Playing 1080p Blu-ray on 1080i TV

[Cylon]

Hi All,

I'm new to blu-ray since buying a PS3, and was wondering if anyone could explaing exactly how the various definitions work.

I have a 50" Panasonic 1080i TV and rented Blood Diamond the other night. The specs say it is 1080p, so my question is this:

What does my TV actually output the movie in if it's upper limit is 1080i?

Quite honestly I just didn't see the quality I was expecting from it. I expected it to blow me away completely, given that 1080i (assuming it drops "down" from 1080p to 1080i) is a lot better than regular DVD.

Thanks
Ian

[GreenMotion]

I have a Panasonic 50 1080i set as well and although it accepts 1080p input, it will downsample it back to 1080i. I do really want to upgrade to a 1080p set soon, but on blu-rays with good transfers, the picture looks amazing. Even on my 1080i.

Try a couple other blu-ray movies. I.e. Crank.

By the way, why were you not pleased with the quality? A lot of movies contain artificial grain, if that's what your complaint is about.

[bootman]

The player's output should match the TV's input regardless of the movie's resolution.
This will ensure the best picture for your TV.

[Brain Sturgeon]

Originally Posted by Cylon

Hi All,

I'm new to blu-ray since buying a PS3, and was wondering if anyone could explaing exactly how the various definitions work.

I have a 50" Panasonic 1080i TV and rented Blood Diamond the other night. The specs say it is 1080p, so my question is this:

What does my TV actually output the movie in if it's upper limit is 1080i?

Quite honestly I just didn't see the quality I was expecting from it. I expected it to blow me away completely, given that 1080i (assuming it drops "down" from 1080p to 1080i) is a lot better than regular DVD.

Thanks
Ian

Your TV will never output anything more than 1080i. It will probably also output 720p; but I would usually go with what is considered the "native" resolution of your set. You should be using the HDMI connectors from PS3 to your set. You will then need to set your PS3 to output 1080i via HDMI to your set. If you try to pass 1080p to your set, you will usually just get a blank picture as your set will not accept the signal. Even 1080i Blu-ray is quite impressive PQ-wise. 1080p (particularly 24 Hz) is better, but how much better is dependent on your setup and screen size.

Assuming your source material has good PQ (check the reviews on this site or others to verify), then check your setup if your picture is less than impressive.

Good luck!

[crackinhedz]

Blood Diamond picture quality was bad to begin with.

[whoami]

Originally Posted by crackinhedz

Blood Diamond picture quality was bad to begin with.

i agree it depends on the movie.... my best one is shooter i was one of the few who got it before paramount "SOLD OUT" and the picture quality is unbeleivable..... i also had my ps3 on a 1080i then upgraded to 1080p its like night and day.even the wife noticed the deiffrence.

[Waking Midnight]

any tv that says it is 1080i actually isnt. its pixel resolution is 1366 x 768. so even though it accepts 1080i it downscales it to 720p. the only tvs that resolve every line of resolution from a 1080 source is 1080p. and that is because it is the only tv with a 1920 x 1080 resolution.

[crackinhedz]

Originally Posted by Waking Midnight

any tv that says it is 1080i actually isnt. its pixel resolution is 1366 x 768. so even though it accepts 1080i it downscales it to 720p.

you do know there are HDTV's out there that are 1080i and cannot even recognize 720p let alone "downscale" to it. I can only assume youre brand new to the home theater industry, but yes, there are HDTVs that are 1080i/480p only. (as I should know, i have one. )

[Whytewash]

Cylon:

Welcome to the forums!!

[T-Wrecks]

is the biggest reason why I do not YET own a large library of Blu-ray movies. It really is night and day(i vs p), and, to be honest, the DVD upscaling is so close to watching Blu-ray on 1080i, it has me holding off and renting until I can afford a larger, 1080p TV (The difference is minimal in favor of Blu-ray, and I dare you to say otherwise, tech-heads).

I think it is the biggest reason why there is not a bigger attachment ratio for PS3 owners when it comes to Blu-ray. The majority of us simply cannot yet afford a PS3 AND our favorite movies on Blu-ray AND a new 1080p TV...

It will happen, but probably not until sometime next year. Fiscal responsibility means family first, and 1080p TV second.

[Mr. Joshua]

Originally Posted by crackinhedz

Blood Diamond picture quality was bad to begin with.

That avitar is the shizzle mizzle dizzle, what I mean is way cool....

[SamInNorthCakalakey]

Originally Posted by T-Wrecks

is the biggest reason why I do not YET own a large library of Blu-ray movies. It really is night and day(i vs p), and, to be honest, the DVD upscaling is so close to watching Blu-ray on 1080i, it has me holding off and renting until I can afford a larger, 1080p TV (The difference is minimal in favor of Blu-ray, and I dare you to say otherwise, tech-heads).

