how come no one has replied... how does VSL look on a large projection screen? I imagine someone out there has been doing this...
post your experiences....

It looks fine on all mine .. I have 3 and am only runnin S-Video to them.

The only way to do this would be to use a lossless codec but these typically only obtain 2:1 compression so a 5 minute video would be around 2.5GB

Also I usually find that compression artefacts are more noticeable on an LCD computer monitor close up than they are on a huge projector screen.

The quality of the image output by VSL is limited only by the quality of the video files you create and the speed of your hardware.

I do music video djing on the biggest of big screens. The quality looks as good as anything on directv that plays on those same screens and usually much better. We're talking very big screens, plasmas, projectors, etc. If you're worried about the quality of how the video files will look on bigscreen tvs and projectors, you're probably focusing your worry in the wrong place.

I just did a high school event with 2 6x8 screens. The quality was fine and there were no problems at all. Looked crisp.

can you give me an example of you video specs? Framerate etc.

is there anyway to lower the white brightness from projectors on the screen

yeah, you go into the settings on the projector and lower brightness

duh, makes sense..lol

lol /facepalm

Its like a billboard compared to a flyer. You print a flyer at 300 dpi because it's small and you read it a foot away from your face. Some billboards are printed at like 10 dpi but you're not standing a foot away from it so it looks great at a large size.

You can pause a dvd on a high def tv and see artifacts but if the picture is changing they are much harder to see. Thank god for our hard drives they don't have high def music video dvds yet.

in other words, it depends on how close people are standing to the screen.

Wow, those last 2 messages were just so wrong.

Think you can see the issues on a cinema screen? compared to a 120" screen. Nope. And it's because of the quality of the image. Quality is king and compression is bad. So you do everything you can to keep the compression down.

Kinda agree but in a club environment people are less likely to notice... How many VJ's have run footage 320x240...

Back on topic however, I have tested HD 720p stuff in VSL and it struggles with 2 video on my macbook but didn't do too badly on PC but if effects are used its a no no. VDJ handles 720p stuff really well with the CineForm HD Codec avi's but really isn't worth it unless you've got some specialized project in mind!

Ideally i agree with you VJ Justin Allen but we have to deal with compression if we are storing videos on hard drives. If we all had unlimited memory and computing power and the labels were putting HD videos out there I'd be all over it but that isn't the case.

That's why people use mp3's instead of uncompressed wav files in the first place. You can always tell a difference between the two (CD's and mp3s) and with video it's even more pronounced. Besides, where do you get uncompressed video from anyway? I'm on my12inch.com and they have great quality videos but they aren't nearly as good as DVD uncompressed quality.

Are you a DVD VJ or something?

Pioneer DVJ-X1

i guess so...how did i know that?

on a 120" widescreen even at dvd quality (720x576) you get only 6.8 pixels per inch. (105"x60" screen at 16:9 ratio = 120" diagonal)

BOTTOMLINE: compromising is a touchy subject. Using lousy files on a huge system will make you sound and look bad. And striving for excellence is a goal EVERY DJ should strive for.

Hard drive costs are plummeting and the thinking that everything needs to reside on internal drives is a soon to be a pipe dream, or you are very organized and/or pack your drive with a specific genre. For those that do play multi-genre, and field requests, externals are a must. And caving in to this isn't really that bad, yes more plugs more points of failure [i've heard the arguments]. But folks, don't shit your own bed and start giving up quality on such an extreme? A high bit rate MP3 sound pretty damn good and it'd take a really good ear to notice the difference in a .wav file. But this compressed video LOOKS LIKE SHIT. flat out. Compresses your ipod videos, not your gig videos. Until we get an absolute debatable and comparable formula for compression - running a direct rip would be the IDEAL choice.


And if you'd really like to get a good grip on what shit you folks are OK'ing.. Record your set in 720x480 - burn it to a DVD.. and play it on your HiDef Flatscreen TV's.. and just sit there, watch the lips be off, watch the color be funky and just think if you'd really be all that happy with you name plastered on it. After watching it [and I'm using 3504kbps files], I'm about 2 seconds from running VDJ..

Is this only when you record? Because it doesn't look that bad when I'm playing it and testing it.

mmmh.

I record off my Tivo using the same hardware/software and burn it to DVD. That process isn't the issue.

There's gotta be something wrong there. Like I said, I don't see a problem as I'm playing it live. So, something must be introduced as you're recording it...

ok, let me explain... while playing I too glance at the screen and say to myself, "hell, it's not that bad". But the real proof is when you're sitting on the couch, the same as a patron to a club/bar would do, and your eyes latch on to details and you can ascertain that things just aren't right, and some stuff is just downright, FUKKER'd.

Am I the only one seeing imperfections, well no. A perfect example is a-swift, he seems to notice a definite sync issue, extensively tested for it and went as far to redo the library accordingly.

"Doesn't look that bad" says the guy getting paid, well that doesn't sit well with me. I'd like to bring a quality product and solid production quality if I'm expecting to get paid.

Well, this is what I'm talking about - and once again, not conforming. I would love a better product, so I'm waiting patiently until this happens.

What I meant was that I can see a little bit of audio being off... but NOT throughout the video. It's just in parts and it makes me wonders if it's the video or VSL playing tricks on me. We all know the audio gets added to a video and the artist will NEVER be right on point when singing/rapping.

