What resolution does Dish Network transmit at?

[Bob W]

I now have the HD receiver from Dish network and was wondering what the resolution they actually broadcast? The receiver will output 1080i however I suspect that they actually only transmit 720p or less. Anyone know the answer and thanks

[edDV]

I'm fairly certain everything on DISH comes down 1080i. If not they would be doing it like cable does with everything 1080i except ABC, FOX and ESPN HD.

The tuner offers selection of 1080i, 720p, 480p or 480i for component analog output to the HDTV. Deinterlacing and scaling would be done in the tuner for 720p out.

"only 720p"
Many of us think 720p is the better format. Bitrate is about the same for both.

[Bob W]

Thanks for the info. Also I was wondering what the resolution was from a DVD player? I think it's 480i or 480p.

[edDV]

Thanks for the info. Also I was wondering what the resolution was from a DVD player? I think it's 480i or 480p.

For NTSC regions, info is stored on the DVD disc as YCbCr components either at 29.97 interlaced or 23.976 progressive stored as fields (film mode). Raster resolutions can be 720x480, 704x480, 352x480 or others listed at https://www.videohelp.com/dvd

Interlace sources are output as analog NTSC (composite or S-Video), or in YPbPr components.

Progressive sources are telecined to 29.97 fps and output as analog NTSC (composite or S-Video), or in YPbPr interlaced components.

Alternatively progressive players can output 59.94 frames per second progressive over YPbPr where 23.976 fps data is frame repeated in a 3:2 pattern to 59.94.


For PAL regions, info is stored on the DVD disc as YCbCr components either at 25fps interlaced or 24fps progressive (played at 25fps) stored as fields (film mode). Raster resolutions can be 720x576, 704x576, 352x576 or others listed at https://www.videohelp.com/dvd

Interlace sources are output as analog PAL (composite or S-Video), or in YPbPr components.

Progressive sources are output as 25 fps PAL (composite or S-Video), or in YPbPr interlaced components.

Alternatively progressive players can output 50 or sometimes 100 frames per second progressive over YPbPr where frames are repeated in a 2:2 pattern to 50 or more times for 100.


Some players add digital scalers/deinterlacers to

1. upscale 720x480 interlace to 1080i
2. upscale 720x480 progressive to 720p
3. deinterlace/upscale 720x480 interlace to 720p
4. interlace/upscale 720x480 progressive to 1080i
etc.

[bits]

edDV wrote:

Some players add digital scalers/deinterlacers to

1. upscale 720x480 interlace to 1080i
2. upscale 720x480 progressive to 720p
3. deinterlace/upscale 720x480 interlace to 720p
4. interlace/upscale 720x480 progressive to 1080i
etc.

I do not really understand upscaling so please correct me if I am wrong;
Upscaling SD to 720p or 1080i does not actually make it HD, it basically makes the picture larger with better quality than if you just simply zoomed the picture, is that correct?

Also, if your TV already does upscaling, which I think many of the newer ones do, then a DVD player for example that upscales will not really be of any benefit, is that correct?

Thanks

[edDV]

edDV wrote:

Some players add digital scalers/deinterlacers to

1. upscale 720x480 interlace to 1080i
2. upscale 720x480 progressive to 720p
3. deinterlace/upscale 720x480 interlace to 720p
4. interlace/upscale 720x480 progressive to 1080i
etc.

I do not really understand upscaling so please correct me if I am wrong;
Upscaling SD to 720p or 1080i does not actually make it HD, it basically makes the picture larger with better quality than if you just simply zoomed the picture, is that correct?

Upscaling is basically zooming by interpolation. It doesn't add quality and may soften the picture due to the interpolation filtering. Deinterlacing (other than IVTC) will create many negative artifacts.

Also, if your TV already does upscaling, which I think many of the newer ones do, then a DVD player for example that upscales will not really be of any benefit, is that correct?

All ED/HD TVs have internal scalers that take various inputs and scale them to the display's native display resolution. In the process they interlace or deinterlace as necessary.

DVD player scalers have access to the digital data on the disc which may help, but few HDTV sets have native display resolutions of 720p or 1080i so the upscaled inputs are likely to be rescaled again when they hit the TV. Scaling up and then scaling down can kill quality. Also unnecessary deinterlacing should be avoided. For these reasons, the TV scaler often has the edge. It all depends on the internal TV technology.

[bits]

edDV,

Thanks!