Newbie Question-1080i or 1080P HD DVD Player?

[orlandoflyguy]

I am a newbie to this forum and to the "electronics" HD area,etc....

I just purchased a Samsung LNT4061F 40" 1080p LCD HDTV

I was given as a gift this week a Toshiba HD-A3 720p/1080i HD DVD Player. It only offers 1080I playback.

1. Should I upgrade my HD DVD player to the Toshiba A30 which will upconvert to 1080P and plays at 24 frames per second? I will mostly be watching DVD that have been upcoverted, but since I have a 1080P tv, I might need to upgrade my player.

Also, I was planning to buy the Onkyo TX-SR605S receiver, which upconverts analog signals to (480i, 480p, 720p and 1080i), but after reading some reviews for the Onkyo TX-SR705S, which offers Dolby TrueHD,DTS-HD Master Audio and 1080P upconversion. I am leaning towards that model. I want get the best picture and utilize my 1080P LCD. I am open to any receiver suggestion that might be better and still stay under $900.


2. Should I purchase the Onkyo 705 which has the 1080P? If there isn't a huge difference between the 1080I and 1080P, I will keep the lower model that only displays 1080I.

I don't know much about the difference between 1080I and 1080P. Thanks.

 

[no. 5]

I would only upgrade if your TV supported a 24fps input (and kept it at that frame rate; many HDTVs will accept a 1080p24 input, but convert it to 1080p60 for display), and you wanted to preserve the native frame rate. Or if the TV had poor video processing capabilities.

There is no need for concern about 1080i vs. 1080p in this context: the source material is natively 1080p24, if the TV de-interlaces properly and performs a 3:2 pulldown, you will not lose any resolution if the players output is 1080i. The visible advantage of a 1080p24 output over a 1080i60 output (for 1080p24 native material) is naturalness of motion - not an increase in spatial resolution.
It is important to note that fixed pixel displays (like your Samsung LCD) always de-interlace any incoming interlaced video: so if you feed it 1080i it will display it as 1080p.

And, having the best picture is not dependent on what resolution you are feeding the TV; color accuracy and gray scale are far more important for a good picture.

By the way, how far you are sitting from the screen?

 

[orlandoflyguy]

I sit about 10 feet from the tv. How do you tell if the LCD has 24 input?

 

[no. 5]

I sit about 10 feet from the tv.

At that distance, a person with 20/20 vision would not be able to discern the difference between 720p and 1080i/p.

How do you tell if the LCD has 24 input?

A good review of the TV should tell you what it will accept, I did some quick looking around, and from what I could find, that TV does not accept a 1080p24 input (it does accept 1080p60 though). To be absolutely sure, one could send it 24fps material and see how the TV handles it.
However, since the display's refresh rate is 60Hz, I cannot think of any advantage to sending it 1080p24, even if the display could accept it.

 

[solomr2]

While on some level what others have stated here is correct, it is not without some exceptions.

Reviewers often state there is no perceptable difference between 720 and 1080 resolution, but based on my experience this is not the full story. This actually depends on the source and material you are watching. I think if you examine the right material and you know what to look for you will notice the difference. However, I do agree that the perceptable difference tends to diminsh as you move further away from the screen, particularly with network tv and SD movie material. But this is true of just about anything in life... ever try to read an eye chart in the doctor's office? Is the top line easier to read than the middle or the bottom?

Try watching a good BD or HD DVD with a good 1080 transfer, you will notice the differences between a 720p and a 1080p. You will especially notice with video games and computer sources, which are very dependent on resolution. Just try playing any PC based video game that supports multiple resolutions and switch between them to see the difference.

For differences between 1080i and 1080p I think it would be much harder to notice the differences since both are technically the same resolution. However, in this scenario you need to evaluate the native resolution of your panel and the quality of conversion from your components. I think you panel is a 1080p display, so any source you feed other than 1080p is going to automatically be converted to 1080p. If that source is 1080i, then your TV will guess and plug in the other lines. Some TVs do it better than others. Some DVD players do it better than some TVs. It really needs to be something you look at yourself.

It should also be noted these resolutions are still relatively new. I don't believe we have seen the best source material for these new resolutions from the studios. I think over the next year or two when the studios have more experience and better equipment we will get better DVDs that will make the differences more noticable.

 

[no. 5]

However, I do agree that the perceptable difference tends to diminsh as you move further away from the screen...

