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What is
involved if I do the scanning myself?
Actually several things.....
1.-
Patience --
It actually will take you a
good amount of time. Figure on spending 5-10 minutes per slide
(manually). The process can be faster if you do not do multiple scan
passes and turn off all the image enhancements.
2.- Quality of equipment --
You can buy cheap, but in a sense, you get
what you pay for. Technology in this area has increased
dramatically these last few years, so the low end equipment is not a
"bad" as it used to be.
3.- Patience again --
Besides the time it takes
to scan, a few things you need to think of:
- Time you will spend re-scanning due to color
balance -- don't like the first, so you will invariable rescan
trying to improve. Many times you may end up with the original
setting.
- Jams -- if you have older slides in paper
mounts, and have a scanner with a feeder, you most likely will
have a lot of jams, thus having to start over again, and again
as the system jams. The alternative is to sit with the system
and catch each jam as it happens to prevent the actual jam.
- A means of cleaning some slides due to dust,
mold, etc. Just another process as you try to improve quality
of some slides.
4.- Equipment Cost
-- Plenty of
systems are on the market, but if you really want to get the best
quality for the money, you are much better spending the money on a Nikon
system (our opinion). The CoolScan V runs around $500.-, however
this is a manual feed system.
The CoolScan 5000 runs around $1000.- plus about $450 for a slide
feeder (50 slides at a time). The quality is better on the
later system, but not something you would necessarily see or need.
The Nikon systems do NOT use a hot light bulb type system, to
illuminate the image, but rather user cold LED light technology. This
keep the brightness always the same and does not fade or time like a
normal light bulb.
Plus you do not heat the slides up --
which changes focus since the film will twist/pop with heat.
Besides the quality difference, the automated portion of it makes a
big difference when using the Coolscan 5000 system.
Hopefully the above gives you a fairly simplistic overview of what
you would face. Bottom line:
- Cost of hardware
- The time it takes to do the work
- How many slides you have to convert.... this goes
back to time and cost of the investment you wish to make. Even if
you wish to spend the money, you are always faced with time, and
what to do with the hardware after you complete the job.
In determining if you want to
do the task, these three things will be the most critical. After that,
patience and a little understanding of color corrections.
Oh yes.... all this assuming you just wish to save the images as JPG
or TIFF images and make small prints. If you wish to make slide
shows, edit the images, enhance the images, etc, you will need to invest
in additional software. If you wish to edit the images, then you
should have some good image editing software. Adobe offers several
excellent solutions.
If you wish to edit images, then you will want to create TIFF images so
that you can edit in layers, etc.
All this requires an investment in your PC. You will need large
drives for storage, a current processor (all the current models
should have sufficient speed [MHz]), and plenty of memory (RAM -
minimum of 1 GIG, preferable 2 GIG or more if editing images).
One thing we did not mention - the software that comes with the
scanner should meet your needs. Key is that you get a system that
has Digital Ice and some of the other elements that you see on the Nikon
scanner. See the following link for an overview.
http://slideconversions.com/services.htm
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DVD or CD?
People typically think of CD's for computers and DVD's for TV... and
this is not the case. A PC can use either CD's or DVD's - it just
has to have the appropriate drive. Most (would be unusual to
see one not) new PC's have a DVD drive, thus you can use "data" DVD
disk in a PC. PC DVD data disk WILL NOT play in a TV DVD drive as
these are not formatted for a TV DVD players appropriate format.
We charge less for storing images on a DVD than we do for a CD for a
very simple reason. One DVD is equivalent to approximately seven
(7) CD's in storage. As you can see, we would use many more
CD's than we would DVD when scanning a moderate to large order.
We you want to watch your scanned images on a TV, then you will need to
have a DVD Slide Show made. This is a step that has to be done
after the images are scanned to digital images.
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What
decisions must I make when having slides, negatives, or prints scanned?
