1080i vs 1080p should I really notice a difference?

[ProfJohn]

Please keep this from becoming a blu-ray vs HD DVD thread, thank you

I bought the cheapo HD DVD from Walmart with its 1080i. I have a Samsung 1080p DLP.

And the other day I am at Bestbuy watching the Blu-Ray Demo of Batman Returns and I swear it looks so much better than what I am getting at home.

1. Should I really notice a difference between 1080i and 1080p?
2. Could the fact that the demo is on a 35" LCD or Plasma vs my 56" DLP make a difference in what I see?
3. Could is just be an illusion that is making me "think" the demo looks better?

The only HD DVD movies I have watched so far are 300 and Transformers, could this have something to do with it as well?

 

[PurdueRy]

a LCD/Plasma will look much brighter than a DLP.

A smaller set will look sharper than a larger set of the same resolution

The store's set could have overly bright and vivid color settings

The list goes on.

 

[Shawn]

DLP sets look pretty bad when compared to an LCD or Plasma. It's your set. Sorry.

 

[ProfJohn]

Originally posted by: Shawn
DLP sets look pretty bad when compared to an LCD or Plasma. It's your set. Sorry.

I liked Purdue's answer better

I think my DLP looks fine, watched The Incredibles on NBC in HD and was amazed at how good it looked.

I will have to recheck my settings and make sure something isn't messed up.

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: ProfJohn

Originally posted by: Shawn
DLP sets look pretty bad when compared to an LCD or Plasma. It's your set. Sorry.

I liked Purdue's answer better

I think my DLP looks fine, watched The Incredibles on NBC in HD and was amazed at how good it looked.

I will have to recheck my settings and make sure something isn't messed up.

It's pretty tough to compare sets that aren't side by side as well.

But the main thing I bet is the size difference. It's the main reason I had a tough time selling plasmas back years ago. Comparing a 50" plasma to a 32" LCD makes the LCD look better upon the first glance simply because the dot pitch is smaller.

 

[ProfJohn]

^ I bet that explains why the HD DVD and Blu-ray demos are hooked up to the 30ish TVs in the first place.

Smaller screen makes it look better.

 

[biggestmuff]

Originally posted by: ProfJohn
^ I bet that explains why the HD DVD and Blu-ray demos are hooked up to the 30ish TVs in the first place.

Smaller screen makes it look better.

And the TV at the retailer is probably still setup with 'torch' mode; way too bright and saturated compared to a properly calibrated screen. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Rio Rebel]

I also picked up a Walmart HD-DVD player (Toshiba A2), and already owned a Panasonic Blu-Ray. The A2 was very dark before calibrating it.

There is no way the difference you're seeing is due to 1080i vs 1080p.

 

[Wuzup101]

It's simply a different experience between LCD/Plasma and DLP. If you have your DLP calibrated, and are watching it in a room with little to no ambient light, you should get a great picture from 1080i or 1080p via either BR or HD-DVD. Video quality wise, the two formats should be pretty much identical... and there is little difference between 1080i and 1080p for film (theoretically none if your set can de-interlace perfectly).

 

[Wuzup101]

DBL post :/

 

[DBL]

Originally posted by: Wuzup101
DBL post :/

You called?

I'd have to agree that it is both the technology and the screen size.

LCD and Plasma panels produce a sharper picture, which makes sense considering they are not projection technologies.

There are limits but in general, the smaller the screen, the sharper the picture (provided the resolution remains constant). This is why you should evaluate screens from your seating distance. As you back away, you should realize that the sharpness advantages of the smaller screen become less apparent while the size advantage of the larger screen stays the same. Therefore, there is a distance that you should prefer the larger screen (all else being equal) that roughly corresponds to your typical seating distance.

 

[sswingle]

A 1080p TV will de interlace on its own, so you are seeing the same thing.

 

[Eug]

Yeah, the difference you're seeing has nothing to do with 1080i vs. 1080p.

Personally, I don't like the look of rear projection TVs, so perhaps what you're seeing is that rear projection look that I don't like either.

The biggest reason to get 1080p is if the player supports 1080p24 and if your TV supports a 24, 48, 72, 96 or 120 Hz refresh rate. Even if your TV supports 1080p but only at a 60 Hz refresh rate, then getting 1080p24 support in the player is basically useless.

