DVD burning software + Nikon D7100 firmware update

Hi all, first post here so hello to everybody
Ok, two questions .. First, I've tried to get the best quality into DVD photo slideshows. I'm using Nero Platinum 2014 but no matter how I do it, the photos are really poor quality when playing back on a large flat screen tv. Now I know about the loss of resolution from photo to DVD, but does anybody know of a better way of doing it or better software?
Question two, until I was browsing on this forum, I didn't know there was a firmware update for my D7100 .. is it something I should be getting? Is it worth it?

I've worked with Nero software in the past and have always been a fan of it. With your version I don't see why it would not be capable of keeping the absolute best resolution possible. When you mention "DVD photo slideshow" I have to wonder if that particular subset of the program has a built-in feature to compress the photos or to shrink them down to a preset resolution size. Perhaps if it is preconfigured to shrink photos down to 800x600 that would explain the loss of quality if your flat screen is a 1080p. Can you insert the burned DVD into a computer and look at the properties of each photo? You should be able to see what size they are from there.

I have yet to look at the firmware update. It's something I typically keep up with but I don't think there is an urgent need to upgrade just yet. Of course, I'm not sure what issues it addresses so that could change.

I contacted Nero and they said my settings were correct but I cannot get a higher resolution unless I got to bluray. That is an option but the rest of my family don't have bluray players (only DVD). That said, they told me that even while recording in bluray format, I would still be loosing a huge amount of quality. The photos I was using were a 6000x4000 jpg on the D7100. I was hoping there was better software out there that would help ..

timbo2410 said:

The photos I was using were a 6000x4000 jpg on the D7100. I was hoping there was better software out there that would help ..

Click to expand...

A Bluray player would be the exception, but are you aware that no matter what your file is, DVD players for TV are at best 720x480? Like old VGA video, not even 800x600. Like standard TV. Are your results worse than standard TV? I think it cannot be better from a DVD player. I think you'd do much better showing JPG files to a computer on a computer DVD drive (burnt as data, not as video).

The easy way, if applicable: Some better HDTV models have a USB port on them, and can show JPG from a USB memory stick just fine, as HD. My Samsung and Sony HDTV do this great (for JPG, they don't show movie files). They have menus for a slide show, every X seconds, but the remote clicker allows more versatility. But if from a DVD player, anything would be seen as SD.

FWIW, I wanted to show recorded 1920x1080 movies on HDTV, and don't have or want Bluray, so the only way I found to do HD was to use a Western Digital streaming player (WD TV Live Media Player Wi-Fi 1080p, $90). This streams movies from places like from Netflix, but it also shows media from a USB port (like a memory stick). I tried a Roku 3 first, which is actually better for streaming, but its USB video support is abysmal, cannot play most file types. WD appears to show any format of movie file fine.
Both Roku and WD show USB JPG files well, as HD. And HDTV is at best 1920x1080, which we do call HD.

So, at the end of the day, no matter what the software, I cannot display my hard won photos on the big screen and expect the same quality as when they were taken. I know my DVD player upscales DVD to HD but it really is of no consequence when even HD is far from the 6000x4000 of the photo itself.

Wayne's suggestion was a slide-show using the TV's features from a USB stick or USB hard drive. I think that it's a good option. Many TVs will also show a slide show from a connected computer drive too.

That's fine for me but I send a lot of slideshows back to the family and they are only just getting into DVD let alone bluray
They don't have usb access to their tv's and I wouldn't know where to begin to try and explain to them how to do it. I'm just very surprised that there isn't a way to show off great photos on a big screen .. oh well I hope technology catches up .. thanks for your help everybody ..

Recent updates to the PicturesToEXE slide show software have included a big step up in the quality of DVD production.

It also helps if you are using an upscaling DVD Player with a HDMI Connection between the Player and the TV.

If your TV does not have a USB input you can play PicturesToExe HD (1920x1080) video slide shows (MP4) from just about any BR DVD Player using their USB input. Once again the HDMI connection is the optimal way to connect the Player to the TV.

If standard DVD is the ONLY option then PicturesToExe is the way to go.

You can try it for free: WnSoft.

I have no affiliation with them other than being a long time user.

DG