Newbie Help:720p Or 1080i ?????

[ofield]

Hi,
I just got a Panasonic 26LX60 and Oppo Dvd player.
I need some advice on what's better 720p or 1080i.
I've tried both and they look pretty much the same to
me.
I was wondering if anyone preferred one over the other?
Is 720p better because its progressive?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.....

[festmaster]

Your TV only has 768 lines of data, so it is impossible to see 1080i in its native form and it must be scaled to 720p. That is why you can't tell much difference between the two.

Some people get religious fervor picking either 1080i or 720p over the other, but I think it is really a matter of "six of one vs. half dozen of another". In general, 1080i is better for movies where there isn't too much action and you can enjoy the extra lines of information. 720p is better for sports where there is alot of movement.

Since your screen is only 26 inches, it really is a non-issue.

[jagabo]

My guess is that 720p will look better on your 1366x768 LCD. But there are so many variables (type of cables from the player to the TV, the quality of the upscaling of the player vs the TV, etc.) you will only be able to tell by viewing it yourself.

I've tried both and they look pretty much the same to me.

That probably answers your question! Although you may need to compare with both interlaced (many TV series on DVD will be interlaced) and non-interlaced sources (Most movies on DVD).

[FulciLives]

Here is a link for the Panasonic TC-26LX60 ---> CLICK HERE

That links to the Panasonic website and gives you info on the TV.

That is to help out anyone else that wants to check it out.

As for myself ... since this is a LCD TV my best guess (yes I am not sure) would be to use 720p

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

P.S.
Damn I am slow two other people beat me to it LOL

[ofield]

Thanks Guys I apprecate the help.

[edDV]

Your native LCD panel is progressive and 1366x768 resolution.

The TV itself will receive 480p/59.94fps from a progressive DVD player and upscale that to 1366x768.

The Oppo can upscale 720x480p to 1280x720p/59.94fps and the TV then will upscale that to 1366x768p.

Or, the Oppo could interlace and upscale the DVD to 1920x1080i/29.97 forcing the TV to inverse telecine and downscale to 1366x768p.

You tell us what looks better on that TV. It is not clear from the specs that that TV has inverse telecine capability so any film display over 1080 interlace will be blurred during progressive conversion in the TV. My bet is 480p will look best closely followed by upscaled 720p.

HDTV tuners should be set to 720p.

[Deathwish238]

You have a 720p display. Set the Oppo to output 720p. That's as simple as it is. No need for anything technical.

Nice setup btw.

[manono]

It's not quite that simple. He has a 768p display. There's even a fair chance that 480p looks best (as edDV speculates), since it requires one less conversion to scale to 768p, when compared to outputting 720p or 1080i from the Oppo. The only thing to do would be to try out the various possibilities and decide for himself. A calibration of the TV set might make the differences more clear-cut.

[MOVIEGEEK]

The only thing to do would be to try out the various possibilities and decide for himself. A calibration of the TV set might make the differences more clear-cut.

That's the wisest answer yet,I completely agree.

[edDV]

My assumption is the design team for that set will take great care to make progressive 480p DVD look as good as they can. What else will be used to demo it to experts who know what to look for?

Next test will be 720p and 1080i. Everyone knows 480i and 1080i will look bad on a 1366x768 progressive display unless the "cinema" (IVTC) processing or 480i upscaling are very high end.

[davideck]

A good comparison test for 480p vs. 720p vs. 1080i is to scrutinize the credits at the end of a movie. The edges of white characters slowly scrolling over a black background can be very revealing.

[BJ_M]

ive seen just recent 480p on that lcd and it looked not very good - then again i think they had the noise reduction on full in this demo which kinda killed it also ...


i vote for 720p also anyway ...

[Deathwish238]

It's not quite that simple. He has a 768p display. There's even a fair chance that 480p looks best (as edDV speculates), since it requires one less conversion to scale to 768p, when compared to outputting 720p or 1080i from the Oppo. The only thing to do would be to try out the various possibilities and decide for himself. A calibration of the TV set might make the differences more clear-cut.

Scaling from 720p to 1366x768 doesn't require much work. He has a good LCD and it will handle it just fine.

If he had an even better LCD then perhaps the TV would do a better job at scaling the image from 480p than the Oppo...but I've never seen a commercial LCD do a better job at scaling than a good DVD Player like the Oppos or Panasonic S97.

It's really that simple. With his setup, he will get the best image by setting his Oppo to 720p. The only better image he'ld get would be from an external scaler to handle all the deinterlacing and scaling...they run $1000+.