When deciding on having your slides (and/or
negative and prints) scanned, their are a few basic decisions you need
to make before completing the order form. The are:
-
Image format.
Do you want JPG
or TIFF. Generally speaking, JPG is the most common format
used. If viewing your images on the computer, making a DVD
slide show, screen saver, emails, web sites, etc. JPG will be
what you need.
If you plan on editing the images with the likes of Photoshop, etc.,
then you will most likely want TIFF images.
*One
thing to remember, when editing JPG images, each time you save the
file, the file size will decrease along with the resolution (you
will always have the master on CD/DVD). If editing with Photoshop,
you can edit in layers, keeping the original image intact.
Resolution. Generally 2000 ppi is more than
sufficient for most applications. If viewing on computer, or
printing 4x6 prints, 2000 ppi. If you plan on printing 8x10 or
larger prints, then you may be better off with 4000 ppi.
Scanning prints is a bit different. We offer 300 ppi and 600
ppi - with the physical image size being equivalent to the 2000 and
4000 ppi slide scans. Resolutions of printed material is just
lower than slides or negatives.
Media. You will next need to decide the on what media you wish to
save your images to. You may choose either CD or DVD.
Just remember that one DVD is equivalent to about 7 CD's, so if you
have a lot of slides to slides to scan, you will most likely want
DVD. The key question is does you PC have a DVD player.
DVD's are just another form of data disk, just a larger disk (data
wise) than a CD. These DVD' s WILL NOT play on a TV DVD player
- they are computer data disk.
We charge less for images saved to DVD than CD since it actually
takes less disk (remember, we don't charge and additional fee for
media).
Once you have made
these decisions, it will be simple to complete the order form.
From the Categories left hand side column, just select the service you
wish (for example "Scan Slide") and then the "Image Format". The
next screen will show you the resolutions and media - select the desired
resolutions and media and enter the desired quantity in the box - then
click on "Add to Car". This will give you the cost along with any
volume discounts.
Pricing/Order Form
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How do I
schedule a job?
Before
sending us a job, use the order form to build your order profile.
Once you have completed the form, press the "Submit
Order" at the bottom
of the form. This will allow you to print the order (change copies
to 2 copies rather than one) so that you are able to enclose an order
form with your order after receiving confirmation back from us.
This will also send us a pre-alert of your order, which we will confirm
via return email. PLEASE make sure you give us a
valid email address,
as this is very important in processing your order.
We
will look at your order info and then confirm the scheduled time for
your order. This helps us completed your order in a timely
fashion, and makes sure we can spend quality time with your order when
doing the digital conversions you are requesting.
We
will reply to order info request by email.
Please
send us an email with the tracking number so that we can prepare for
your order and be on the lookout for it.
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How do I
contact you?
You may click on any of the many "Contact Us" links
available from all the pages on this site. Should you need to talk
to us, please send an email with your number and we will give you a
call.
You
may leave at VM at 901-485-8816 - we normally are able to answer.
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Do you
only convert 35mm slides to digital?
To
provide you the best service and quality in digital scanning, we
specialize in slides to digital images. Our primary specialty is
35mm slides (slides in 2x2 mounts) to digital images. Additionally
we scan 120 and 4x5 film, and stereo slides to digital images.
We
process other sizes by request.
We
scan color and B&W prints (up to 11.5"x17.5"). You may combine
orders with a mix of slides, negatives and prints. If you
prints are larger, we are able to stitch images together seamlessly
using PhotoShop Photomerge - and you will not see the seam.
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What additional charges do you have?
We
provide a simple single price per image conversion based on the media
type, resolution and image format (JPG or TIFF).
All
charges are listed on the pricing work sheet/Order Form. This form
will give you the totals for your order and will provide you with a copy
to include in the order sent to us, as well as a hard copy for your
records (please print two copies - one to keep, one to send with the
order).
WE DO NOT CHARGE EXTRA FOR MEDIA
and the like.
