Will an 811 function on 431i/1081i inputs?

[DirtyMack]

I'm asking because my television has a (480i/480p/1081i) and a (481i/1080i) input. Currently I have my 811 running through the first input, and my DVD played in the second. I would like to swap the DVD player for an Xbox, but since the XB displays in 480p (and not 480i), I won't get a picture when a game (and the menu screen) runs in 480p.
I know that HD broadcasts are displayed in 1080, but does the 811 ever switch to 480p when a broadcast is not in HD?
Thanks!

 

[redline65]

There is a menu setting for either 480p, 720p, or 1080i. You can only choose one of them. So if you only choose 1080i all of your channels will be sent to your TV as a 1080i signal, all of the time. Everything gets upconverted.

 

[Oakenshld]

There is a menu setting for either 480p, 720p, or 1080i. You can only choose one of them. So if you only choose 1080i all of your channels will be sent to your TV as a 1080i signal, all of the time. Everything gets upconverted.

This was a question I had as well. I was under the impression that setting to 1080i denoted that my HDTV could handle that signal and it would transmit everything UP TO 1080i (480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i) to my set, I knew it did down conversion (1080i to 720p), but I did not know it automatically upconverted. Does this mean if I have my 811 set to 1080i (which i do) when I watch ESPNHD or my Local OTA CBS feeds at 720p, my 811 upconverts it to 1080i, then it goes to my Sammy DLP and gets down converted back again to 720p? Seems like a lot of room for signal degredation?

 

[redline65]

Yes, I believe it would get upconverted from 720p to 1080i, then your TV would downconvert to 720p. Why not just set the resolution on the 811 to 720p? That way there would be no conversion for 720p material.

 

[mike123abc]

The only issue I can see is if you have a 4:3 TV. I use my 811 on a 4:3 TV and watch most on 480p, only switching to 1080i when I am going to seriously watch something in HD. 1081i is always letterboxed on my TV (sony), so if I have the 811 in 1080i mode, the standard definition pictures show up in a box in the middle of the screen, since they are letterboxed and no wide screen.

 

[Oakenshld]

Yes, I believe it would get upconverted from 720p to 1080i, then your TV would downconvert to 720p. Why not just set the resolution on the 811 to 720p? That way there would be no conversion for 720p material.

I have noticed that when I set the 811 to 720p and let it do the downconversion from a 1080i source (OTA digital NBC, ABC; DiscoveryHD etc.) the picture is noticeably less sharp and defined than if I let my Samsung DLP do the down conversion to its native 720p. May just be my TV though. I had it set to 1080i last night and watched the Sacremento Kings game on ESPNHD and it looked fine though, so maybe the double conversion is not that big of a deal.

 

[DirtyMack]

Sounds good. Just as long as 480 is a non-factor, i should be fine....

 

[MrDRC]

The Kings - Rockets games was BEAUTIFUL last night. I had to watch the whole game because I couldnt stop looking at the quality.

 

[willy]

I have noticed that when I set the 811 to 720p and let it do the downconversion from a 1080i source (OTA digital NBC, ABC; DiscoveryHD etc.) the picture is noticeably less sharp and defined than if I let my Samsung DLP do the down conversion to its native 720p. May just be my TV though. I had it set to 1080i last night and watched the Sacremento Kings game on ESPNHD and it looked fine though, so maybe the double conversion is not that big of a deal.

NO!!! This has been seen with quite a few of us. What *seems* to be happening is that the 811 is downconverting to 480p, then to 720p. So the 720p seems to be SD, not HD.. and it sure looks like it to me.

Check out this thread for other comments on the issue- they are scattered throughout:
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=21228

By the way- converting from 1080i -> 720p--- not "downconverting". This comment would cause heads to roll in other forums. Scaling is more the appropriate term. Its not an explicit reduction in image quality.