[edDV]

It's really that simple. With his setup, he will get the best image by setting his Oppo to 720p. The only better image he'ld get would be from an external scaler to handle all the deinterlacing and scaling...they run $1000+.

The only way to tell in the general case is to try it both ways 480p and 720p. I think we all agree he should not use 1080i with that set. In his particular case, he has low end TV processing (no cinema processing) and a higher end DVD scaler. The scaling advantage may well go to the player.

If he had a $89 upscaling DVD player from K-Mart , the TV might win. Never assume, use your eyes.

Another issue IMO the HDMI connector is better used for the HDTV tuner* rather than the SD DVD player. Most HDTV sets have only one HDMI port. Most upscaling DVD players do this only on the HDMI port. Some will also upscale over the analog component outputs.


*The HDTV tuner presents a similar set of issues. Should the tuner box be set to output HD 1080i vs. 720p, SD 480p vs 480i. In his case 720p makes more sense for a 1366x768 progressive LCD. The typical Motorola or Scientific Atlanta HD cable box will do a better 1080i to 720p conversion than that TV. The SD settings have similar issues to the DVD player and should be tested both ways. My expectation is 480p would look better for that TV. Let the cable box do the deinterlace.

[Seeker47]

The only better image he'ld get would be from an external scaler to handle all the deinterlacing and scaling...they run $1000+.

Are you referring to units like the Faroudja line of video processors ? If so, I think their lowest model begins at the price you mentioned, or more.

[FulciLives]

The only better image he'ld get would be from an external scaler to handle all the deinterlacing and scaling...they run $1000+.

Are you referring to units like the Faroudja line of video processors ? If so, I think their lowest model begins at the price you mentioned, or more.

Don't forget the DVDO video processors. They also make a line of scalers that ... as I understand it ... are highly regarded for quality performance. They are also very expensive! I think the cheapest model is MSRP $1,500 US Dollars.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[Deathwish238]

It's really that simple. With his setup, he will get the best image by setting his Oppo to 720p. The only better image he'ld get would be from an external scaler to handle all the deinterlacing and scaling...they run $1000+.

The only way to tell in the general case is to try it both ways 480p and 720p. I think we all agree he should not use 1080i with that set. In his particular case, he has low end TV processing (no cinema processing) and a higher end DVD scaler. The scaling advantage may well go to the player.

If he had a $89 upscaling DVD player from K-Mart , the TV might win. Never assume, use your eyes.

Another issue IMO the HDMI connector is better used for the HDTV tuner* rather than the SD DVD player. Most HDTV sets have only one HDMI port. Most upscaling DVD players do this only on the HDMI port. Some will also upscale over the analog component outputs.


*The HDTV tuner presents a similar set of issues. Should the tuner box be set to output HD 1080i vs. 720p, SD 480p vs 480i. In his case 720p makes more sense for a 1366x768 progressive LCD. The typical Motorola or Scientific Atlanta HD cable box will do a better 1080i to 720p conversion than that TV. The SD settings have similar issues to the DVD player and should be tested both ways. My expectation is 480p would look better for that TV. Let the cable box do the deinterlace.

If he had a $89 K-Mart DVD Player, I'ld agree with you. However, he has an oppo which is right up there with the Denon DVD-5910 in terms of picture quality.

As for what to use the HDMI connector with? If he needs more ports, a simple manual HDMI switch will do the job.

The only better image he'ld get would be from an external scaler to handle all the deinterlacing and scaling...they run $1000+.

Are you referring to units like the Faroudja line of video processors ? If so, I think their lowest model begins at the price you mentioned, or more.

The higher end model of the Oppo has a Faroudja. The lower end model of the Oppo does almost as good of a job. I'm referring to an iScan video processor that handles deinterlacing and scaling better than most any DVD Player or display on the market.

[edDV]

If he had a $89 K-Mart DVD Player, I'ld agree with you. However, he has an oppo which is right up there with the Denon DVD-5910 in terms of picture quality.

As for what to use the HDMI connector with? If he needs more ports, a simple manual HDMI switch will do the job.

I'm speaking to the general case but even with the Oppo, I would want return refund rights if I couldn't see a difference on a particular TV.

720x480p to 1366x768p scaling is very simple technology and if Hitachi can't handle that well they should be shamed in the public square. I don't see where Oppo has the advantage for a progressive encoded DVD to 720p. I'm fairly sure the Oppo will do better with an interlace encoded DVD to 720p, but I would still want to evaluate before releasing the visa payment.

[Deathwish238]

It's the same way the 360 can scale 720p to 1080i better than most HD CRTs minus the Sony XBR960s. It's very common for a higher end DVD Player to have a better scaler and/or deinterlacer than your typical commercial display.