Blu-Ray/HD-DVD picture quality with 720p/1080i TV

[wtb955]

I apologize up front if this subject has been broached in another forum area but here is the question. When displaying a blu-ray/HD-DVD movie on a 720p/1080i TV, is the picture quality improvement significant enough to warrant investment in a new DVD player? Can one even tell the difference between 1080i and 1080P when playing movies on these TVs? Thanks! :

 

[mssturgeon]

As you might expect, the answer to this question is: It Depends.

First, lets consider HD DVD:
All HD DVD players on the market right now max out at 1080i, even though the media (discs) have 1080p content. Unless you are fortunate enough to have a VGA input on your TV, then supposedly you can get 1080p out of the external HD DVD Add-on for the Xbox 360, should you have one. I already had an Xbox 360, so it was almost a no-brainer to drop the $200 on the add-on to join the HD DVD movement. My TV is vintage '99, so component-only for me ... and YES, there is a fairly good improvement in both video and audio ... not to mention the cool new PIP and special features they're beginning to pack into this format.

Now for Blu-ray:
$1000+ cost aside, and video transfer problems aside, these units from Samsung, Panasonic, and now Sony all do 1080p, as I understand. I have not yet tested these out, so cannot vouch for any in particular. As such, the picture quality should be even better than what I'm seeing through my 360. I will not comment on whether it's worth the extra $200-$500, as I have not personally seen how Blu-ray looks on my TV ... yet.

And if you're hoping the PS3 is your low-cost solution to getting in on the Blu-ray market, tread carefully. If you have an older TV (like me) you may not be getting HD out of this player. If the source content is 720p (like all current games and some movies) and your TV does not support 720p display, the video will be downconverted to 480p, NOT upconverted to 1080i/p. I don't have many details, but have heard that Sony has confirmed this problem.

As far as 720p vs 1080i vs 1080p, that depends entirely on your eyesight and how close you sit to the display. You really just have to judge for yourself.

Bottom line: In my opinion, definitely worth $200, probably worth $500, not (yet) worth $1000+

Hope that didn't confuse too much.

- Shane Sturgeon

 

[teamerickson]

When displaying a blu-ray/HD-DVD movie on a 720p/1080i TV, is the picture quality improvement significant enough to warrant investment in a new DVD player?

With the HD DVD stand alones that are currently available you would have a perfect match with 1080i. The Blue-ray outputs 1080p so your TV would have to downconvert. The picture might actually not look as good as the 1080i HD DVD. If you can chose 1080i output with the Blue-ray then they probably would look similar.

 

[JoeSp]

Hold up there pardners!! You guys are totally misrepresenting the PS3 BluRay movie playback abilities!!

First, when playing BluRay High Definition movies you are able to select output to 1080p, 1080i and 720p. This function works well and has no problems.

Second, The PS3 in many reviews has reviewers stating that it is an excellent BluRay movie player with none of the problems that the Samsung player has showned.

Third, the PS3 comes with HDMI 1.3. Not only does it decode DolbyTrueHD but it is capable of passing along all the new HD audio formats to a AVR that can decode them (these will not be out till spring 2007),

Fourth, the 720p display problem is only with video game playing while using older (than 2 years) CRT RPTV HDTV that cannot accept a 720p signal for processing.

Fifth, I know of no 1080i HDTV that can accept a 1080p signal. Heck there are plenty of 1080p HDTVs that don't accept a 1080p signal!

Sixth, and finally, the $499 PS3 has all of the BluRay playback ablilities of the $599 unit including the HDMI 1.3 port.

Please, lets stop the rummoring and deal with the facts when talking about the PS3 as a High Def Movie Player. And yes, Sony needs to get the 720p game playing problem fix quickly!!

 

[teamerickson]

I apologize up front if this subject has been broached in another forum area but here is the question. When displaying a blu-ray/HD-DVD movie on a 720p/1080i TV, is the picture quality improvement significant enough to warrant investment in a new DVD player? Can one even tell the difference between 1080i and 1080P when playing movies on these TVs? Thanks! :

Answering your question is not as simple as yes or no. To me, it is worth the price of admission. The picture quality is very good, and I think it looks a lot better then a regular progressive scan DVD player. But, I'm sure others could lean the other way and are happy with just a progressive scan DVD player. The up converting on the HD DVD is very good also.

 

[JoeSp]

Possible 1080p/24fps and DVD Upscaling in the near future for the PS3?

http://www.engadget.com/2006/11/30/ps3-to-get-upscaled-dvds-1080p-24-sacd/

Sony might of really place a lot larger Trojan Horse in the PS3 then any of us thougt!

 

[BlackHitachi]

The two words that really scare people SONY and Trojan in the same sentence.

 

[mssturgeon]

JoeSp,

His question wasn't about HD DVD vs. Blu-ray ... don't open that can of worms or this thread will explode. His question was about whether he would notice a difference over standard DVD and if it was worth the cost ... I think that has been answered.

- Shane

 

[JoeSp]

JoeSp,

His question wasn't about HD DVD vs. Blu-ray ... don't open that can of worms or this thread will explode. His question was about whether he would notice a difference over standard DVD and if it was worth the cost ... I think that has been answered.

- Shane

You are correct, I was addressing several posts that misspoke on the ablilities of the PS3 as a BluRay player. You are one of those who has misinterpreted the 720p situation with the PS3. If you a playing a movie there is no problem. But, if you are playing some games that are 720p only (Resistance is one) and your HDTV does not accept a 720p signal then you will get a downrez of the video. This only happens with games and not the BluRay movies.

 

[wtb955]

Ok fellas, so the answer is that HD-DVD will have the better picture on a current 1080i receiver because it only outputs to 1080i anyway, but blu-ray is ok also? Moreover the big picture is that both formats will look very good on a 1080i TV?

 

[teachsac]

Hey Tom,

I've got both the HDDVD and Panasonic BR. Both are nice. The Toshiba also does a much nicer job upconverting SDDVD.

Scott

 

[JoeSp]

You have got that correct. And current titles coming out show no nod over either HD-DVD or BluRay as to better PQ. They are basically the same. Right now HD=DVD has shown better features but as soon as the JAVA based menu gets worked out completely BluRay should match those features too. Right now at this point in time either format will make your 1080I HDTV look great.