So, it's 'good enough' for people at some club who won't give a shit anyway.

Do I want it better? Yes. I want perfection or near perfection like SSL.

I have video of me DeeJaying with a large projection screen (Testing) I'll trying working on it now so I can post it for you. . . I still learning more but I know a little bit about what to look for. . .

I'm ^^^^^^

I am, but I also have a 57 and the plug-in. I just won't run it live yet. Not slamming it, I just need it to be a little more error free. And quality of course. I will wait, I think, until MPEG2 is supported.

And more and more venues are usinf HD plasma screens guys, and in too many case you are taking you compressed footage, sending it out of your card which changes the aspect ratio, and more than likely here, the end TV is once again changing the aspect ratio again.

Lot's of room for errors there.

Well I guess not. . . lol My little girl dropped my camera and it's not working. . . haha

Doh!!!!

nope... I do too...

scratchlive.net

Oh snap. I didn't know we were trying to direct movies now. They're MUSIC VIDEOS... these ain't award winning material. I didn't know Steven Spielberg wanted to use VSL.

Ultimately, drunk people won't care... It's dark in clubs... People are dancing and not glued to the damn screens... well, most people.

Same would go for music - but we still try to maintain the highest level of quality :)

not sixxx... apparently quality doesn't matter

well we all have our standards.

I didn't say that quality doesn't matter.... but tell me you aint played a 192 file... oh wait, you play nothing but uncompressed files? Bullshit. So, for now VSL will do. Ultimitaley I'd like to see VOB support but tell me customers will care that you give them the HIGHEST quality of video or even music possible and ill tell you once again... BULLSHIT.

sixxx,

Sorry to disagree with you, but you are wrong. Customers and more importantly, Owners, do care about the end quality. Especially after they see the image. After doing videos for 3 years in clubs I have seen the look and heard their words.

You're telling me the image on VSL right now is such that customers or owners would go... oh hell get that shit out of my face? Pleeeeeeeeease. Owners don't give a fuck. They say F U PAY ME.

And customers? Hahahaha. Bullshit. I can understand if the video is freezing, program crashing, music interrupted (dropouts or whatever) but in its current state you will NOT get a customer to tell you that what you're playing is shit unless a) you have a high definition tv playing the same content from a different source. In other words, they cannot compare live, so it won't matter.... customers just wanna dance and get their party on.

Oh wait, you said 3 years? VLS hasn't been out that long. lol So, unless you were playing some youtube quality shit, then I bet owners would care.

Remember the most simplest rule in the world of music or video.... crap in, crap out.

sixxx,

I have been using Pioneer DVJ-X1's for 3 years, and own 6 of them, have over 6000 music video's (also already digitized as well) so I think I have been around the block concerning music video's in nightclubs. And I also use the 57 and the video plug-in. And yes, I have seen and heard owners and customers remark on the difference between the video outputs. And if you see in my post above, you will see that most clubs I play in DO use HD monitors and screens. And customers CAN and DO compare. You don't think your customers have plasma and LCD TV's in their own homes?

But, that's ok, I really am not looking to start an argument with you over this. Just giving my opinion and passing on my experience. Use it, don't use it...totally up to you.

Yes. Customers do have plasma and LCD TV's in their own homes. That's a rather stupid argument if you ask me. They certainly don't go to a club (where there are only projectors or regular TV's) and go tell the owner of the establishment they need to upgrade. Or, complain to the VDJ that the quality of the video isn't up to "their standards".

I'm not saying that I don't expect VSL to be better. I'm not saying that I don't prefer better audio or video over shitty one. What I am saying is that MOST of the customers at a club or bar, won't car. They won't care whether you play a 128kbps file or a 320. They won't care whether you play VSL now or in 3 years when the quality is up to YOUR and MY standards.

Club owners and DJ's just want to get paid.

Customers just want to party and have a good time.

overall, my biggest disappointment is that Serato rolled out the gate virtually last in vinyl emulation, and they came in with the lowest latency and took the market.

Again, VSL is the last to market and damnit, they dropped by ball bigtime. the only thing getting "took" is us who bought VSL early, a plugin riding on a tried and true base and we're looking like a 4th grader using watercolors to fill in our videos.

Couldn't have said it better myself. Serato, we NEED MPEG-2 support for VSL. That seems to be the only way this is going to work out in a professional environment. That's why I'm forced to use 4600kbps videos, and they STILL look like shit (sorry, I don't really have a better way of putting it) at the final output of VSL. I'm not about to go to the club playing videos that have low quality make me look unprofessional. Please, I (and I'm sure many others) are begging you to add MPEG-2 support, preferably NOT using the QuickTime engine (no idea why this was chosen in the first place).

I agree that mpeg-2 support is very important from a quality standpoint, but I am overall pretty happy with MY mpeg-4 (h.264) library. I can't tell that much of a difference from MY files. Now someone that has done shitty encoding, I'm sure their files look like shit, mine do not. I am also satisfied with the organization of MY files via tagging and iTunes and the fact that I don't have to lug around an external HD. I have done extensive testing with my library and have encoded 3 times (5,000 videos).

The lagging of the audio is my main concern.

Precisely.