That's exactly what I was talking about, if you had 720p native content on a 720p native display next to an otherwise identical 1080p native display showing native 1080p content, at some point of distance, your eye would no longer be able to perceive a resolution difference (screen size dependent, of course).

So, in my opinion, if the eye cannot distinguish between native 720p and 1080p on a display the size of mine, at the distance of my seating position, I see no reason to lose sleep over whether or not I'm getting 1080p.

For differences between 1080i and 1080p I think it would be much harder to notice the differences since both are technically the same resolution. However, in this scenario you need to evaluate the native resolution of your panel and the quality of conversion from your components. I think you panel is a 1080p display, so any source you feed other than 1080p is going to automatically be converted to 1080p. If that source is 1080i, then your TV will guess and plug in the other lines. Some TVs do it better than others. Some DVD players do it better than some TVs. It really needs to be something you look at yourself.

Absolutely, there are visible differences between native 1080i and 1080p, but the only time you should see a difference between a 1080i or 1080p transmission of a 1080p native source is if the display video processing is inferior.

 

[gus6464]

That's exactly what I was talking about, if you had 720p native content on a 720p native display next to an otherwise identical 1080p native display showing native 1080p content, at some point of distance, your eye would no longer be able to perceive a resolution difference (screen size dependent, of course).

So, in my opinion, if the eye cannot distinguish between native 720p and 1080p on a display the size of mine, at the distance of my seating position, I see no reason to lose sleep over whether or not I'm getting 1080p.


Absolutely, there are visible differences between native 1080i and 1080p, but the only time you should see a difference between a 1080i or 1080p transmission of a 1080p native source is if the display video processing is inferior.

I used to have a 42" 1080p LCD and I swear that my new 50" 768p Plasma has a better picture when watching Blu-rays on my PS3. Even my wife says the plasma looks a lot better than the LCD. This is at 10ft away for both. It is really all about the TV.

 

[no. 5]

It is really all about the TV.

Yes, it is.

Because color accuracy and grayscale are much more important than resolution.

 

[mtrycrafts]

I am a newbie to this forum and to the "electronics" HD area,etc....
I just purchased a Samsung LNT4061F 40" 1080p LCD HDTV
I was given as a gift this week a Toshiba HD-A3 720p/1080i HD DVD Player. It only offers 1080I playback.
I don't know much about the difference between 1080I and 1080P. Thanks.

Keep that player, use the 1080i output and you are set. You will get a great picture.
As to the audio if that lower unit has the 5.1/7.1 analog audio input, you can let the A3 decode your trueHD and send it out analog to the receiver.
You would not gain anything by upconverting the 480i standard def dvd to only 1080i vs 1080p.

When you upgrade next time to a 65" TV or larger, by then the dual format dvds will be affordable and get the full 1080p.

 

[patnshan]

1080p players are a waste of money, unless you have an advanced display that can show 24fps. I am even suspicious of that, but people smarter than me think it is better

You will likely notice no difference between 1080i and 1080p, save your money to buy videos.

Pat

 

[Gasman]

You will likely notice no difference between 1080i and 1080p, save your money to buy videos.

Pat

Having both, I have to agree (but also disagree).
Problem is that the cheaper players with 1080i, do not have all the better features, or possibility for better firmware upgrades.
Specially when audio is concerned (but most certainly includes video).
But for anything under say 60" at normal distances, I 100% agree, there are no discenrable differences.
(this is with me using 2 1080p BD players, and 2 HD DVD 1080i players)

 

[autoboy]

1080i and 1080p will look nearly identical on your display from 10ft away. Keep the player.

The Onkyo 705 will not upconvert to 1080p. It only upconverts to 720p. The unconverting in your TV is probably much better than the 705 and you would need to upgrade to the 875 to get a better picture. Still, the 705 is an excellent receiver, just be sure to set it to pass through all your signals and let the TV upscale everything.

If you want to learn more about 1080i, please read this.

 

[acacia987]

kinda on topic

with a HD-A2 and a 1080p panasonic plasma, 42pz77u. when i play SD dvd's should i tell the player to output 1080i or 720p? i have read places that it is easier to convert from 720p to 1080p then 1080i to 1080p. this is with standard definition dvds.

 

[GlocksRock]

with a HD-A2 and a 1080p panasonic plasma, 42pz77u. when i play SD dvd's should i tell the player to output 1080i or 720p? i have read places that it is easier to convert from 720p to 1080p then 1080i to 1080p. this is with standard definition dvds.

I say play some discs on both settings and leave it on which ever one looks better to you.