Can I improve .avi file quality

With all the new seasons begin aired on TV recently, there are many TV shows I am downloading in .avi format. The only thing is that they don't look so good on the 15.4" screen of my new laptop (res. 1280x800) as compared to my old 17" monitor (1024x768)

I am just wondering if there is any way to improve quality. I don't mind having to convert to a different format, or HD space, as I will delete the high quality file after watching.

Just wondering if it is possible

Thanks

 

You're not going to improve the quality by re-encoding it.
Perhaps it's a display problem. Are you "stretching " it to fill the screen ?

 

Yea I am, but it looks worse on the smaller screen, even when both are stretched.

I've used convertX to DVD in the past, but even avi files I've burned to DVDs in the past don't look so hot

I'm just wondering if there is any way to improve quality, maybe to 720p

Thanks for your reply

 

Take a known good file and stretch it on the screen.
If it looks worse than you expect, then perhaps it's something to
do with the lcd technology in the laptop.
Have you tried a different media player, to see if it's a factor?

 

Yeah, I tried playing files with both GOMPlayer, and WMP.
The only reason I can see for difference in file quality is that my laptop's screen has a higher resolution than the old monitor even thought its smaller, and this causes the same file to look worse.

 

It probably is a display configuration problem. You should lower the resolution to make it look better.

 

Yea, its not really a problem, but the thing is I don't want to change the res. each, so I was wondering if I could improve the quality of the .avi file