Does This Aspect Ratio Make Me Look Fat? (SD Video Edition!)

April 25, 2018 Bob Pariseau

People are often surprised when I tell them Standard Definition (SD) Video can look gorgeous in their Home Theater. The sad truth, alas, is that MOST people have never ever seen SD Video "done right"! The problem is, at these resolutions (and data rates), there is NO margin for error. ANY mistake in the content creation or video processing -- any corner cut in the setup at any stage -- WILL produce image defects that viewers can not ignore. And such defects, once introduced, can NOT be corrected by any sort of subsequent image enhancement processing. The critical information has been permanently lost. At best you can blur such defects to make them less annoying.

This post discusses the technical details of image "Aspect Ratio", as found on traditional, SD-DVD movie discs, with tips for avoiding some common mistakes which will reduce your SD viewing quality.

HDMI "Premium Certified" Cables <-- THESE are What You Want!

April 23, 2018 Bob Pariseau

There is no single, more important, piece of advice I can give you than this: As of this date -- April, 2018 -- you should be using *ONLY* HDMI Ultra HD Premium Certified cables for *ALL* of your HDMI connections.

Out of the Bog and into the Blog!

April 22, 2018 Bob Pariseau

Over the years I've been posting on AVSForum.com, many folks have longed for something like, "The Collected Best of Bob Pariseau". I suspect they were envisioning some sort of book.

A really really long book. Perhaps in multiple volumes....

Well, I'm going to try a Blog instead!

In no particular order -- or priority -- this Blog will feature discussion of home theater topics, both technical and mundane, which I've found particularly confusing to folks. Chosen, rather loosely, based on how often I've had to re-answer the same questions!

Hopefully, I'll touch on topics of interest to you. In any event, it should be a lot easier to lift than that book!

--Bob

Home Theater Mysteries EXPLAINED!