But like I (and many others have) said, none of this has anything to do with what you're seeing.

 

[heyheybooboo]

Johnnie . . .

Check out the AVS Forum for recommended settings and calibration

 

[Eug]

P.S. I have seen 1080i60 and 1080p60 players on identical side-by-side LCD TVs. They looked EXACTLY the same.

I have also seen a 1080p24 source on the same TV, right next to the above. The image looked EXACTLY the same... except panning was smoother because there was no jitter related to a 24 Hz --> 60 Hz conversion as you would get with a 1080p60 or 1080i60 source. (The TV is a 120 Hz TV.)

 

[ProfJohn]

I bought Batman Returns for HD DVD last night and watched the big chase scene and I am happy to say that it looked great

As someone said it looks like the demo TV was turned really bright etc etc.

 

[biggestmuff]

Originally posted by: ProfJohn
I bought Batman Returns for HD DVD last night and watched the big chase scene and I am happy to say that it looked great

As someone said it looks like the demo TV was turned really bright etc etc.

Yeah, that was me. Glad you screen looks good. What did you think of that opening scene in the greenhouse? Doesn't that almost look three dimensional?

 

[ProfJohn]

Only watched the chase scene so far since that was the blue-ray demo.

Will get to rest of movie sooner or later.

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: ProfJohn
Please keep this from becoming a blu-ray vs HD DVD thread, thank you

I bought the cheapo HD DVD from Walmart with its 1080i. I have a Samsung 1080p DLP.

And the other day I am at Bestbuy watching the Blu-Ray Demo of Batman Returns and I swear it looks so much better than what I am getting at home.

1. Should I really notice a difference between 1080i and 1080p?
2. Could the fact that the demo is on a 35" LCD or Plasma vs my 56" DLP make a difference in what I see?
3. Could is just be an illusion that is making me "think" the demo looks better?

The only HD DVD movies I have watched so far are 300 and Transformers, could this have something to do with it as well?

Never judge a tv by the store settings. They are pushing everything to 120%
Properly calibrated, they will look similar.

 

[AnitaPeterson]

Read this!
http://blog.hometheatermag.com...son/0807061080iv1080p/

 

[TheDrake]

I dont think you would notice a difference between certain HD DVD/blu-ray units. But I could certainly tell a difference when I have my computer hooked to a 1080p port on my tv VS a 1080i coming from the cable box. Of course there are arguments of the signal of broadcast can vary, quality of the the broadcast, etc... But just comparing them there is a huge difference between a HD movie played from my computer and a 1080i broadcast of a movie/sportsl game through my HD cable box. my entire household can notice the difference too and they are not tech savy at all! I never pointed out to them that it was a better signal, they just commented on it when they first saw it.

Now the margin that its better is more along the lines of MAYBE 5-10%, its better but not eye popping better IMO.

 

[LegendKiller]

Originally posted by: TheDrake
I dont think you would notice a difference between certain HD DVD/blu-ray units. But I could certainly tell a difference when I have my computer hooked to a 1080p port on my tv VS a 1080i coming from the cable box. Of course there are arguments of the signal of broadcast can vary, quality of the the broadcast, etc... But just comparing them there is a huge difference between a HD movie played from my computer and a 1080i broadcast of a movie/sportsl game through my HD cable box. my entire household can notice the difference too and they are not tech savy at all! I never pointed out to them that it was a better signal, they just commented on it when they first saw it.

Now the margin that its better is more along the lines of MAYBE 5-10%, its better but not eye popping better IMO.

That's a horrible way of comparing 1080p vs 1080i. You cannot take two different source materials and compare them.

1. Broadcast TV HD blows in almost all cases. It's compressed to hell, often not shown at the correct dimensions, and usually has other problems. Some stations are worse than others. Discovery HD is, by far, the least compressed channel on HD and even it has a lot of compression artifacts.

2. Your computer is using uncompressed signals and, most likely, is showing the signal at the correct resolution. What source material were you using? Did you try 1080i vs 1080p through the PC?

If you take 1080i and 1080p HD DVD or Blu-Ray content, or a 1080i and 1080p native TVs and compared the *same* source material you are *VERY* hard pressed to tell a difference. I have watched the Pioneer 5080 and the new Pio 1080p sets side-by side and I cannot tell a difference.