Why can't i watch HD movies?

Question

First of all, thank you for taking time answering questions for people like me, who need help in different matters. Here it comes: i have a Samsung LE-26R32 LCD tv and an Elta 8874 MP4 dvd player. The problem i have is that i cant seem to be able to watch HD movies although as i know the TV does suppoart up to 1366 * 768 resolution and the dvd player supports up to 1080i so i cant see why at least the 720p movies wouldn't work. i have connected the player to the tv through a HDMI cable and i have 2 more cables for the sound (i'm not great with cables). Can u tell me why cant i see the movies? I get the message "HD is not supported" when i try to play the movies. Thanks again for your time.

Answer 1

Here is the deal. You are a victim of marketing. There are 3 different incompatible formats that are refereed to as "DVD". There is standard definition DVD, and two high definition DVD formats, HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. Your player is telling you it does not support any of the high definition formats even though your TV does support these formats.

Your player will upscale standard definition DVD (640x480) to a high definition format  (1920x1080) interlaced scanning. It will NOT play a high definition DVD (1920x1080). While a good upscaler will give you somewhat close to a high definition image it will never look as good as true high definition such as HD-DVD or Blu-Ray.

As you have noted the other format called high definition is 1366x720 progressive scan. I have a 720p TV set and a 1080i HD-DVD player. The odd thing is that my image is better if I have the player upscale to 1080i and then have the TV downscale to 720p. Theoretically this makes no sense since my best image should be straight 720 but you go with what works and what works best for me is to bump up to 1080 then down to 720.

Find a friend who has a high definition player and sell him your high definition disks. They are no good to you since you only have a standard definition player. I should also mention that the HD-DVD format is now dead and not supported. If you want high definition you have to go with Blu-Ray which is very expensive, both the players and the disks.

However, you can definitely see the difference even on my tiny 23" TV. Personally I will not get a Blu-Ray player until the price comes down to a reasonable level if ever. Reasonable to me is under $100 for the player and $10 for a disk. Right now BD (an abbreviation for Blu-Ray) players are about $350 and disks are $30-$40. I'm not holding my breath, lol.

Answer 2

Well, there could be a lot different issues, mainly because I'm not sure what you mean by "HD movies".

* DVD player configured for the wrong resolution.  Your TV can support 720p or 1080i, but not 1080p.  If your DVD player is set to use 1080p, your TV will not know what to do with the signal.

* You may be attempting to play a file that is incompatible with your DVD player, like a DVD with a DIVX file on it for instance.  If you're trying to play a file that you burned onto a disc from your computer, be sure the format you're using is compatible with your player.

For best results, connect your DVD player to your TV directly with a HDMI cable.  You do not need the additional red/white cables for audio - the HDMI cable carries both video and audio.  Although if you want surround sound from your home theater system, be sure to connect your DVD player to the home theater receiver using an optical audio or digital coax cable (either is fine.)  Also, be sure to configure your DVD player to output video at the same resolution that your TV supports.  If you aren't sure what that would be, just use 720p.

Going forward, if you're really interested in HD video, you'll want to get a blu-ray player.  Movies on blu-ray are recorded in 1080p, although the player can support any HD display (720p, 1080i, 1080p)  I guarantee that these will blow you away when compared to the "hd movies" you've been trying to watch.

Answer 3

HD not supported should be a clue.

Your DVD player is not made to play HD -DVDs, but just standard DVDs.

Answer 4

well theirs many different answers

Answer 5

It's not supported! You are trying to play a HD DVD thru a non HD DVD player.... hince the message! Thats like me wanting to play a PS3 game on my PS1. It won't support it!

WOW!

Answer 6

There are two formats of discs that you can buy High Definition movies in: Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. Your dvd player does not support the HD-DVD format. It probably just has 1080i upconversion, which means absolutely nothing for you, because it's just a marketing gimmick. My guess is that you saw the 1080i upconversion feature and assumed that this was a HD-DVD player, which is not the case. It's a very common mistake and alot of people buy them thinking that they're getting an HD capable player. The MP4 format is a computer file format that is also used in alot of small portable electronics. The only way you could watch High Definition movies on your player is if you copied an mp4 file (that was encoded in HD resolution) to a regular DVD and played it on your Elta player.