Watching Blu-ray Discs on 720p HDTVs

[6thDeadlyVenom]

how come for some players and tvs the image looks better when its set at 1080 and converted automatically down while for others it looks better when in the blue ray player menu it's set at 720p like the television accepts? How do you choose or how do you know when the player up/down converts vs the television and how do you generally tell which is better?

[Sharpie]

isn't that relative to the size of the screen and the "native resolution" of said screen?

also, a set that "accepts" a higher resolution than the display can handle but down converts it would depend on the quality of the "video scaler" hardware incorporated in that particular model. there is probably a better technical explanation out there but that is how i understand it.

[mzo0163]

I was kinda curious about this as well. My Samsung plasma accepts a 1080p signal eventhough the native is 720p. My Pioneer blu ray can either output in 1080i or 1080p. Should I be using the 1080p output or the 1080i output. Both look good but just wondering.

[Batman1980]

It's late so I can't explain this well. Your TV is 720p so the highest signal it can output at is 720p but 1080p should still look better than 720p because it's still more information being sent through your TV.

[Sharpie]

Originally Posted by mzo0163

I was kinda curious about this as well. My Samsung plasma accepts a 1080p signal eventhough the native is 720p. My Pioneer blu ray can either output in 1080i or 1080p. Should I be using the 1080p output or the 1080i output. Both look good but just wondering.

I would set it to the maximum of the TV(..720p)...to set it any higher is like trying to pour a gallon(..1080p) of water into a 1 cup container...the 1 cup(..720p) container is only going to hold 1 cup, every thing(..line of information) above that will be stripped away and I suppose that it might cause the video scaler hardware to"work" harder trying to reformat the input signal...at worst it might even cause "video latency", which could manifest its self as screen artifacts.

[jerwin]

Many so called 720p sets are actually 768p. Setting your player to output 720p instead of 1080i/1080p will discard those extra lines of resolution. On the other hand, a 1080i signal will be interlaced, and reassembling it into a progressive image may cause unpleasant artifacts. And some 768p import 1080i video and downgrade it into 540p, then upscale

The only way to resolve your dilemma is to get a test pattern and pick the resolution that looks best. (and possibly cry a little when you notice all the little artifacts. My hdtv is a small 768p set that accepts 1080p-- 1080p with all sorts of highly visible artifacts, that is. It's currently set to 1080i, because I haven't gotten around to analyzing my sets resolution.)

To get a test plate, put in a Sony BD-- e.g. Casino Royale. At the main menu, press 7669 on your bluray's remote.

[dobyblue]

They don't downgrade it to 540p. A frame with repeated odd or even lines is still a 1080p frame even though half the resolution has been dropped.

[jerwin]

Originally Posted by dobyblue

They don't downgrade it to 540p. A frame with repeated odd or even lines is still a 1080p frame even though half the resolution has been dropped.

Well, you would hope that they wouldn't. But sometimes it's cheaper.

[Toptube]

My tv (see my sig) looks noticeably better when fed Blu-ray in 1080p from my PS3 vs. the same Blu-ray in 720p from my PS3.

the PS3's menus and background picture also look noticeably better. It must have a nice scaler in there because its clearly using those extra lines to make 768p. I've noticed ZERO artifacts from the scaling. It does display aliasing on edges during the opening shots in The Dark Knight, but I think its impossible to get rid of the aliasing on a 720p set because no matter what, its always scaling the image somehow.

[lojack1976]

Originally Posted by jerwin

Many so called 720p sets are actually 768p. Setting your player to output 720p instead of 1080i/1080p will discard those extra lines of resolution. On the other hand, a 1080i signal will be interlaced, and reassembling it into a progressive image may cause unpleasant artifacts. And some 768p import 1080i video and downgrade it into 540p, then upscale

The only way to resolve your dilemma is to get a test pattern and pick the resolution that looks best. (and possibly cry a little when you notice all the little artifacts. My hdtv is a small 768p set that accepts 1080p-- 1080p with all sorts of highly visible artifacts, that is. It's currently set to 1080i, because I haven't gotten around to analyzing my sets resolution.)

To get a test plate, put in a Sony BD-- e.g. Casino Royale. At the main menu, press 7669 on your bluray's remote.

This is exactly what happens when a TV that accepts 1080i can't properly deinterlace the signal and uses a BOB method to convert it down to 540p, and then the TV will upconvert it to its native resolution. Most TV's that are marketed as being 720p are actually 768p sets. If you feed it a 720p signal then it has to add lines of resolution that don't exist to scale it to its native resolution, so sending a lower signal like 720p is not optimal. If you send it a 1080p signal it will discard lines, but you will still have 768 lines of actual material resulting in a better picture than a 720p signal will provide.

TV's with poor deinterlacing capability should never be fed a 1080i signal as the resulting image will be worse than a 720p signal since in this scenario you are only getting 540 lines of actual material and adding 228 made up lines. This will give you an image barely better than an upconverted DVD. This is even worse on 1080p TVs that don't deinterlace properly and use a BOB method because then the TV is adding 540 made up lines! Of course if a TV deinterlaces properly resolving every line then there will be no downconversion hence no difference between a 1080i and 1080p since the resolution is exactly the same.

[Fred Bang]

I'm a bit late in the conversation. I have a JVC HD-ILA 720p set (which is really 768p) and am struggling to decide which output looks better from my PS3: 720p or 1080i (set won,t accept 1080p). 1080i looks much more detailed than 720p, but 720p is much more fluid during fast motion. It's really pissing me off that I can't make up my mind!

Do you guys with 720p set notice the same thing as me on your sets? Do you guys prefer detail over fluidity?

[DIGITALBATH]

I would set it to 1080i, you will get a lot nicer resolution on Blu-rays and most PS3 games are 720p anyways. I'm skeptical that you'll be looking at artifacts if the tv is set to 1080.

[Fred Bang]

Originally Posted by DIGITALBATH

I would set it to 1080i, you will get a lot nicer resolution on Blu-rays and most PS3 games are 720p anyways. I'm skeptical that you'll be looking at artifacts if the tv is set to 1080.

With 1080i, IT IS a lot better looking, but I swear to god the motion seems (a bit) less fluid. Though I sometimes wonder if it's not my imagination. Maybe the interlacer of the HD-Ila is not optimal?

[Q?]

Originally Posted by Fred Bang

With 1080i, IT IS a lot better looking, but I swear to god the motion seems (a bit) less fluid. Though I sometimes wonder if it's not my imagination. Maybe the interlacer of the HD-Ila is not optimal?

1080i means that only half the picture is shown at any given time, but it happens so fast that you will not notice it of course, but when a camera pans or such, it will flicker or as you seem to describe it as less fluid.
That's how I've come to understand it, I may not be entirely correct as I'm not an expert on the matter.

[Toptube]

Originally Posted by Fred Bang

With 1080i, IT IS a lot better looking, but I swear to god the motion seems (a bit) less fluid. Though I sometimes wonder if it's not my imagination. Maybe the interlacer of the HD-Ila is not optimal?

Since your tv does make effective use of the extra resolution, I'd go with the added detail. Personally, I'd rather lose a bit during motion and have better overall detail than have great motion but less overall resolution.


You could also prioritize your viewing. Use the better resolution for stuff like TV shows and dramas that aren't going to have much action. Use 720p for action.

[Canada]

Originally Posted by dobyblue

They don't downgrade it to 540p. A frame with repeated odd or even lines is still a 1080p frame even though half the resolution has been dropped.

Interesting.