I think it is the biggest reason why there is not a bigger attachment ratio for PS3 owners when it comes to Blu-ray. The majority of us simply cannot yet afford a PS3 AND our favorite movies on Blu-ray AND a new 1080p TV...

It will happen, but probably not until sometime next year. Fiscal responsibility means family first, and 1080p TV second.

Upscaling is the biggest crock out there right now. There is no way you can get rid of banding on an image unless you blur the crap out of it. Compressions artifacts are all over DVD's and "upscaling" only accentuates that. Save your $150 on a "good" upscaler and put towards your kids college tuition.

I've tried several before going Blu and it's crap. and I asked several others there opinions as well. If you look long enough at the clouds you'll eventually see whatever you want to see, same thing with upscaling.

[Joe Cain]

is the only reason I've begun collecting BDs at all. Well, that and the PS3.

It's not a huge TV; it's CRT, and it's a year old---you can get LCD in the same size for the money now, but we only spent as much on it as we did on the SD TV it replaced; I think of it as a nice starter HDTV. The PS3 was admittedly a bit of an extravagance, but it came right after the price drop and a really bad year; sometimes you have to say "I could walk in front of a bus tomorrow---tonight I'm watching the movie in HD!"

For our solidly middle-class demographic we're a little ahead on the early adoption curve, I guess, but I think we've gotten good value for dollars spent on the HDM market. It helps that we're sentimentalists and Disney fans, and that Disney is solidly behind BD; if Disney were sitting it out or had gone HD-DVD exclusive, I would've settled on a nice upscaling DVD player for the next couple of years.

Clearly prices need to come down for TVs and players alike before HD will command a simple majority in the market. It will also help if adoption is made simple to the point of being stupid---the studios' embrace of a single format sure would be nice, which would help make 1080p the most attractive HDTV to sell at a mass market price point...

[Waking Midnight]

Originally Posted by crackinhedz

you do know there are HDTV's out there that are 1080i and cannot even recognize 720p let alone "downscale" to it. I can only assume youre brand new to the home theater industry, but yes, there are HDTVs that are 1080i/480p only. (as I should know, i have one. )

yes but they dont have a true pixel resolution of 1920 x 1080.

[crackinhedz]

Originally Posted by Waking Midnight

yes but they dont have a true pixel resolution of 1920 x 1080.

actually it does. It just shows half at two different times...interlaced.



This table illustrates total horizontal and vertical pixel resolution via box size.

[T-Wrecks]

I got a free firmware update via PS3, and all I'm saying is my DVDs look much nicer. I'm sorry I got your BP up about upscaling .

[Ex Accountant]

It will happen, but probably not until sometime next year. Fiscal responsibility means family first, and 1080p TV second.

You obviously don't have your priorities straight!!!!!

[gand41f]

Originally Posted by crackinhedz

you do know there are HDTV's out there that are 1080i and cannot even recognize 720p let alone "downscale" to it. I can only assume youre brand new to the home theater industry, but yes, there are HDTVs that are 1080i/480p only. (as I should know, i have one. )

Well, if the original poster's TV is a Panasonic 50" HD plasma that takes 1080i, I believe those were actually native 1366x768. I agree that it's incorrect to say that it downscales to 720p, it's more like it downscales to 768p.

Yes, I know there are a fair number of earlier HDTVs that do not accept 720p input, but what they accept as input sometimes do not correspond to their native resolution. (A good example of this is the first Sharp 1080p LCD that only accepted up to 720p/1080i.)

enjoy
gandalf

[Cylon]

I'm definitely not knowledgeable when it comes to HDTV.

I expected the difference between my DVD and Blu-Ray experience on my 1080i to be like the difference between playing a video game on 640x480 and 1024x768 ... or something. I was just looking for a more hi-def experience.

Hopefully it's my TV and not my eyesight. At least I can get a new TV.

Let me pull out my manual and see what this TV accepts at input and output.

[Cylon]

Right, I've set my PS3 to output a max of 1080i.

I pulled the TV manual and it does not specifically say what resolution the TV outputs. It says that the HDMI in only accepts 480p, 720p, and 1080i signals.

The fact that it doesn't mention the output resolution makes me think it's 720, but the damned TV and manual have 1080i written all over them!

I can't find any official stuff online but all the reviews I found said the native resolution was 1280x720. I'm sure this is probably considered HD but im my book it's not.

Damnit, now how do I convince my wife we need ANOTHER HDTV after only having this for 2 years, and it cost an arm and a leg!

At least next time I buy I'll be more knowledgeable!

Any advice on something under $2 grand? Why are the Mitsubishi 1080p TV's so much cheaper than the rest?