User Guide

20 Preface An Introduction to DVD Studio Pro 4
About DVD Studio Pro 4 and HD Resolution DVDs
In addition to supporting standard definition (SD) format video DVDs, DVD Studio Pro 4
now supports creating high definition (HD) format video DVDs.
With the exception of support for HD video resolutions and the number of buttons on
menus and button over video subtitles, HD projects in DVD Studio Pro 4 have the same
limits as SD projects.
There are two aspects to creating DVDs with HD content: what you can put into the
DVD video zone and the DVD disc media.
DVD Video Zone With HD Content
While the contents of the DVD video zone for an HD-based DVD (HVDVD_TS) are
similar to those of an SD-based DVD video zone (VIDEO_TS), there are some important
differences:
• HD-based DVDs support a broad range of video resolutions, including most of those
used in SD-based DVDs. See “Supported Video Resolutions” on page 21 for a
complete list of supported resolutions.
• In addition to supporting SD MPEG-2 video encodes, HD-based DVDs support HD
MPEG-2 and H.264 video encodes. These are discussed in “HD Video Assets” on
page 22.
Blue Laser Disc Media
Due to the improved video resolution possible with HD video, the encoded video files
for HD resolution DVDs can be larger than those used with SD resolution DVDs. For that
reason, a media format based on a blue laser was designed specifically for DVD projects
containing HD video. See the following table for a comparison of SD and HD disc sizes.
In addition to blue laser based DVD media, an HD project’s DVD video zone can be
written to DVD media based on the red lasers used by traditional DVDs. (The obvious
limitation is that you will not be able to fit as much video data on the disc.)
Important: SD-based DVD players are not able to play DVD projects containing HD
content, whether they are on red or blue laser media. Additionally, only HD projects on
special 3x DVD-ROM red laser media are officially supported in the HD DVD
specification. You can burn HD projects to traditional red laser media on your system;
however, the discs might not play in all HD DVD players.
Disc Red laser capacity Blue laser capacity
Single-sided, single-layer 4.7 GB 15 GB
Single-sided, dual-layer 8.54 GB 30 GB