Digital Video Essentials HD

DVE High Definition is the High Definition version of the renowned Digital Video Essentials DVD calibration disc. Like its predecessor, it's a product of Joe Kane Productions, and comes on an HD DVD combo disc, with HD test patterns and demo material on the blue-laser HD side, and the original standard-def version on the other.

As the former Chairman of SMPTE (that’s the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers), Kane and his company’s name have essentially become synonymous with home video calibration. With more and more home theater owners adopting HDTV and HD DVD, a true high definition version of Digital Video Essentials appears to have been the next logical step for the company.

Reviewing a calibration disc under the usual criteria is tricky, seeing as it’s a Diagnostic Tool and not an entertainment product. I can, however, describe some of the most useful patterns, their functions, and most importantly, how easy the disc is to navigate.

DVE HD’s packaging mentions that the Standard-def side of the disc is simply the original version of Digital Video Essentials, and that much of the tutorial information (that is, background information on what the test signals actually do) is still included on this side. I found this to be a little cumbersome, and wondered why the HD side didn’t provide all of the necessary information on its own. It appears that in reality, the HD version of DVE is really just a set of supplementary test patterns to stand alongside the main content, which is still in Standard Definition. It’s not ideal, but as a Calibration tool, it’s also not a fatal problem, because most of what's missed out on the HD side is background information that HD owners will likely be aware of anyway. On the HD side, on-screen information about the test patterns is provided as part of the interactive HD DVD menu system, so you’re not totally without guidance, but I do think that having all of the programming on one side would be a real bonus, especially when you consider how long most High Definition disc players still take to boot up and load a disc.

I started with the standard-definition side (which was the PAL version of DVE on the version I received for review - obviously, this will be the NTSC version if you buy from the US or Canada) to get acquainted with the overall theme of the disc better. It begins with some fairly crudely-rendered 3D animation, followed by a slightly more impressive video sequence of a space shuttle launch (if you were into HD around 2004/2005, you may actually recognise some of the pictures here as they were widely circulated online as HD test footage). Following this introduction is an interesting overview of Digital Signal Processing in home theatre equipment which helps put the disc's objectives into perspective. The narrator of the programme reminds us that this disc is inherently Progressive (or at least as inherently Progressive as a Standard-Definition DVD can be) for the highest possible picture quality, and is a down-convert of a 1080p/24 master.


An interesting portion near the end of this Introductory video discusses “DTV”, which is an acronym for Digital Television more commonly used in North America (“Freeview” would be the closest commonly-used equivalent over here). The voice-over mentions that the DVE producers “believe that better audio and video quality is a significant incentive to move in the direction of DTV”. Given that the UK broadcast regulators plan to have those of us not interested in Sky or Cable watching Standard Definition TV for the next 30 years, I’m unsure as to whether this part will make UK-based owners laugh or cry!

Following the introductory video, the user is presented with a limited main menu of sorts, which is a little deceptive. In reality, this menu introduces you how to use DVE’s fairly dated navigation system. Rather than jumping between the various patterns via a traditional DVD menu system, users are actually required to make use of their DVD player’s Title and Chapter controls to access much of the disc. I can appreciate that it's simply a case of getting used to this rarely-used player-based navigation system, but all the same, this design is certainly a little dated. I think that the disc should feature a fully-working DVD menu system - the one present is essentially the same as navigating through a LaserDisc. The rival AVIA Guide to Home Theater disc (although not available in HD at the time of writing) is far easier to navigate as a result of using fully-fledged DVD menus. Fortunately, the disc’s liner notes do have a complete listing of what’s on the disc and the numbers required to access each part, so once you’ve learned what goes where, this navigation method might actually end up saving you time.

Much of the tutorial information on the SD side is quite impressive, and feels like it’s paced just correctly: the user isn’t overloaded with information they might not have known to start with, and more widely-known facts aren’t presented in a way that’s condescending to those “in the know”. One particularly good clip is a demonstration of Stereo audio and speaker placement, where the announcer’s voice is positioned in different areas of the room. As well as acting as a test as to whether your Speakers are placed and wired correctly, it really does remind you how important Audio can be (this was an eye-opener for me, because most of my knowledge lies in video).

The rest of the SD side’s contents are an exhaustive array of test patterns, A/V background information, and configuration tools for both audio and video. You’ll find help on maximizing your equipment’s potential by correctly setting basic display device controls such as Brightness, Contrast, Sharpness, and more.

Although the provided audio and video demonstrations contain a high amount of “real world” tests for challenging your newly configured TV, they are not of the highest quality resolution-wise as they are visibly filtered, with visible ringing. This was a little disappointing to see on a Reference disc and could partly explain the lack of knowledge in detecting such filtering artefacts, even amongst some A/V professionals.

Flipping the disc over reveals the HD side, which begins by bringing up a menu allowing the user to choose Demo Material, Test Patterns, or Credits, and also allows to select between the 1280x720 or 1920x1080 content on the disc. This means that DVE HD features material and test patterns stored in both 720p and 1080p formats, meaning that it can be used to calibrate both types of display natively without the test patterns being rendered less useful by the player’s scaler.


Some of the Demonstration Materials are simply HD renditions of those from the SD side. Again, none of them are particularly astonishing, and certainly wouldn’t be my first choice for converting HD-skeptics. Obviously, the “Tests & Calibration” section is the important content here, and one can instantly see that navigating through the various patterns has been made much, much easier thanks to Microsoft’s HDi system (part of the HD DVD specification). HDi makes the menus fluid and readily accessible, which is a huge improvement on the more or less non-existent navigation system on the Standard-def version. A thumbnail of each test pattern is shown with Information on the left and right sides of the screen describing its usefulness and applications.


The tests are broken into four categories (Video Calibration, Geometry/Convergence, System Evaluation and Video Response), inside which you’ll find tests for Overscan, Resolution, Geometry, Audio/Video synchronization (useful for testing whether or not your equipment is adding a delay), and Colour.


The SMPTE 133 Rez Chart is arguably the test card that I’ll end up using the most for my own hardware reviews (or in the future when I end up shopping for my next HDTV). The menus actually mention that this card is most useful for detecting flicker and geometry errors, but I find that the thin one-pixel-wide lines in the card make it an ideal test for detecting whether or not a TV’s video processing is applying crude artificial Sharpening to a picture (an annoying habit from TV manufacturers that is yet to be entirely crushed).

Admittedly, some of the tests are more useful than others, and there are one or two test cards for use with Film-to-Video transfer equipment that don’t appear to have been transferred very well, as they feature obvious ringing. These cards are still useful for determining Aspect Ratio, however.

Blu-ray owners, unfortunately, shouldn’t expect a BD version of this useful calibration tool any time soon, because Joe Kane himself has voiced his disrespect for the Sony-backed system, claiming that it is “all about greed”. HD DVD owners, however, now have a useful, if slightly haphazard system analysis tool, and one that I’m certainly glad to have around as a reference for evaluating certain parts of an HDTV's performance. All the same, the fact that the HD material is designed to supplement the Standard Definition side is a little disappointing, as an all-in-one HD replacement would be that much easier to recommend. Additionally, DVE's lack of truly solid Demonstration material is puzzling (I’ve actually authored discs myself that look better than some of the content here), but not a deal-breaker. In the end, DVE HD is a disc you'll likely pull out when required, but never when you want to seriously let your HD setup strut its stuff.