The
only charge you will incur on top of the per scan charge will be
shipping. We provide shipping via FedEx or USPS.
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How do I
pay for my order?
We
accept payments by credit cards. While your order is being
finalized, you will receive an Google Checkout® email
providing a secure payment form.
It
is very important to include your valid email address.
O nce
your payment is processed, your completed order will be shipped to you.
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How do I prepare my
slide order?
Prior
to shipping your slides, their are several steps you may want to do to
help ensure that your order is processed properly:
Please
complete the online order form prior to sending to us your order. This
is very important so as to provide you quality service (see
How do I schedule a job?).
There
are two options for preparing your slides. You may sort them
by groups or individually.
Sort Slides by Groups:
If you do not want to sort all your slides
individually, then you can package your slides by groups and then
indicate the order in which you wish these groups sorted.
Sort Slides Individually:
-
Please
arrange the slides in the order you wish them displayed.
-
Number
each slide in the upper left corner to indicate the sequence.
-
Ensure
that all slides are facing the correct way.
-
Place
all slides with the same orientation. The scanning system
views all slides in the same manner and adjusts automatically
for the orientation.
-
Secure your slide box carefully by placing a
rubber band around the box. You may also send your slides
in slide trays if prefer.
-
If
you have slides with various types of mounts, please group your
slides by mount types.
Sort Color Slides by Groups:
NOTE:
If
the slides are in slide trays in the order in which they are to be
viewed on your CD/DVD, then do not worry about numbering or sorting the
slides.***
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How do I prepare my
negatives order?
Prior
to shipping your color 35mm negatives, their are several steps you will
want to do to help ensure that your order is processed properly:
Please
make certain you complete the online order form prior to sending to us
negatives to us. This is very important so as to provide you quality
service (see
How do I schedule a job?).
There
are simple ways for preparing your color negatives. You may want
to sort them by groups or individually.
Please
DO NOT cut negatives out of the strip that you are provided by the
developer. We typically process all the frames on each negative
slip.
Sort Color Negative by Groups:
-
If you do not want to sort all your negative
packs individually, then you can package your negatives by packs
as provided by the film developer and then indicate the order in
which you wish these groups sorted.
-
You
may indicate major categories and then sub-categories for the
photos. For example:
-
Pack #1 - Europe 1985
-
Pack #2 - Asia 1992
-
Images will be numbered in sequence starting
with the title you give - for example:
-
paris001.jpg
-
paris002.jpg
-
...
and so on
Sort Negatives Individually:
-
If
you have individual negative sleeves, for each film strip, you
may sort the sleeves in the order you wish them processed.
Please number each sleeve in the order you it processed.
-
You
may indicate major categories and then sub-categories for the
photos. For example:
-
Europe
1985
-
Asia
1992
-
Images
will be numbered in sequence starting with the title you give -
for example:
-
paris001.jpg
-
paris002.jpg
-
...
and so on
NOTE:
Please
ensure that the negative sleeves/folders are arranged neatly and
securely in a box so things will stay in order.***
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How do I pack my order for shipping?
Do not
ship loose slides. Please use the original 35mm slide boxes your
slides came in. You may also use the slide trays from your slide
projector if you prefer.
You may place 35mm negatives in individual envelopes for each strip you
wish scanned. Please label (mark) the envelope with any
instructions or comments prior to placing your negatives in the envelop.
Place the envelopes in some protective packaging that will not bend the
negatives.
It is
important to pack your slides/negatives safely. You do not want to
ship loose slides or negative envelopes that will get bent during
shipments get out of the order you have selected.
If you
need help packing your slides or negatives, you may want to use a
service such as
Pak Mail
or
FedEx Kinko's Office and Print Centers
to package and ship your slides and/or negatives.
Pak Mail for example can:
FedEx
Kinko's
Office and Print Center
can:
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What is your ship to
address?
