difference between 1080i/p

[Craig666]

Can someone explain the difference between 1080i and 1080p? I have just bought Psychoville and it's 1080i but the picture quality looks fine and is better than the standard def DVD. I know 1080p is better but how big a leap is it?

Also, I have noticed that Shane Meadows' Somers Town is in 1080i. Does it just mean that the cameras that the filmmakers use film in that format? I would presume not, as films are constantly released 1080p and they didn't even use HD cameras.

[Ben_R]

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=difference+between+1080i+and+1080p

[josuv22]

see here

http://hometheater.about.com/od/tele...80ivs1080p.htm

[pro-bassoonist]

Originally Posted by Craig666

Can someone explain the difference between 1080i and 1080p? I have just bought Psychoville and it's 1080i but the picture quality looks fine and is better than the standard def DVD. I know 1080p is better but how big a leap is it?

Also, I have noticed that Shane Meadows' Somers Town is in 1080i. Does it just mean that the cameras that the filmmakers use film in that format? I would presume not, as films are constantly released 1080p and they didn't even use HD cameras.

Hello Craig,

And welcome to the community

1. 1080i -- interlaced.
2. 1080p -- progressive.
3. Many concerts, documentaries, and sports programs are shot in 1080i. Meaning that when released on Blu-ray, they would look very strong.
4. Quite a few films in your country have appeared on Blu-ray in 1080/50i, and this does not necessarily mean that the quality of the presentation is disappointing. While for many films 1080p is preferable, often times you could have a 1080i release that is indeed of very high-quality. Bottom line is this - it all depends on the source used to produce the high-definition transfer, and how it was actually produced. If everything is handled with the proper care, you could have a surprisingly strong 1080i Blu-ray release. The opposite is also true - you could have an extremely poor 1080p release because nothing was done properly.

I think that this is the shortest generic explanation that I could offer.

Pro-B

[Craig666]

Thanks for the welcome and reply. Psychoville does indeed look fine as 1080i. Might get Somers Town and the South Park sets now.

I just find all these things confusing; it's not like DVD when I just hoped widescreen films were anamorphic.

[General Vyper]

I've got some BBC nature documentaries (Planet Earth, Wild China and some others) which are 1080i and they look absolutely stunning. Having read about the difference I thought it would be noticeable but its not, in fact they look better than most of my 1080p movies.

[nitin]

having got a few 1080i releases recently, I can confirm that some of them are better than 1080p transfers. I picked up Icon's release of Crash in Australia which is a 1080i/50 disc and its video quality is definitely better than the 1080p versions released in the US.

[Craig666]

How do people know what camera some of these films were shot in? I notice REC is 1080/i and many people stating it is correct as that is the camera they used.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by Craig666

How do people know what camera some of these films were shot in? I notice REC is 1080/i and many people stating it is correct as that is the camera they used.

It often gives information on the films wikipedia/imdb page, for example Wallender the TV series uses the amazing RED camera which even has it's own player which is a higher resolution than 1080P called Red Ray.

A lot of the other guys here are extremely well-informed on the film industry or even part of it. And they're all happy to share their vast knowledge.

Here's a snippet on Star Wars Attack of the Clones.

Principal photography occurred between June 26, 2000 and September 20, 2000 at 20th Century Fox Studios in Australia. Location shooting took place in the Tunisian desert, at the Plaza de España in Seville, Spain, in Italy at the Villa del Balbianello on Lake Como, and in the former royal Palace of Caserta. At his own personal request, Samuel L. Jackson's character Mace Windu received a lightsaber that emitted an amethyst glow, as opposed to traditional blue and green for "good guys" and red for "bad guys." Reshoots were performed in March 2001. During this time, a new action sequence was developed featuring the droid factory after Lucas had decided that the film lacked a quick enough pace in the corresponding time-frame. The sequence's previsualization was rushed, and the live-action footage was shot within four and a half hours. Because of Lucas' method of creating shots through various departments and sources that are sometimes miles and years apart from each other, Attack of the Clones became the first film ever to be produced through what Rick McCallum called "virtual filmmaking."

Like The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones furthered technological development, effectively moving Hollywood into the "digital age" with the use of the HDW-F900, developed by Sony and Panavision, a digital camera using an HD digital 24 frame system. This spawned controversy over the benefits and disadvantages of digital cinematography that continue as more filmmakers "convert" to digital filmmaking while many filmmakers oppose it. In contrast to previous installments, for which scenes were shot in the Tunisian desert in temperatures up to 125 °F (51 °C), the camera would still run without complications. Lucas had stated that he wished to film The Phantom Menace on this format but Sony was unable to build the cameras quickly enough. In 2002, Attack of the Clones became the third film to be released that was shot entirely on a 24p digital camera (preceded by 2001's Jackpot and Vidocq). Despite Lucas' efforts to persuade movie theaters to switch to digital projectors for better viewing of Episode II, few theaters did.

[richieb1971]

I am not sure but 1080p is usually affliated with film. A major movie uses film 99% of the time.

With digital cameras being much smaller and cheaper, some studios will use them now because the quality is getting better. Usually a digital shot movie will be shot with 1080p in mind to keep the standards the same as the film movies and HDTV's. But really it makes not much difference if they keep it to 1080i.

If its shot on film and then converted to 1080i, its usually because they used a master given to a TV studio. Or a TV studio had the best version of the master print available. Something from 1990+ would probably fit into this category as the TV studio probably held a master print for years without using it. Whilst the master master print got wasted down the drain or something.