Topic: VJ Downloads - poor quality (Read 14055 times)

budjames · « **on:** June 16, 2007, 10:59:47 am »

I realize the business decision to move from mailing DVD's to downloads, however, the quality of the downloads is very poor. It's a shame that you cannot enlarge the playback window more that few inches wide without severe quality degradation.

I'll miss the DVD quality slide shows that used to cap off a DVD issue of VJ.

Bud James

Mort54 · « **Reply #1 on:** June 16, 2007, 12:45:02 pm »

Quote

I realize the business decision to move from mailing DVD's to downloads, however, the quality of the downloads is very poor. It's a shame that you cannot enlarge the playback window more that few inches wide without severe quality degradation.

Bud, I couldn't agree more. The download image quality just doesn't cut it. There's no other way to say it. I've seen much better Quicktime videos, so higher quality is certainly possible. I'm assuming the poor quality is driven by file size constraints. Given that these video's are about photography, in which a large part of the pleasure in watching them is derived from the beauty of the images being shot, I feel these video's loose a lot because of their washed out colors and poor resolution. I don't think I'll be purchasing any more downloads. Hopefully the DVDs won't disappear.

budjames · « **Reply #2 on:** June 17, 2007, 02:23:40 pm »

As a charter subscriber to the VJ, I'm very disappointed in the quality, as I already posted. I guess that the only benefit now is convenience (downloadable) and the how-to info itself. Certainly the photography is lost in the poor quality of the QT videos.

Michael, you might as well just post the videos as web clips as they don't do the message justice or the subscription fee for that matter either.

Bud James
North Wales, PA.

michael · « **Reply #3 on:** June 17, 2007, 05:32:58 pm »

Needless to say, I beg to differ. Several thousand people have now tried our downloads and there have been very few complaints about quality. Yes, a few, but statistically insignificant.

Are you watching them on a TV or a computer screen? If on a TV then no, the quality will be poor compared to a DVD. But on a monitor even at half screen size on a 30" Cinemasdisplay they're really not at all bad.

But for those that want higher quality we will be offering the DVD version as a download as well, all 4GB of it, at a small premium price because of the extra bandwidth costs. Watch for it soon.

Mailing plastic is going away. There's no way around it. But we are trying to meet people's needs and requests.

Michael

rpetruzzelli · « **Reply #4 on:** June 17, 2007, 06:57:09 pm »

Quote

But for those that want higher quality we will be offering the DVD version as a download as well, all 4GB of it, at a small premium price because of the extra bandwidth costs. Watch for it soon.

Mailing plastic is going away. There's no way around it. But we are trying to meet people's needs and requests.

Michael
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=123359\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Michael,

I agree with all of the messages here. Both the two who are disappointed and with your point of view too. But, what I miss the most is being able to watch them on my BIG screen tv and sharing the experience with my friends and family. Your video segments on your travel photography leave everyone feeling we wish we could be there with you.

If the DVD format is burnable onto a DVD than I'd be happy to download it and burn my own "plastic".

Thanks,
Bob

Mort54 · « **Reply #5 on:** June 18, 2007, 12:13:15 am »

Quote

But for those that want higher quality we will be offering the DVD version as a download as well, all 4GB of it, at a small premium price because of the extra bandwidth costs. Watch for it soon.

I'm watching the downloaded files on my 30" Cinema Display. I've tried resizing the player, and various viewing distances. The most pleasing results, to my tastes at least, seem to occur when I use the "actual size" sizing option. Which leads to a relatively small player, with the actual video displayed at a width of roughly 6 inches. Any bigger and the image becomes pixelated pretty fast. I also feel the colors are muted relative to playing a DVD thru a TV. The downloads are certainly viewable, but they simply don't have the quality of DVDs. Not even close. I guess that's my only point. I'm glad to hear we'll be able to download DVD quality files. I also understand the desire to move to a purely electronic distribution system, but it's a shame image quality has to suffer as a result.

christiaan · « **Reply #6 on:** June 18, 2007, 06:39:10 am »

I'm watching the downloaded files on my 20" Cinema Display and I am very satisfied concerning quality. I don't understand the complaints.

Mort54 · « **Reply #7 on:** June 18, 2007, 10:12:46 am »

Quote

I'm watching the downloaded files on my 20" Cinema Display and I am very satisfied concerning quality. I don't understand the complaints.

Well, it's just my opinion - my subjective reaction to watching the VJ on DVD, vs watching it on my monitor. As Michael points out, very few have complained, so maybe I'm the odd person out on this. However, you clearly can't watch it as big, since this results in pixelation. And even Michael points out that it doesn't look as good when played thru a TV. But to each their own.

bob mccarthy · « **Reply #8 on:** June 18, 2007, 10:52:30 am »

My comment is only that I was hoping the LLV would move in the other direction, namely HD.

With the broad acceptance of 1080P now and BlueRay/HD-DVD and that the team had moved to hd capture, I was hoping.

I would gladly pay a premium for a HD version of LL.

Bob

michael · « **Reply #9 on:** June 18, 2007, 06:11:05 pm »

I'm sorry, but "broad acceptance" of HD/DVD and Blue Ray simply isn't there yet. I wish it were, because we have almost 3 years of HD content in the can (so to speak).

When my local video store starts renting these disks I'll know that they have reached critical mass, but in the meantime they say "not enough demand yet, not enough titles yet, too much confusion over standards.....".

