16:9 DVD recording

[bobatasp]

All of our current video projection is done at 1280x720. We are using an FSR Eagle switcher and would like to record the output of the switcher straight to DVD. I can't seem to find a DVD recorder that can record at that resolution. Any suggestions?

[cmchamp]

I think what you may be looking for is a Blue Ray DVD Recorder. I did a quick Google search and found several.
Don't know what output format your switcher provides for the Blue Ray DVD Recorder input.
C.

[bobatasp]

Great idea except that it severely limits the number of people that would be able to play it back. The output of the switcher is RGBHV but I could scale it to component.

[cmchamp]

Then I would suggest downscaling to component letterbox as this would save money on the recorder itself also. Blue Ray is too new to be popular - give it a few years.
We record on camera, sometimes direct to disk through the camera, in 4:3 anamorphic and edit with Final Cut Pro using a 4:3 aspect compressor to go to DVD.
C.

[tedanderson]

If you want to record in 16:9 just put black bars on the top and bottom of your CG.

Originally Posted by tedanderson

If you want to record in 16:9 just put black bars on the top and bottom of your CG.

Are you serious? I don't want people to be confused about what's really 16:9 and what's letterboxing.

[bobatasp]

OK....so bottom line is nobody is aware of a DVD recorder (under $3k) that can record 1280x720?

[Gracetech]

You can get DVD recorders in two flavors.

NTSC = 720X480
and
Pal = 720X576

That is the highest resolution DVD recorders can work with. In order to feed a resolution to a DVD player it has to meet a NTSC or Pal standard.

crt

[tedanderson]

Originally Posted by Tim Eason

Are you serious? I don't want people to be confused about what's really 16:9 and what's letterboxing.

If you think that's bad, you would be surprised at some of the people that I encounter who think that 16:9 and/or letter boxing makes a video into an HD video.

[kbob]

If I recall correctly, some of the hd recorders (blu ray and hd dvd) allowed you to record shorter snippets of hd resolution video to regular dvd's. However, only blu ray/hd dvd devices could read them, not regular dvd players.

However, it had the advantage of allowing the use of regular dvd's at their relatively low costs. Last I checked, blank hd blanks were running around $25 a pop.

I'm not sure blu ray is commercially shipping their recorders yet-I know hd dvd was already shipping their recorders, but of course they didn't make it.

[tedanderson]

I hope HD-DVD does not get permanently canned. Like when Sony lost the videocassette format war, they modified the technology to give us Betacam. So even though Pioneer isn't going to make any more HD-DVD's for video, I hope they still have a place somewhere else in the industry.

[camthecameraman]

I concur that to record to DVD with the widest playback potential you need to record in PAL or NTSC, ie 720x576 for PAL (dont know NTSC). So a down conversion is needed and you WILL loose detail. If you must capture that higher resolution you will need some kind of screen capture software which will cause a performance hit on the display PC