Our shipping address
is as follows:
Lee
Digital Scanning
1016 W. Poplar Ave.
Suite 106-125
Collierville, TN 38017
VM
(901) 485-8816
Please
make sure you ship your photos via USPS (with tracking number), FedEx or
UPS.
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How long will my order
take?
Orders
will vary depending on order size. You will be notified when we
receive your order, as well as when we being processing the order and
when it is shipped to you. The following table will provide an
approximate time frame for orders:
| Quantity |
Processing Time (
approx. days)* |
| 1-100 |
3-5 |
| 101-200 |
4-7 |
| 201-500 |
5-10 |
| 501-1000 |
10-25 |
| 1000 or greater |
30+
(please contact us to verify time) |
* Processing times shown are
typically worst case scenario. We will strive to complete your
order is a shorter time frame.
Please make sure you confirm you order shipment request prior to
sending so that we can meet our commitment to you. |
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How to
you handle shipping?
All
orders will be returned by USPS or FedEx Ground®, unless you have
specified otherwise.
USPS will be sent Priority Mail. Delivery is normally within 2-3
days. USPS Tracking numbers will be provided for all return
shipments.
 FedEx
Ground® service to most locations in the country is 2-3 business days.
West coast and East coast may take a day longer. Tracking numbers
for FedEx Ground shipments will be provided to allow you to do real time
tracking of your shipment.
FedEx
Express® Standard delivery will be used for next day service (by 4:30
pm). We can also ship FedEx 2 Day service. Tracking numbers
for FedEx Express shipments will be provided to allow you to do real
time tracking of your shipment.
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Do you have
restrictions on what you scan?
We
reserve the right to refuse processing any material deemed as
pornographic, inappropriate or otherwise objectionable. If
we receive material of this type, it will be returned to you without
processing. If you have questions about any material before
sending it to us to process, please contact us first.
LeeDigitalScanning.com
(Lee Digital Scanning) only accepts legal material and will not
reproduce copyrighted material without the explicit permission from the
owner of the copyright. The customer accepts all responsibility
for violating copyright laws in submitting material for scanning without
notifying Lee Digital Scanning of the copyright of such material.
The customer agrees not to hold Lee Digital Scanning responsible to any
violations of national or international copyright laws without its
knowledge.
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Do you
process order from outside the US?
We accept and process orders from US addresses as well as from APO and
FPO addresses. APO and FPO orders will be shipped via the USPS
postal system only. Please ensure that you use a shipping service
level that insures your shipment and provides a tracking number for
tracing purposes.
If
you live outside the US (other than an APO/FPO address), please make
sure you select the type of international shipping mode you wish:
FedEx International Economy
Global Express International (Postal Service)
Shipping
rates are estimates -- they will vary by actual weight. We have
tried to give you as accurate and estimate as possible. You will
be charged actual shipping charges plus a USD 2.00 fee to cover handling
of international shipping.
Duties and taxes will be the responsibility of the recipient.
We
only accept US currency via Google Checkout or PayPal®.
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Which resolution should I pick -- 2000 ppi or 4000 ppi scans?
Generally
speaking 2000 ppi is the "default" average resolution. Even with a
large screen TV (such as the HDTV type sizes - 40" and above), 2000 ppi
should serve you well. The resolution has proven to actually be
better on an large screen HDTV than on a regular 27" standard TV.
If you plan making large prints of your images we would recommend
4000 ppi or TIFF images.
Resolution is not all you should consider. Also
consider the format for your images -- TIFF or JPEG.
Use TIFF when saving images for high-quality output or
editing. A lack of compression will result in larger files, but a
high level of image quality will be maintained. TIFF is supported
in a wide variety of platforms.
JPEG is a good choice for images that will be output at
low resolution or distributed in electronic form. Images can be
compressed (if you wish to "zip" and e-mail to a friend). Due to
the file size, you will be able to get more images on each CD or
DVD. JPEG should normally be chosen as the default format.
