Progressive Scan DVD Players

							Title:
Progressive Scan DVD Players

Word Count:
608

Summary:
Progressive scan DVD players can ma
ke a difference in the quality of y
our DVD viewing, but only if both t
he source material and the televisi
on are compatible with the technolo
gy.


Keywords:
progressive scan DVD players


Article Body:
You've probably heard about progres
sive scan DVD players, but you may
not know what exactly they are or w
hy they seem to be the hot item tha
t people want these days. To unders
tand why this is the case, first yo
u need to learn about the different
 technology that progressive scan D
VD players provide. And then you'll
 need to realize that at the moment
, only those who have invested in H
DTV or other high performance displ
ay screens or projectors will be ab
le to take advantage of the difference.

To start with, let's review the way
 that traditional motion pictures a
re created. In fact, the term 'moti
on picture' is rather misleading be
cause no pictures actually move. In
stead, still pictures, also called
frames, are played in rapid success
ion so that the resulting display i
s changing so quickly and in such s
mall amounts at a time that we perc
eive it as moving. You may have rec
reated this illusion in school or o
n your own by drawing stick figures
 or other pictures on a stack of pa
per, then flipped through the paper
 quickly. The figures looked like t
hey were moving rather jerkily. But
 if you took the time to draw enoug
h frames and move them quickly enou
gh, you would see much smoother mot
ion, like in cartoons.

Television is recorded in the same
type of frames. Then it's broken do
wn to be transmitted in a signal. W
hen the signal is received by your
television, it is reassembled in se
ctions, or stripes. These stripes a
re reassembled in two different set
s, from top to bottom and left to r
ight across your television screen.
 To explain this concept more clear
ly, imagine window blinds that are
partly open. The actual blind piece
s are one set of stripes and the sp
ace between the stripes represents
the second half of stripes. In a TV
 transmission, the stripes of set o
ne are laid in before the second se
t is laid in. This is called an int
erlaced display. Although it sounds
 like it would take some time, all
of this happens in the fraction of
a second – 60 of the fields or stri
pes are displayed per second.

DVD players and DVDs have used this
 same technology because of the fac
t that TVs displayed pictures this
way. But with the advent of digital
 and high definition television pro
jectors, display technology has cha
nged, leading the way for DVD techn
ology to change as well. These high
 performance TVs and projector scre
ens receive and display signals in
full progressive frames instead of
stripes. And 60 full frames are dis
played per second. Meaning even mor
e detail can be included in the sam
e amount of time, resulting in pict
ures with less flicker or picture d
istortions. Progressive scan DVD pl
ayers work by sending DVD signals i
n the same progressive format.

However, progressive scan DVD playe
rs only make a difference if they h
ave both the source material that c
an be scanned into progressive sign
als and the display screen that can
 receive progressive signals. Older
 DVDs were most likely not recorded
 with progressive signals. Newer on
es will have the capability, though
. But as mentioned before, you have
 to have a television that can rece
ive progressive signals. HDTV telev
isions can, and so can CRT or LCD m
onitors.

If you have the right kind of telev
ision, a progressive scan DVD playe
r, and a DVD that was produced in t
he last 5 years or so, you can test
 to see if you can tell an improvem
ent. Just switch the DVD playing se
tup from progressive to normal as y
ou watch the film. Look at the outl
ine of things, and the details of t
he background elements. You may jus
t experience home video with a clar
ity and sharpness like never before.