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MCF
06-08-2005, 07:05 AM
I have some questions regarding resolution. I have a relatively inexpensive 16:9 HD Plamsa tv and Time Warner HD Digital Cable (8300 HD DVR).
1. On the cable box, I have a choice of 1080i, 480i, 480p or 720p. Which is best? The factory setting on the box is 1080i. There is also a setup option that allow you to toggle between 480i and 1080i...should I leave the box at 1080i, change to one of the other resolutions or switch between 480i and 1080i?
2. Last night I ran a component cable straight from my DVD player to the tv. When I did this, the tv flashed a resolution of something like 747 x 427, 60Hz. I know it was not 780 x 480 or a standard resolution I am used to. It was off like 747x427 (or something close to that). Is that normal? Secondly, when I run an S-video cable from the DVD player to my HK AVR-635 and a component cable from the AVR-635 to the tv, the resolution pops up on the screen as 640x200, 60Hz. This is very low, correct? Why is this?
3. Lastly, what do the frequency and phase adjustments on the tv menu do?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

edtyct
06-08-2005, 12:39 PM
MCF, I wish I'd known what you were up to before. I just answered a lot of this one in your other thread. You don't say what brand of plasma you have or whether it is standard resolution (480p), or some version of HD (either 1024x1024, 1024x768, etc.). If it's close to 720p, choose 720p on the cable box, unless you have one of those plasmas that can't do 720p, only 1080i. If you don't know, choose 720p. I suspect that ability to toggle between 480i and 1080i is to allow you to display standard def. in pillar box style. I would think that your plasma can make do at 720p. If your 4:3 480i programming comes out stretched regardless of anything that you do, you may have to find a way to get a 480i feed from the cable box for it. I don't think that you'll have that problem.

If your plasma is SD, you could set the cable box for 480p, which in principle would tax it the least. However, many HD-ready 480p plasmas actually prefer a 1080i default from the cable box. Try it both ways.

Nominally, DVD resolution is 720x480. Check again, with different disks. Yours seems like it's probably in the ballpark, but your player may not be capable of full resolution if it keeps coming up short. Component connection per se isn't a problem; it can handle any resolution that we are currently able to throw at it. Just to make sure, you mention a "component cable"; you do know that a component feed is comprised of three cables, right? S-video output is an analog format with a limited bandwidth and format capability. It cannot be upconverted to component territory simply by switching in mid-stream. You can't squeeze blood from a stone. Avoid S-video for DVD if you can. That said, however, a vertical resolution of 200 for S-video is too low; it should be in the 400 to 420 range. Your reading or 200 is more like composite. Are you confusing composite with component?

The frequency and phase adjustments on your TV are probably for computer display. Is yours capable of it?

Ed

MCF
06-09-2005, 06:51 AM
I changed the S-video going from my DVD player to my reciever and I already have component going from my reciever to my plasma...after making the change from S-video to component from the DVD to the reciever, resolution came up at 720x480 and was a noticeably better picture. I messed with the resolution on the cable box last night, but no change in picture quality...I assume this is because I have an S-video cable going from my cable box to my reciever. I assume when I change this S-video to a component cable I will see a difference when changing the resolution to 720p...correct? My reciever will cross convert from s-video to component, but it will not upconvert....which I think kind of sux because I can only use my receivers OSD while watching DVDs or the cable when using S-video...I have no idea why HK made it so you had to use S-video to use the OSD..that is dumb...

edtyct
06-09-2005, 07:20 AM
S-video from cable box to receiver is a no-no; it is incapable of 720p. When component replaces it, a whole new world will open up. If you give me the make and model of your plasma, I can tell you the format options, if you need any further help. But 720p should do it--unless, as I said, your HD-ready plasma is 720p-challenged (as even Panasonics have been in the past), and you have to use 1080i. Try both, anyway; sometimes scalers in STBs and TVs are more comfortable with 1080i than with 720p. If this is your first experience of high definition at home, prepare for a revelation. Make sure that your wife sees it, if you're married. It may be the best chance you'll ever get of justifying an A/V purchase.

I've heard of other receivers having a similar glitch with OSD. To bad. Just keep both connections viable.