JPEG is best for general purpose viewing. These images will take
less time to load.
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What will I
receive?
Your
images will be delivered on either CD or DVD, depending on your choice
of format as JPEG or TIFF images. With these high quality images
you will be able to email, print, post to a web site or share in some
other way with others.
If you
order a Slide Show on DVD, you will receive an additional DVD(s) with
the slide show on it. Due to the design of NTSC TV signals, the
images will not be displayed in the same quality as your computer
monitor. If you have an HDTV set, the images will display better
than a normal TV, but still not as good as the monitor. The
overall display quality is good however.
Note: In order to use DVD's, your PC must have a DVD player
installed. DVD disk will not work in a CD player.
DVD
Slide Shows do not require any applications to run. The DVD slide
shows will automatically play when inserted in your PC DVD player, or
DVD player connected to your TV.
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Lee Digital Scanning responsibilities
Lee Digital Scanning assumes
no responsibility for any possible loss or damage incurred in shipping
the material to and from the customer. The customer submits
material to Lee Digital Scanning with the full understanding that Lee
Digital Scanning
is not responsible for any damages to the material
itself.
Lee Digital Scanning
recommends that customers ship all orders to
Lee Digital Scanning via USPS insured with a
tracking number, or via FedEx or UPS.
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What we cannot do/the system cannot do
As
much enhancement as our systems provide using the Digital ICE,
Digital ROC, Digital GEM and Digital DEE systems
(see Services for explanation of these
features),
they
cannot remove smudges such as some fingerprints that are imbedded in
the film over time. The system will not remove mold images
that have eaten into the film.
As you will notice from our Gallery display, images are
enhanced, but the process cannot make an imperfect image surface
perfect. You will also notice some slides that are 50+ years old,
the color has enhanced and restored, but the mold has not all been
totally removed.
We clean each slide or negative for dust before
scanning, but cannot clean each frame individually to remove mold, or
imbedded finger prints or the like. Our digital enhancing/scanning
process is a good system, but it is not a miracle cure for severely
damaged slides.
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How long do you keep my images on file?
After
processing and shipping your order, we will keep your files in storage
on our systems for a period of 180 days, after which time we will delete
the images from our system.
During this period, should you need duplicates or
another combinations of CD/DVD slides shows, we will be able to process
this order for you without having to rescan your images.
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Privacy Policy
Our privacy
policy is quite simple, not hard to understand language or complicated in legal
interpretations.
1.- We do not share you contact information with
anyone.
2.- We do not share your images with anyone.
3.- We do not collect your payment information
(credit card info, etc.). We use PayPal®
for all payments after the work is completed.
We do not collect this information, rather you provide it to PayPal®
via a secure payment method which protects your information.
4.-
The
only time we make an exception to item #2, is when you expressly ask us to (for
example), to send copies of a CD/DVD to a friend or family member when your
order is being completed.
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TERMS OF SERVICE
Lee
Digital Scanning (LeeDigitalScanning.com/
Slides2Digital.com/ SlideConversions.com/ MidSouthScanning.com)
assumes no responsibility for any possible loss or damage incurred in
shipping the material to and from the customer.
The customer submits orders to Lee Digital
Scanning with the full understanding that
Lee Digital Scanning is not responsible for any damages to the material
itself.
Lee Digital Scanning recommends that
customers ship all orders to Lee Digital Scanning via USPS insured with
a tracking number, or via FedEx or UPS.
Please
let us (Lee Digital Scanning) know when and how you ship your order --
if you have a FedEx or UPS tracking number please send us the number so
to that we can track receipt of your order.
Once the order is received, we will send you
a confirmation email as well as the estimated time for completion of
your order.
You will receive an email with sample images
(reduced in size for email) so that you can preview what will be sent to
you. If you have any questions at that time, let us know as well.
