other thread got me wondering but i didn't want to derail the conversation....


I've got a TV that can support all resolutions up to 1080i .... My cable box gives me the option of setting the output to either 780p or 1080i.... Which should I choose? Which resolution has better picture quality?

I'm guessing the answer is something like, "if its fast moving action then pick 780p but otherwise 1080i"

well??

11/24/2005 9:26:15 AM

Your TV will make the decision for you. Try both and use the one that looks better.

11/24/2005 9:52:01 AM

I've never noticed any ghosting and my tv can only do 540p and 1080i.

11/24/2005 10:37:13 AM

Quote :

"Try both and use the one that looks better."

i was curious what the general consensus was on here. I know which one I'm using and will probably keep using it - but perhaps someone will bring up a point which I had not thought of

11/24/2005 10:41:35 AM

so if the hd tv displays 1080i and its not widescreen tv (its 4:3 aspect ratio) will there be black bars on the top and bottom when viewing something in 1080i? because 1080i is 16x9.

11/24/2005 11:40:02 AM

Quote :

"so if the hd tv displays 1080i and its not widescreen tv (its 4:3 aspect ratio)"

there is no such thing

11/24/2005 11:44:15 AM

no, what im asking is, the tv is a standard tv, not widescreen. if i were to view 1080i, would it put black lines on the top and bottom? because the tv is not widescreen.

11/24/2005 12:20:06 PM

First of all, there is no such broadcast format as 780p (its 720p that is used by ABC and FOX), and 540p is not used at all. To answer guitarguys question, if you mean you are watching a 4:3 show upconverted on a 1080i channel (Survivor on CBS for example) on a 4:3 HDTV, then you will have black bars on top, below, and on each side of the program you are watching. The black bars on the sides are part of the broadcast you are watching, so that whole image is letterboxed for your 4:3 TV. By the way, youre a moron for buying a 4:3 HDTV ...if youre going to buy a TV for high definition, why on Earth would you buy one that wasnt the same shape as high definition?

11/24/2005 12:22:35 PM

i didnt buy one yet. im looking...this other tv that is widescreen on displays 480p and 1080i. will sports broadcasts (espn hd) in 720p converted to 1080i look like shit? also, this tv says there is an aspect mode titled "just" that allows normal 4:3 broadcasts to be viewed in wide screen so theres not fat, short people.

11/24/2005 12:27:06 PM

^^ just to be clear, my tv has the capability of displaying 540p but not 720p regardless of whether or not media is available in that format.

11/24/2005 5:34:34 PM

yea i meant to say 720p - my bust.

11/24/2005 8:06:51 PM

so anything i watch in HD on a regular tv (not widescreen) will have black bars on the top and bottom when viewing like a nfl game in hd, correct?

11/24/2005 8:18:41 PM

there is no such thing as a 4:3 television that can display an hdtv signal, that i know of.

11/24/2005 8:21:35 PM

^well i think you missed the question. conan is broadcasted in HD -- youll see these bars one your normal tv, but you wont in HD. i think some broadcasts in norm tv are done in widescreen that both HD and norm broadcasts get the same frame.

[Edited on November 24, 2005 at 8:25 PM. Reason : -]

11/24/2005 8:24:32 PM

Conan is broadcast in HD, yes, but it is also broadcast in SD

HD vs. SD has nothing to do with aspect ratio. It is a spec, so therefore, it is FILMED in HD, then converted to SD spec and broadcast to your SD television which then displays an SD picture with black bars. Just because you see a 16:9 picture doesn't mean you're seeing an HD picture.

Quote :

"conan is broadcasted in HD -- youll see these bars one your normal tv, but you wont in HD"

1) Conan is broadcast in HD on channel X - if you have an HDTV you will not see black bars
2) if you have an SD TV you will not see SHIT
3) Conan is broadcast in SD on channel Y - if you have an HDTV you WILL see black bars in its standard format... stretching the picture is not relevant to this discussion
4) if you have an SD TV you WILL see black bars

all 4 points listed above are correct

[Edited on November 24, 2005 at 8:55 PM. Reason : s]

11/24/2005 8:50:29 PM

no, i know what youre saying. but hes saying on a 4:3 aspect ratio hd tv, you will see black lines on the top and bottom during hd broadcasts.

11/24/2005 10:01:35 PM

and i'm saying, show me a 4:3 hdtv

11/24/2005 11:19:46 PM

Unfortunately, youre wrong, there ARE 4:3 HDTVs that letterbox HD broadcasts. I dont know why anyone would waste money on this crap, but apparently they do.

Also if you have an SDTV, you can watch HD channels if youre cable box is downcoverting to 480i...in the case of Conan, it would look basically the same, although maybe a little clearer.

11/24/2005 11:50:35 PM

i can find numerous ones, yeah you are wrong. the hd is just shown in letterbox with black lines.

11/25/2005 12:04:04 AM

yeah they actually do make 4:3 CRT smaller HDTVs. Im assuming they just do the anamorphic trick to drop the scan lines into widescreen. I really dont know what im talking about though.

11/25/2005 12:11:16 AM

find anywhere in this thread where I said without qualification that there was no such thing as a 4:3 hdtv - I've always either phrased it as a question or followed it up with, "as far as I know"

11/25/2005 8:09:12 AM

You're a dip shit man, get the fuck over it. Nobody cares but yourself.

11/26/2005 3:20:26 AM

your TV has a native resolution. No matter what signal you feed it, it converts the signal to that resolution.

Mine, for example, has a native resolution of 720p. From my cable box, I can feed it 720p and it's happy. If I set my box to output 1080i, my TV will downconvert it to 720p before displaying it. So basically you just want to find out which component (cable box or TV) does a better job at manipulating the signal.

11/26/2005 8:17:24 AM

^ that's true for your tv, but not for everyone's.

11/26/2005 11:22:13 AM

^ it's true that all LCD displays have a native resolution in which they look best. Saying they convert to that resolution is a little oversimplified, but not wrong.

[Edited on November 26, 2005 at 11:26 AM. Reason : spelling]

11/26/2005 11:26:27 AM

he said, "all TVs" not "all LCD TVs"

and anyway, its not even true that all LCD TVs can only display one resolution

11/26/2005 11:33:01 AM

^

They all have one that looks best.

Unless of course you some how affro engineer 4:1 pixel mapping.

And when the hell would you ever do that?

11/27/2005 5:08:46 AM

having one that looks best doesn't mean they can't display other resolutions. that's my point.

i'm glad we agree

11/27/2005 8:51:19 AM

I never had any problem watching sports on 1080i.

11/27/2005 10:23:30 AM

^ Most people wouldn't.

11/27/2005 10:24:54 AM