Ed

MCF
06-09-2005, 08:07 AM
My tv is currently one that came with the house....a 42" ByDesign 4222....pretty low quality....According to the manual, it can handle 480i, 480p, 720p and 1080i. Hopefully I can get another component cable today or tomorrow.....of course, this doesn't solve my 'wavey' line. It talked to the installers and they think it may be a defective set and are willing to come look at it...if so, they said they will replace it. There is a lot of construction going on around my house so maybe it is interference in the AC line. I am thinking about picking up a Monster Power Center at Circuit City (this way I can try it and if it does not work, take it back...and if it does work, return it and order it on-line at half the price).....any thoughts??

edtyct
06-09-2005, 08:50 AM
MCF, your plasma is an EDTV model. Its optimal resolution is 852x480, which is short of HD. But, as you say, it is capable of scaling HD formats to its native resolution. But this discovery adds a new wrinkle to your situation. You should still use component or DVI (if HDCP compliant) to the panel, but you might find that a 480p setting on the STB works best, since it will relieve the set of any further scaling. Some aftermarket EDTV plasmas like yours, however, refuse to cooperate with 480p (sometimes leaving out the color information), preferring 1080i or 720p instead. Just give it a try.

I'll keep my fingers crossed that something's wrong with the plasma, but I don't know how the installer will be able to tell without taking it to the shop. In the meantime, any further testing that you can do yourself won't hurt, including the Monster. But after you hook up the Monster, make sure that the problem is really gone before you tell the installers anything, even if you have to run the TV for 24 straight hours. And if there's any chance that the installers will replace the TV because of the wavy line w/o further ado, take them up on it. But don't tell them that you suspect a ground loop or anything like that. Just tell them that the plasma isn't working correctly. Let them come up with a cause themselves.

MCF
07-18-2005, 10:08 AM
just to keep you up to date...the installer has taken away the old tv to be repaired and the new one does NOT show any signs of the wavey line...thank goodness or it would have been very upsetting. Don't know if I will ever see the old Bydesign set again....they came, put it in a box and left....oh well....guess I can put my dimmers back in....hehe..doesn't look like it was a ground loop problem or anything like that...

edtyct
07-18-2005, 11:42 AM
That's fantastic. All's well that end's well. What's the new model?

Did I really ask that question? The Pioneer, of course. I'd say that you upgraded a bit with that one.

Ed

MCF
07-26-2005, 07:18 AM
with my new Pioneer 1120HD plasma (which supposedly upconverts all signals to 768), what would be the best setting for the cable box....1080i or 720p (or one of the other available resolutions)?

Thanks again (Sir T or Edtyct......)...

edtyct
07-26-2005, 07:45 AM
I think that the Pioneer would prefer 720p on a level playing field, since it wouldn't have to do much scaling. But try 1080i from the STB also, even if 720p looks good. If the STB doesn't handle 720p as well as the Pioneer scales 1080i to 768p, you might opt for 1080i instead of 720p. The Pioneer does nearly everything well; the STB is hit or miss. By the way, the STB should also have a default setting for SD/ED resolutions. You should be able to choose 480p with your Pioneer if it is able to show 480p in 4x3 when it's offered that way. Otherwise choose 480i and let the plasma control aspect ratio.

Ed

MCF
07-26-2005, 07:49 AM
With regards for SD/ED setting on 8300DRV, are you saying I can choose one resulution for SD and one for ED or do I just pick SD or ED? I will try 1080i tonight and compare to current setting of 720p. I would like SD to take the widescreen aspect ratio automatically so my wife does not accidentally watch regular tv for hours with the bars on the left and right. Right now, we have to do screen size adjustment on tv everytime we turn it on to get rid of bars and then re-adjust when we switch to High Definition channels....kind of a pain. Any way around this?

edtyct
07-26-2005, 08:12 AM
See if your STB will output 480p as a default for everything but HD. On some displays, that default stretches every 4:3 non-HD broadcast anamorphically without recourse. I think, however, that the Pioneer permits 4:3 at 480p to remain at 4:3. Am I right? I find that most noncritical 4:3 material (like animation, news, etc.) doesn't suffer much visually when zoomed at the periphery to fill the screen, but I like to keep academy films at their correct aspect ratio. If you use AVIA to calibrate, you should bring down contrast and brightness to levels that will permit periodic viewing of 4:3 without putting the panel in danger. The higher you set brightness and contrast, the greater the risk. Certainly, if you find yourself watching almost everything at 4:3, you'd be prudent to fill the screen more often, but with today's plasmas at reasonable settings, you need not live in fear. HD broadcasts at 4:3 will have to remain that way.

Ed