Fuzzy Text

[dansfine]

Hi! I am experiencing some problems on a burned dvd using toast 10.

 

Here are the details, any help would be appreciated!

 

Mac OS 10.6.6 : I have a power point slide show. Using the best export settings, I export the power point as a .mov. When I play the file in quicktime player (7 and 10) it is perfect. Title cards are clear. Text in photos are clear as a bell.

 

Than import the .mov to toast 10. Burn using custom, best setting. And also using default settings. No matter what I select the text on the title slides and the photos come out fuzzy and pixelated.

 

Since it is fine as a quicktime movie, I assume the problem is with toast. I've tried using iDVD and DVD Studio Pro and various other power point to dvd/movie conversion software and I have the same problem. So maybe the problem is with the exported quicktime file even though it looks great in quicktime player?

[Ed197]

Hi! I am experiencing some problems on a burned dvd using toast 10.

 

Here are the details, any help would be appreciated!

 

Mac OS 10.6.6 : I have a power point slide show. Using the best export settings, I export the power point as a .mov. When I play the file in quicktime player (7 and 10) it is perfect. Title cards are clear. Text in photos are clear as a bell.

 

Than import the .mov to toast 10. Burn using custom, best setting. And also using default settings. No matter what I select the text on the title slides and the photos come out fuzzy and pixelated.

 

Since it is fine as a quicktime movie, I assume the problem is with toast. I've tried using iDVD and DVD Studio Pro and various other power point to dvd/movie conversion software and I have the same problem. So maybe the problem is with the exported quicktime file even though it looks great in quicktime player?

[tsantee]

Please describe the video specs that Toast reports in its window when you add the video. Also, are you viewing the resulting DVD on your Mac or on a TV? If on a Mac be sure you are viewing it at actual or normal size and not full screen.

[dansfine]

Please describe the video specs that Toast reports in its window when you add the video. Also, are you viewing the resulting DVD on your Mac or on a TV? If on a Mac be sure you are viewing it at actual or normal size and not full screen.

 

 

 

Viewing on dvd player on a tv.

 

Did multiple tests - saving original .mov differently - all with same fuzzy result:

 

Original file:

Video: NMS Media Handler, 1440 x 870, 30fps

Audio: None

 

Test 1:

Video: H.264, 1440 x 870, 30fps

Audio: None

 

Test 2:

Video: RGB, 1440 x 878, 30fps

Audio: None

 

Test 3:

Video: MPEG-4, 1440 x 878, 30fps

Audio: None

 

Test 4:

Video: Photo-JPEG, 1440 x 878, 30fps

Audio: None

[tsantee]

Viewing on dvd player on a tv.

 

Did multiple tests - saving original .mov differently - all with same fuzzy result:

 

Original file:

Video: NMS Media Handler, 1440 x 870, 30fps

Audio: None

 

Test 1:

Video: H.264, 1440 x 870, 30fps

Audio: None

 

Test 2:

Video: RGB, 1440 x 878, 30fps

Audio: None

 

Test 3:

Video: MPEG-4, 1440 x 878, 30fps

Audio: None

 

Test 4:

Video: Photo-JPEG, 1440 x 878, 30fps

Audio: None

Try saving it as 640x480 h.264 and see if that works better.

[dansfine]

Try saving it as 640x480 h.264 and see if that works better.

 

That actually made it worse....

[tsantee]

That actually made it worse....

I gave you the 4:3 ratio setting. I realize your video is 16:9 so I should have recommended 838x480. The problem of course is that you are going from a HD non-interlaced format to SD interlaced. This definitely affects the quality of sharp edges. Turn on Half-pel in the custom encoder settings window to see if that helps.

[dansfine]

I gave you the 4:3 ratio setting. I realize your video is 16:9 so I should have recommended 838x480. The problem of course is that you are going from a HD non-interlaced format to SD interlaced. This definitely affects the quality of sharp edges. Turn on Half-pel in the custom encoder settings window to see if that helps.

 

tsantee:

 

thanks for all your help. that didn't get me there either.... i tried checking the "deinterlace source video" box in the quicktime export as well. i'm totally at a loss here....

[tsantee]

tsantee:

 

thanks for all your help. that didn't get me there either.... i tried checking the "deinterlace source video" box in the quicktime export as well. i'm totally at a loss here....

The loss may be unavoidable, at least at a consumer price level. MPEG 2 is designed to handle motion but does poorly with anything that doesn't move. The sharpness of text really makes this obvious. High-end MPEG 2 encoders can do multiple passes to strengthen detail. That's probably why text on a commercial DVD's credits doesn't look too bad. There's a product called BitVice that sells for under $200 that is much superior to the MPEG 2 encoders used by Toast or iDVD. Innobits has a demo you can download. If you know someone who owns Final Cut Pro they also have Compressor which is a high-end MPEG 2 encoder.