HDTV Wonder « Videomaker Community Forums

Endeavor
Member

I just picked one of these up and it rocks! I can get all my local networks off air free! So many shows are in HD now (at least 720p) and football looks amazing in 1080i! Can't wait to get going with the HD camera but it will be a bit.

Posted 6 years ago #
BTS
Member

What's the difference between 720p and 1080i?

Posted 6 years ago #
cfulton
Member

1080i is 1920x1080 interlaced, 60 fields per second (30 frames per second). 720p is 1280x720, progressive scan, 60 frames per second.

Posted 6 years ago #
Endeavor
Member

1080i looks way better IMO. 1080p would be even better!

Posted 6 years ago #
BTS
Member

P is for progressive scan, and i is for interlaced, correct? Seems like there's only a handful of TVs these days that are 1080i. what is the resolution of the HD signal going in to the set? Would you guys recommend holding out for a 1080i or just be satisfied with a 720p TV at this time? I'm looking to buy a 50" plasma within the next 3 months, and I seem to get conflicting information from stores.

Another question: if I'm displaying a digital still picture on a 1080i TV that has a resolution of 1920x1080, will it be as crisp as HDTV images? I realize that iff it is on a DVD, it will be limited to 480i, but maybe it could be on a TV with a memory card reader. Your thoughts?

Posted 6 years ago #
Endeavor
Member

Actually, Most plasma tvs are capable of 1080. I would stay away from any that can only do 720. Keep in mind though, that HD programming content varies. Some is broadcast 1080i and some 720p (haven't seen any ota 1080p yet). Although they are technically both HD, I think 1080i looks way better than 720p. I haven't checked out Plasma screens lately (I don't need to be seen drooling like that) so I don't know whats out now. But I used to sell high end home theater equipment and in the past, you could get a HDTV or an EDTV (which, if I remember correctly, is only 480p). The HD ones were capable of 720p or 1080i. I don't think there are any on the market that can ONLY do 720p. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

Posted 6 years ago #
alohrey
Member

I have seen tv's that can accept a 1080i signal, but the highest resolution they will go is 720, be carefull you don't fall into that trap. Definately make sure you get a plasma that can support 1080i natively. Have fun checking them out, make sure to research, and if you narrow it down to a couple you like, post the models here so we can check out the specs with you.

Later
~Adam

Posted 6 years ago #
Endeavor
Member

I have noticed the prices starting to settle within a decent range now. Maybe someday soon I will be shopping for one!

Posted 6 years ago #
Video-maniac
Member

You guys!

I did a lot of research last year and I found that HD LCD's, Plasma's and DLP's all had their little issues. Of course money was the BIGGEST issue. I decided to go with a 53" DLP HD screen. I'll never forget when the Daytona 500 came on. OH MY GOSH! I couldn't believe it! 8-O It was so clear, colorful and detailed that it was like I was standing next to the track. In fact when I cranked up my 6.1 Surround sound stereo it DID seem like I was standing next to the track. You could even see the little balls of rubber flying around. It sure beat my 27" NTSC.

The issue still is who's transmitting in HD and what quality is it. Right now I only have like 12 channels (cable TV) that televise in HD but I guess everyone is supposed to change over by I think 2009. If you guys don't have one, get one! You won't be sorry.

OK where am I going with this? When I went shopping I couldn't tell if I was looking at 1080i or a 720P picture. All I know is it was better than what I had.

Posted 6 years ago #
Endeavor
Member

DLP is the best projection technology out there. Strange thing because DLP uses a color wheel! How old school is that! It works by shining a pulsating (very, very bright) light through a color wheel and onto a very small "DLP" (Digital light processing) Micromirror Device. It has about 2 million tiny mirrors each mounted on a hinge! When a pixel is active for a certain color, the mirror rotates to reflect through the lens and onto the screen. Crazy huh? Anyway, Dlp is awesome but not in the same type class as LCD and Plasma which pass electronic pulses through liquid Crystal or Plasma gas that illuminates the pixel! Anyway, sorry to go off on a tangent but yeah.

Posted 6 years ago #
Video-maniac
Member

With regards to DLP technology... Who thinks of this stuff?

I went with DLP because first I wanted a HUGE screen. Next is that LCD's only go to 42" before projection gets involved. Finally I didn't have $12,000.00 for a 60" plasma. In my research I found that you have to be careful with LCD screens because you can burn an image in them if you left a static shot up too long. I guess plasma screens lose their color punch after something like 10,000 hours of use. (something like that) I guess you can send them in and have them rejuvenated somehow. When I was shopping and doing the side-by-side compassion test, it just seems that the DLP was a little brighter to me and the resolution difference between all of them just didnÂ’t seem to merit the extra couple of thousand dollars.

