Claim Chowder: Jack Deneut thinks modern video apps use pixel-doubling
Forget about DVD (Standard Definition) video, which if displayed at native resolution would be little bigger than a postage stamp on this new display. 720p HD video (the highest resolution sold on iTunes) would fill only a quarter of the screen, and 1080p video would have black bars not only along the top and bottom, but also along the sides of the screen. Of course, Apple will scale up these videos to fill the screen, but most people don’t expect pixel-doubling when watching HD video.
Apparently jack thinks we still live in the 1990s, when video codecs and playback apps used pixel-doubling to expand videos, rather than using the modern fuzzy versions which average out pixel values. I’m not an expert by any means, but my guess from looking at expanded output would be that the codecs themselves specify video in rather fuzzy units. Certainly when I run a YouTube video full screen on my 30” Apple Cinema Display (2560x1600), I don’t see huge chunky pixels, I see smooth gradients. It’s by no means perfect fidelity, but it’s a LONG way from looking manky.
Also, look at Blu-Ray players vs. DVD players when attached to 1080p TVs. If I play a DVD back on my 1080p LCD TV using a regular DVD player, it looks a damned sight worse than when I do so using my Blu-ray player (which, for the record, is a PlayStation 3). The PS3 upscales the content nicely, and without even the vaguest hint of pixel-doubling.
Of course, there’s also one other thing to take into account. Even without nice upscaling playback, even if the last ten years’ worth of video playback technology hadn’t happened, the horrible pixel-doubled video would look exactly the same as the current iPad. That’s right. There’s twice as many pixels per dimension, but they’re squeezed into the exact same physical space. If these hypothetical doubled pixels will make the display look so horrible, then the current-generation iPad must look terrible right? Right?
Oh, wait.
PS: Thanks for giving me my first ever claim chowder post ;o)