When the order is completed, we will send an
email with a PayPal link for secure online payment. Once we receive the
payment confirmation from PayPal, we will ship your order to you via
FedEx Ground (FedEx Home delivery for residential addresses). At
this time, we will also provide you the tracking number for your
shipment.
Refunds: We do not give refunds for our
work. Simple reason for this....
-
We provide sample images for you to evaluate
before completing the work. We use your input at this time to
make any corrections as necessary.
-
Once the work is completed and paid for, you
have the end product and we have spent the time. You are
basically purchasing our service and not a "widget" than can be
returned for credit.
Guarantee: We do guarantee our service
and will rescan your order should you encounter problems. Your
satisfaction with the work is most important to us.
We look forward to providing you quality
service. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.
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What is TIFF ?
TIFF is an acronym for Tag(ged) Image
File Format. It is one of the most
popular and flexible of the current public domain raster file formats.
etc. TIFF files are relatively large when compared to JPEG.
Strengths: TIFF is primarily designed for raster
data interchange. It's main strengths are a highly
flexible and platform-independent format which is supported by numerous
image processing applications. Since it was designed by developers of
printers, scanners and monitors, it has a very rich space of information
elements for colorimetric calibration, gamut tables, etc. Such
information is also very useful for remote sensing and multispectral
applications.
Another feature of TIFF which is also useful is the ability to decompose
an image by tiles rather than scan lines. This permits
much more efficient access to very large imagery which has been
compressed (since one does not have to decompress an entire scan line).
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What is JPEG ?
Short for Joint
Photographic Experts Group, and pronounced
jay-peg. JPEG is a
lossy compression
technique for color images. Although it can reduce files sizes to about
5% of their normal size, some detail is lost in the compression.
JPEGs are better suited to displaying natural, complex images. Unlike a
GIF a JPEG is always full 24-bit color, so on anything but a 24-bit
monitor it will always be dithered by the browser.
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How
many pictures per Data CD?
The typical CD has a capacity of 700 meg.
This would give you approximately:*
| # of Images |
Resolution |
TIFF |
JPEG |
| 11 |
4000 ppi |
X |
|
| 47 |
2000 ppi |
X |
|
| |
|
|
|
| 41 |
4000 ppi |
|
X |
| 154 |
2000 ppi |
|
X |
| |
|
|
|
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How many pictures per Data DVD?
The typical DVD has a capacity of 4.7 gig.
Data DVD's are formatted like CD's rather than Video DVD's.
This would give you approximately:*
| # of Images |
Resolution |
TIFF |
JPEG |
| 78 |
4000 ppi |
X |
|
| 311 |
2000 ppi |
X |
|
| |
|
|
|
| 277 |
4000 ppi |
|
X |
| 1023 |
2000 ppi |
|
X |
| |
|
|
|
* These numbers are estimates only. If
additional files (software, etc.) are copied to the CD's/DVD's - the
number of images per CD/DVD will decrease. Actual file sizes will
vary as well.
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DVD Slide Shows
DVD Slide shows enable
to your enjoy your photo album for viewing on your TV set or PC.
All you have to do is place the DVD in you computer or TV DVD player and
the slide show will start automatically. You do not have to browse
through each image from a file directory on your PC. This is
separate and addition to the individual slide/negative conversions you
will receive.
DVD Slides shows come in three styles:
- Simple slide show. One image shows and then
replaced with the next image
- Slide shows with transitions. Image fades out
with various transitions from image to image, making for more
pleasing picture viewing.
- Slide show with transitions and music is the same
as above, but in this the slide show includes background music.
NOTE: Even though your
slides/negatives my be scanned at 2000 or 4000 ppi, the DVD slide
show will be in Industry Standard NTSC format. Since DVD's used
are the standard 4.7 gig DVD's they are not true HD quality found on a
Blue Ray or HD DVD giving you a 1080i resolution on your HD TV.
Formats will be either 4:3 or 16:9 based on your request.
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Contact Us for More Information
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