HereÂ’s a question! When I play DV video right from my camera it looks GREATÂ… almost HDÂ’ish but when I play that same video via a DVD itÂ’s just not the same. IÂ’m talking a DVD burned at max bitrate.

RAM

Posted 6 years ago #
Endeavor
Member

DVDs use highly compressed video (even at the high bitrate). So DV quality will be noticeably better (BTW how much worse is it). But yeah, DLP wont burn in!

Posted 6 years ago #
alohrey
Member

DV from tape is uncompressed, and is much better quality than any mpeg2 compressed video. Even if you use the hightest bitrate available it still can't beat dv. Which leads me to the question I have been asking all along.. Maybe the right people will hear it, and take it into consideration. Why not make HD-DVD, Blue-Ray or whatever new optical disc format that comes out able to play our captured avi files. The discs can hold that size of a file, why not... Our Standard def footage would look better than on a dvd that way, and it would open a whole new market and reason to start using the new optical discs even if you don't have HD footage. Not sure all that it would entail on the technical side of things, but it doesn't seem that difficult, just need a codec on the new discs to play the files.
later
~Adam

Posted 6 years ago #
Video-maniac
Member

Endeavor Wrote:
DVDs use highly compressed video (even at the high bitrate). So DV quality will be noticeably better (BTW how much worse is it). But yeah, DLP wont burn in!

It's not that bad mind you it's just not the same as DV tape.

alohrey:

Let's all hope and pray that this technology will come to pass because watching DVD's with native DV tape quality would be AMAZING! I think we'll get there at some point in time.

Until they settle on a standard for these HD disk formats, we'll all have to just wait which kind of sucks. The other big thing is that the current set-top DVD players won't be able to play these. What does that mean? They would have to go back and re-engineer these from the beginning and we would have to buy new DVD players. :?

btw: Thanks for the answers you guys. I guess I just didn't realize that there was so much compression involved.

RAM

Posted 6 years ago #
BTS
Member

Video-Maniac,

How long ago did you do the research? What else did you find out?

I'm looking at a new TV within about 3 months, and I'm thinking 50" plasma. Best Buy has a nice Zenith that has the same components as a $4K LG for around $2700. Seems like a good deal. Picture size and quality is the most important to me, and I'd like it to be as unobtrusive as possible, which, for me, rules out DLP. Any suggestions on other models? I hear Panasonic is all the rage, but how much of a difference is it?

Posted 6 years ago #
Video-maniac
Member

Boy, it's been over a year already because I've had my TV for about that long. Needless to say A LOT of things have changes since then.

Attached is a site that will give you a good feel about the differences bewteen all of them not to mention the pros and cons. Just click down the drop down box and you can read articles on all sorts of topics.

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/tv-buying-guide.htm

I'll be honest with you in that I never really got to intimate with the plasmas because a year ago they were still well over $4000.00 and out of my price range so I didn't bother. All I could do was drool!

Just be careful because when I see a big difference in prices for plasmas, there is probably a resolution difference there. Make sure you compare the specs. All plasmas are not the same! That's about all I can tell you on that! The web site should help a bit.

Good shopping (you lucky stiff!) :'(

RAM

Posted 6 years ago #
BTS
Member

Thanks for the info!

I know, I want to do a LOT of research before dropping $3K on a TV (I mean, it's the same crappy programming). Any other thoughts or ideas, please let me know. I'll let you know how it goes.

Posted 6 years ago #
djko1208
Member

You might want to take a look at the newest technology being offered from sony and phillips. It's the same idea as a projection lcd but instead of using liquid it uses silicon. As usual sony started this new technology and the other companies are now following suit. Sony actually stopped manufacturing plasma tv's because of this new technology. They can produce these tv's with a higher resolution for a cheaper price point than plasma. Sony's model is the SXRD and philips is the LCOS. There native resolution is 1920 X 1080 where most plasmas or dlp's will say that they are capable of this; most of their native resolutions are 1366 x 768. You can pick up a 50" for under $3000. Probably the only advantage plasmas have over these is their ability to be wall mounted, and that's it. These sets are about 18" deep which really isnt that big when the thing is 55" long.

Posted 6 years ago #
BTS
Member

Yeah, a 60" is $4,500, not bad. I saw one yesterday and the picture is stunningly real. However, I'm looking for something smaller and more elegant. I'm not a huge fan of the gigantic TV that overtakes your whole livingroom. For a basement or home theater however...

Posted 6 years ago #