720P vs. 1080i

[Iceman_II]

Rather than just spit back the pablum that more is better, I would say that more is not necessarily better.

For high motion, progressive is definately better, that is why ESPN, FOX, and ABC broadcast OTA in 720p, hell, fox even claims that it is the best HD signal quality - and depending on how you look at it, it arguably is.

To play back in 1080i, your player has to take the 1080p signal and interlace it, this interlaced signal is then sent to your TV, where (if its an LCD or a DLP) the signal is de-interlaced to convert it back... its my understanding that de-interlacing creates a progressive signal which is somewhat lower in quality than a true original progressive signal of the same dimensions... again, I seem to recall numbers as low as the equivilent of 780 if you have a crappy de-interlacing algorithm in the TV to as high as nearly 1080 if you have a great one.

There is really no way to know how well your TV handles the conversion, short of observation. Personally, I figure the fewer times you manipulate the signal the better.

Your homework is to watch in both, and decide for yourself which looks better.