Should I get HD?

[deldest]

Should I get HD? (will HD signal look better on my H31 Front projector?)

I recently got an Optima H31 front projector (am loving it!) and currently have it set up via S-video from my sattelite reciever (and component from my progressive scan DVD).

NOW my question is will it be worth upgrading my sattelite service to recieve an HD signal (from standard digital signal) and will there be any difference in picture quality (on the HD channels)?? I thought that the native resolution (Native: 854x480 Pixels //Maximum: 1280x1024 Pixels) of my projector was more along the lines of standard DVD's, and thought it would have to scale down the signal to display a true HD signal (possibly negating the better quality)??
But I have also heard that any HD signal/reciever will generally give a better picture (even on a lower resolution display).

Which is correct? Will there be any noticeable difference?
From a cost standpoint, I will not have to pay for the HD reciever but will have to pay (10 beans a month) to recieve an HD signal. That's probably worth it to me if it will give me a better picture (watching my football games, etc). Problem is I gotta choose (+ locked in for 1 yr. to equipment and package) prior to really seeing it!

 

[mcwilson]

I'm not that familiar with your projector. But, my initial reaction is:

"Good Lord, YES! Go with HD!"

I have the InFocus SP7205 and cable, and in general the digital channels are much better than the rest, but HD is stunning! It's jaw-dropping. Football (sports in general) is unbelievable.

Good Luck with the decision.

 

[deldest]

I'm not that familiar with your projector. But, my initial reaction is:

"Good Lord, YES! Go with HD!"

I have the InFocus SP7205 and cable, and in general the digital channels are much better than the rest, but HD is stunning! It's jaw-dropping. Football (sports in general) is unbelievable.

Good Luck with the decision.

The thing is, I am already recieving a DIGITAL signal from my sattelite. I did see the huge difference from when i switched from my analog cable. I'm sure that cable's digital channels should be better (than their own analogs) as well.
With your projector (Native: 1280x720 Pixels) any HD should be another large step better, as not only will it display it in that resolution, but it is also native and doesn't have to convert it.

Theoretically my projector is optomized for DVD use with it's native (lower than HD, higher than regular braodcast) resolution.
It might(theoretically?) even display a better image for DVD's than yours as it does not have to upconvert. Your upconverting (of a lower quality than HD) might even make your HD channels look that much better. BUT my projector has to downconvert any higher quality (than DVD) signal, and theoretically (and I'm sure physically) could never acheive the display of yours WITH a higher quality feed.

Now my quandry is...will buying the higher quality HD feed be useless for me due to some degradation in downconverting/compressing??
I'm not sure what resolution my current (standard digital sattelite) feed is but I was assuming it was less than DVD quality. I was thinking that buying the higher quality HD feed and compressing it should STILL be better than my current feed (if my current feed is indeed upscaling..anybody know digital sattelite's feed resolution?). I just don't know by how much if any, and if it's worth it??

 

[Spiffyfast]

Go HD I don't think you'll regret it at all, my step dad has the "digital" signal from sattelite using S-Video and its a decent picture. I have HDVT through my cable and the picture blows his away, like the last post sports events are spectacular and HD movies look amazing too.

 

[s2pdname]

Go HD I don't think you'll regret it at all...

I'll second this. I'm not familiar with your projector (I have a DLP RPTV), but I often find myself watching HD programming that I would not normally give a second thought too just because it looks great. I also find myself wishing and hoping for more HD programming to become available as soon as possible.

Best of Luck!

 

[goodman]

It sounds as if your signal from the satellite company won't change a bit, but you will be replacing your current satellite receiver with an HD capable receiver. While I can't guarantee the result, I suspect that the new receiver will blow away your old one and you will be very happy even though you will not technically be viewing true HD on your 480p projector. Go for it.

 

[BMXTRIX]

I can guarantee that HD looks far superior on the 4805 than SD over DirecTV. In a recent setup in Magnolia/BB I switched between CNN and HDNET and the jump was incredible.

HD will outshine what your DVDs look like and will give you a good understanding of what you might expect when HD discs come out in a year.