Blu-ray player outputs only 1080p but TV is only 1080i...

[victorw8856]

Hello,

I am currently researching blu-ray player technology; planning to step up to a blu-ray player soon. My older Yamaha receiver (RXV-2400), which I wish to keep, can only achieve 7.1 Dolby TrueHD/DTS-Master audio from a blu-ray player if the audio comes to it as multi-channel analog (receiver doesn't have HDMI, and although it's TosLink optical input can accept PCM, I've heard that this won't work well with the high-def audio bitstreams). So the frontrunner blu-ray players for me are: Sony BDP-S550, Pioneer BDP-51FD, or possibly Panasonic DMP-BD50. Probably some other models out there which output discrete 7.1 anaolog audio; I'm open to suggestions.

My question is this: So far, the blu-ray players that I know about which output 7.1 multi-channel audio only output video at 1080p, not a 1080i option. My HDTV is a Mitsubishi WS-55413, which cannot display 720p nor 1080p. So would it work well with a blu-ray player that only outputs 1080p? If not, is there a work-around? (no, the solution can't be "buy a new TV"). Thank you in advance for your advice!!!