it only remains for about 1 second before it stops and the words 'Play again' appear.

I have downloaded Flash 9 (twice), read what little advice I could find on the internet, mainly consisting of fiddling with the Active X security settings in Explorer Tools. I have done this, with no success and I have now reverted to the default. I've checked to try to see whether ZoneAlarm is somehow preventing the videos from downloading, but I don't think so, and I have also clicked to always allow popups on the Beeb website in case that made a difference. It didn't. It's hardly the most important problem in the world, but it is annoying, especially as the BBC say they hope to be running all their news video content in this format before too long, and I really do want to sort it out. I'd be so grateful for any help.

Thanks.

SD card problem - Sandisk

Pave — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 22:38:39 GMT

Hi all, got a bit of a problem with a SD card.

Got a SanDisk Extreme 2GB standard SD card last year, it was working fine up until about a month of so ago when I came back to use it in my digital camera (Lumix FZ7) when I found I would not hold any pictures. Put it into my Pc and the last pictures taken on it just will not delete, I Have tried just about everything I can thing of, every programme I can get my hands on, even tried formatting it on different computers and operation systems, (Lunix, vista and macs) Nothing works. I wouldn't be so bothered if it was a cheap card, but its not...

Please help before I take a hammer to it, many thanks.

What Scanner?

Va Va Voom — Sun, 30 Apr 2006 11:42:00 GMT

Hi all,

I'm looking to purchase a new scanner for slides and negatives. I have looked at a few flatbeds which require, a bit of fiddling, to remove the underside of the lid to insert the slides/negatives.

Is there a flatbed on the market which has a seperate port for inserting slides and negs?

Or a non flatbed just for slides and negs?

It doesn't need to be top of the range just produce resonable results.

All feedback welcome :)