Sigh.

Michael

DarkPenguin · « **Reply #10 on:** June 18, 2007, 06:20:09 pm »

Quote

I'm sorry, but "broad acceptance" of HD/DVD and Blue Ray simply isn't there yet. I wish it were, because we have almost 3 years of HD content in the can (so to speak).

When my local video store starts renting these disks I'll know that they have reached critical mass, but in the meantime they say "not enough demand yet, not enough titles yet, too much confusion over standards.....".

Sigh.

Michael
[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Blockbuster is going Blu-ray. FYI

[a href=\"http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_513097.html]http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburgh...s/s_513097.html[/url]

kaelaria · « **Reply #11 on:** June 18, 2007, 11:39:07 pm »

To all those that don't believe the quality difference - full screen a download video and fullscreen one of the DVDs - day and night.

That said, It was a good deal for $10, but I won't be buying any more. I will only buy the 4GB versions, and happy to do so! Can't wait!

I loved the Cali shoot, BTW, good work guys!

Quentin · « **Reply #12 on:** June 19, 2007, 09:08:47 am »

I was a relatively early adopter of online purchasing, from back in the mid 1990's when it first began to take off - software mostly. I purchased my last two copies of Photoshop, CS2 and nw CS3, by download from Adobe. However there is something tactile and user friendly about a disk arriving in mail, labelled and ready to view. I mean, we all look at and edit images on screen, but that is not a reason to close down art galleries.

So its a pity, in my view, if LLVJ moves to download only. I'll hang on to physical delivery for so long as it is offered, particularly if it moves to HD given the time it would take to download a full HD disk even with broadband.

And I'll still visit galleries and hang prints too.

Long live dinosaurs

Quentin

budjames · « **Reply #13 on:** June 23, 2007, 02:40:52 pm »

I'm watching the downloads on my 24" EIZO ColorEdge CE240W, however, the QT viewing window is only about 6" across and the quality is horrible.

The monitor is color calibrated and connected to my Mac Pro 8 core with a ATI X1900 Radeon display so there is no problems with the hardware, etc.

If the full res HD video becomes available as a download, then I can probably use iDVD to burn a DVD for the DVD player connected to my 52" HD Plasma TV. Not convenient, but it should be worth the effort.

Cheers,

Bud James
North Wales, PA

hgmoore · « **Reply #14 on:** July 06, 2007, 02:19:32 pm »

I enjoy this site, I too ordered the Lightroom videos.

The quality is terrible
Quicktime would be my very last choice for a player. How about other options.

I made an attempt to download the 1.1 update, and gave up trying to successfuly navigate the purchase/store system to get it. always wind up with error message about the fact that my download time has expired.

I consider my original purchase to be a donation to the site.

Christopher Sanderson · « **Reply #15 on:** July 06, 2007, 05:16:12 pm »

Quote

I made an attempt to download the 1.1 update, and gave up trying to successfuly navigate the purchase/store system to get it. always wind up with error message about the fact that my download time has expired.[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

All Downloads expire after three months but to reinstate your files' download status, simply send an email to

Or there is an even easier way already taken by thousands of viewers, go to [a href=\"http://www.luminous-landscape.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=21&products_id=151]the free product[/url], 'buy' it and enter the coupon code LuminousLandscapeTutorial into the coupon code box at checkout and the purchase will be free.

BTW Windows users do not have to use QuickTime to play the files. VLC Player or QuickTime Alternative work very well. See the FAQ page for links & details

CS

Christopher Sanderson · « **Reply #16 on:** July 06, 2007, 05:43:13 pm »

I have re-encoded and replaced the California .mp4 file in the LLVJ-16 Download product.

I would like to get reaction to its quality. It is the same pixel size but the frame rate is upped from 24 to 29.97. For those viewing it on a television screen, this should improve things considerably

If you have purchased LLVJ-16 and would download that file again, log in to your order with your registered email & password here.

Chris S

kaelaria · « **Reply #17 on:** July 06, 2007, 06:47:50 pm »

Ideally the resolution would return in the future as well, because it is very noticeable - but the framerate is now correct and looks great! A BIG step in the right direction!

GeneB · « **Reply #18 on:** July 07, 2007, 11:19:33 pm »

Quote

I have re-encoded and replaced the California .mp4 file in the LLVJ-16 Download product.

I would like to get reaction to its quality. It is the same pixel size but the frame rate is upped from 24 to 29.97. For those viewing it on a television screen, this should improve things considerably

If you have purchased LLVJ-16 and would download that file again, log in to your order with your registered email & password here.

Chris S
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=126900\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Hi,

I figured out how to d/l the LR 1.1 update video for free but I can't figure the new LL V16 Calif. mp4 segment. I followed your link but it looks like it thought I wanted to buy the whole LL V16 again. Am I missing something?

Thanks,

Gene

Christopher Sanderson · « **Reply #19 on:** July 08, 2007, 08:36:39 am »

Quote

I figured out how to d/l the LR 1.1 update video for free but I can't figure the new LL V16 Calif. mp4 segment. I followed your link but it looks like it thought I wanted to buy the whole LL V16 again. Am I missing something?

As with all download orders - free or otherwise, you may return to your order at any time within three months to re-download or continue to download the files. The California piece has simply been replaced. If you do not know how to get to your order, please read the FAQ

CS

Author Topic: VJ Downloads - poor quality (Read 14055 times)

christiaan

DarkPenguin