720p vs 1080i

[summerfun]

I have the TWC 3510 cable box that can output both 720p and 1080i and I have a Sony TV that can display both as well.

I can have the box send all signals as one or the other or both. Upconverting all signals to 1080i or down converting all to 720p or just sending through each native.

My question is what is my best strategy? Send all as 1080i, send all as 720p or send each native? The down side to the native solutions is a short flicker between channel changes as the input signal changes. It is a little annoying.

If I pick one or the other, which one should I choose.

[mhz40]

Originally posted by summerfun
I have the TWC 3510 cable box that can output both 720p and 1080i and I have a Sony TV that can display both as well.

I can have the box send all signals as one or the other or both. Upconverting all signals to 1080i or down converting all to 720p or just sending through each native.

My question is what is my best strategy? Send all as 1080i, send all as 720p or send each native? The down side to the native solutions is a short flicker between channel changes as the input signal changes. It is a little annoying.

If I pick one or the other, which one should I choose.

Your set may accept 1080i & 720p at it's inputs, but in most cases, that too is being converted to the set's native format before it hits your eyeballs.
As an example, in my case (DLP) everything is eventually converted to 720p.  Your LCD-based display is similar, in that it dosen't 'scan' a picture, it 'pastes' it on LCD display panels, which in turn project the image on your screen.
If the flicker bothers you that much, setup the set top to do the scaling (picking the one that is truly native to your display, which I think would be 720p).  Otherwise, pass-through the 720 & 1080 to the TV & let it do the scaling... there is a good chance there is a slightly better scaling processor in it than what's in the set top.

[Paul S.]

Originally posted by summerfun

I can have the box send all signals as one or the other or both. Upconverting all signals to 1080i or down converting all to 720p or just sending through each native.

 

How and where?

[summerfun]

Originally posted by Paul S.
How and where?

In the Pioneer 3510 HD box go to settings and output. From there you can choose one or all of the output settings you want the box to send. If you only choose 1080i, then all signals will be sent to the TV as a 1080i signal. If you allow both 1080i and 720p, then it will send which ever the native signal is to the TV. This means that the TV will get 720p for ABC and 1080i for CBS etc.

The down side to this is the TV will flicker between channels that have a signal change as the TV adjust to the new signal. Not a big deal, but to stop that, I just let everything go out as 1080i.  This results in no flicker between channel changes because the signal to the TV never changes.

The SD channels that have a native 480i look a little fuzzy when upconverted to 1080i. You could leave the 480i output selected as well and you would only get a flicker if you change between an SD channel and an HD channel but the SD channels will look a little better.

If you use the DVI cable, all settings are unavailable. It will always send the native signal out all the time so you will always have a channel flicker as you changes channels with different signals. That's why I stopped using my DVI cable and went back to component..

[Paul S.]

Originally posted by summerfun

If you use the DVI cable, all settings are unavailable. It will always send the native signal out all the time so you will always have a channel flicker as you changes channels with different signals. That's why I stopped using my DVI cable and went back to component..

Well, that explains why I don't see those options lmao!

[oz]

On my Mitsubishi rear-projection, I've found that when I allowed 480i to be outputted, channel 506 (Fox) uses it. Since most of the shows on 506 aren't shown in wide screen, I like this option because my TV will let me use the "zoom" option to fill the whole screen. When 506 was up-converted to 1080i, I could only "expand" and not zoom, which distorted the picture. I just like to have the choice of zooming when I'm watching something like a news show when I don't care if part of the screen is cut-off.

One funny thing to watch out for, while messing around with output options, I selected only 720p (which my TV can't display). Once I did that I could no longer view the menu to select the other output options or any TV channels.  I tried resetting the box, but it did not change the output options. Eventually I blindly guessed the menu options and somehow managed to select 1080i again, allowing me to view the menu.

[summerfun]

Originally posted by oz
Since most of the shows on 506 aren't shown in wide screen,  

I actually saw some prime time programming on FOX in widescreen the other night. I was shocked. They are supposed to move to720p by this fall.

[summerfun]

Originally posted by oz
I selected only 720p (which my TV can't display).  

You know, I said something about this the other day. I can't believe any HDTV manufacture would make an HDTV that did not have 720p. I have found out that many do not.

That's like making an FM only radio without AM. It can't be that much added cost to support 720p. It just amazes me. Most X-box HD games are 720p, ABC, ESPN and soon FOX will be 720p. I just don't understand.

Some stb's upconvert 720p to 1080i but some downconvert to 480p. Some people want to watch native signal without converting. X-box will play 720p games at 480p if your HDTV cannot see 720p it will not upconvert and almost all X-box HD games are 720p.

It's just does not make since to me.

[GS kid]

I never did understand why most tvs didn't support 720p in some way. It was made quite clear years ago that 720p would be the choice of ABC & Fox (changed their mind and went 480p ... now mind changed again and back onboard). Lucky for us that most STBs will output to 1080i. It's a slide-switch selector on the back of my Samsung STB, so no issues of me selecting it and not being able to switch it back like Oz had the problem with his. Doesn't really matter cuz my Sony 34xbr800 upconverts 720p signals. That allows me to play my 720p Xbox games with no problem. It was one of the key reasons I picked this set. Kinda wish I had known that the 34xbr910 was coming out 6 months later! It was announced 2 months after I got mine. The 910 has that new Super Fine Pitch which has 65% more vert. screen slots on the grill. Mine still looks great though. I'm happy. 1080p plasma will most likey be my next choice. I'm also looking at this new plasma like set that Canon is gonna make. It's almost as thin as plasma and uses CRT's screen phosphors. Great for bright colors and contrast. Should be better then plasma in burn-in and lifespan issues as well. Things are looking better every day for TVs.

Maybe the Xbox 2 and PS3 will have upconvert options on them for the rest of you guys that can't see 720p signals. All my friends have sets that don't support it either. They are jealous of me. I just tell them they should have done their homework. Problem is that most people new to buying an HDTV have no idea that this could be an issue. Thanks to STBs that convert, this isn't such a big issue unless you want to play 720p Xbox games.