MiniDV or DVD for theater exhibition?

[RedGiant]

I know this sounds crazy (the project was shot on the Red), but my question is this:

If a theater only has the capability to exhibit on MiniDV or DVD - which would be the better choice for theater exhibition? I'm thinking MiniDV due to the higher bit rate, but is that correct? Won't other things need to be considered other than bit rate?

 

[MichaelP]

Something else to consider and just as important is your sound. If you are planning on surround, then DVD is the way to go with AC3 encoding. The mini DV will be stereo only unless you had a Dolby E encode done somewhere along the way.

Michael

 

[RedGiant]

Thanks for the reply - audio will be stereo only.

 

[Daniel Browning]

Just bring your RED-RAY in and... oops, sorry, wrong year.

DVD uses a more efficient codec, 4:2:0, and you'll probably be able to use 9mbps (unless the theater has a bad dvd player). The more important consideration is the encoding software. There are heaps of software for encoding MPEG2 for DVD as well as volumes of literature. There are many things to consider, such as spatial resampling, progressive storage, color space conversion, chroma-sub-sampling conversion, and dithering (prevent banding, important!). Some of these can be done in post, but others are best done in the encoder itself to get the highest quality.

Because MiniDV encoders don't have the same amount of software, information, or attention, I would recommend DVD.

 

[Johan Pabon]

I sometimes use a laptop and a video converted to quicktime with a limited datatransfer. In that way you keep resolution.

 

[alexx_hg]

Most DVD Players can handle true progressive 576/480p via YUVcomponent output. So does 99% of the projectors.
DV Codec doesn´t play nicely with your originated progressive RED Footage. We just made several tests (projector) and if you only can choose between DV and DVD, DVD is definetely the way to go.

bg
alex

 

[J.D.]

One of my films played in theaters on DVD and MiniDV, my opinion is that the miniDV tape looked a lot better. I'm not a tech guy but what about the fact that a DVD holds 4.7 gigs per 2 hrs and a miniDV tape is 13 gigs of info for a 1 hr tape?.... seems to me like the mini dv retains more info and has a better picture.
I would run a test at the theater if you can with both...

 

[donatello b]

we did a theater screening few years ago ... original material was shot on DVcam ...
using their DVD player the image was so-so ... switched to an Oppo up rez DVD player and it was pretty good - day & night difference between SD dvd and Oppo ....

 

[Jaime Vallés]

What is the resolution of the projector? Is it SD, 720p or 1080p?

If it's only SD, an uprezzing DVD player shouldn't look any different than a standard DVD player, right?

If the projector is HD, then definitely an uprezzing DVD player is the way to go.