Upconversion CRT vs Plasma and 1080P

[Lagos55]

My previous television was a Panasonic CRT 34 inch HDTV tube. I noticed that there was almost no difference in PQ when I combined it with my Sony upscale DVD player. Did not matter if it was set to 1080i or 720p or 480p it all looked pretty much the same. I thought it was due to the fact that upconversion did not really work as well as most people said it did. However, when I got my new Samsung Plasma (768p) I notice that there was a big difference in PQ quality between 480p and 720P and 1080i. The 480P setting seemed closer to the quality I got with my CRT TV. And for some reason the 1080i gave me the best picture of the settings? Why the big picture difference. Why can'nt crt's upconvert properly?

Another question is about resolution. I know that most earleir 720p panels can not accept 1080p signals. My set actually does accept the 1080p signal. I was informed that most newer 720p (768p) TV's usually share the same processor with their 1080p counterparts only difference is that they have a 768p panel and programming to compensate for 768p. Is this true?

[MrFattBill]

Did you change how it was hooked up between the 2 televisions. I have always thought that you needed to use HDMI to take advantage of the up-convert features on standard DVD players...I'm guessing your CRT doesn't have HDMI?

Bill

[Lagos55]

Did you change how it was hooked up between the 2 televisions. I have always thought that you needed to use HDMI to take advantage of the up-convert features on standard DVD players...I'm guessing your CRT doesn't have HDMI?

Same hook up the CRT had I HDMI input which I use.

FYI the CRT is a Panasonic and the new Plasma is a Samsung I guess 4 year of technological inovation makes the difference as well as two different technologies.

[xneox]

Originally Posted by Lagos55

Same hook up the CRT had I HDMI input which I use.

FYI the CRT is a Panasonic and the new Plasma is a Samsung I guess 4 year of technological inovation makes the difference as well as two different technologies.

You imply that, for picture quality, Plasma is a superior technology to CRT. That just isn't true.

The very best plasma displays have only just started to approach the level of PQ that CRT is capable of. The industry didn't abandon CRT technology because emerging technology produced a better picture (actually, quite the opposite - 90% of displays on the market today can't produce a picture as good as a high-quality CRT). The industry abandoned CRT technology because the market decided that bigger is better, and you can't make a CRT over 36+" that's easy to handle/move/install in the average home.

I've actually given this a lot of thought lately, and discussed with people...it's disappointing that display technology "advanced" in such a way as to put overall picture quality third or fourth (sometimes lower) on the list of important factors. Thankfully, plasma recently caught up...but still, more people buy LCD than plasma, when plasma clearly produces a superior picture.

I can't speak for your Panasonic, or your situation...I can only say that I have a 30" 1080i Toshiba CRT (MD30H82) in my family room that produces a picture that, for its size, is comparable to my V10, and superior to any LCD-based display I've ever seen.

[McGarnigal]

My last tv was a 30"1080i CRT, and with sony upconvert dvd player w/hdmi and a Ps3. They both did wonders upconverting, i would play with the settings, 480i,480p,720p,1080i,1080p (i know the tv would downconvert 1080p to i, but the dvd player doesnt know that), just to watch the differance...

[Lagos55]

You imply that, for picture quality, Plasma is a superior technology to CRT. That just isn't true.

I did not say that at all. The only thing I am talking about is the process by which upconversion is done and that I noticed that the upconversion looked better on the Plasma for DVD material

I purposely waited 2 years before getting a Plasma because the CRT I had has a better colours especially on cable HD stations and standard stations. I just was trying to figure out why it why the plasma seemed to do a better job upconverting DVDs. Plasma is the closest to CRT as far as picture quality is concerned. LCD still has a long way to go. In fact my neighbour has the 2008 version of my plasma, mine is an 09 model. Both he and I agree that my set has a superior pictures and that is despite us using the same settings. So it seems they get better by the year.

I do not know if it is perhaps the Plasma has a greater colour palete that gives the illusion of better upconversion or because it displays 18 bit colour? I am not even sure that these things matter beyond marketing terms.

[xneox]

Originally Posted by Lagos55

I did not say that at all.

I didn't say you said it. I said you implied it...which you did, when you said:

Originally Posted by Lagos55

FYI the CRT is a Panasonic and the new Plasma is a Samsung I guess 4 year of technological inovation makes the difference as well as two different technologies.

The fact that you're dealing with 'two different technologies' has nothing to do with the plasma looking better than the CRT.

Originally Posted by Lagos55

The only thing I am talking about is the process by which upconversion is done and that I noticed that the upconversion looked better on the Plasma for DVD material.

One thing I don't understand about this is - we're talking about DVDs...and you said you connected the player to each display via HDMI...so I assume you've got a modern upconverting DVD player with HDMI out. Why, then, are you sending the signal @ 480i and allowing the display to 'upconvert' (which many older 1080i displays did not do at all...they simply displayed @ 480i/p)?

[Lagos55]

I sent a 1080i signal to both sets.

However, I have tried all settings at least once.

The orgional question to be clearer in my comunications is if a CRT handles upconversion the same way as a Plasma or perhaps an LCD?

I thought I read somewhere on the web that it did not and my own use seems to confirm this. Just wanted to know if someone else has experienced the same.

[xneox]

Originally Posted by Lagos55

I sent a 1080i signal to both sets.

Then you could have asked the same question about Brand X plasma vs Brand Y plasma. It has absolutely nothing to do with CRT vs plasma. There is no 'handling' of an upconverted signal as you're describing it (a player doing the upconverting & sending it to the display). You're simply sending an identical 1080i signal...period. You could get the same effect by cranking the sharpness and lowering the color level on the plasma...would make a less-than-ideal signal (upconverted DVD) look like shit.

What you're seeing is likely an example of how some HDTVs make SD material look better than others...better processing, smoothing, etc. Has nothing to do with the display technology, or whether the signal being sent is upconverted DVD, SD cable, processed satellite, etc. Simply one specific model having a better go of processing a crappy signal than another.

As I said in my original post, the PQ of my 1080i CRT, when fed the same source material, is on par with that of my V10. If you're aware of the V10, you know how much that says.