DVD Resolution Output Choices??

[MCF]

Do better DVD players allow you to select different output resolutions? Right now I have a progressive scan Sony DVD player. There are no choices in the menus for the output resolution. If I play with Progressive Scan on and use a component cable, is that as good as resolution as you can get out of any DVD player (disregarding HDMI)?

[paul_pci]

Do better DVD players allow you to select different output resolutions? Right now I have a progressive scan Sony DVD player. There are no choices in the menus for the output resolution. If I play with Progressive Scan on and use a component cable, is that as good as resolution as you can get out of any DVD player (disregarding HDMI)?

DVDs are recorded at a set resolution. Your only choice is between interlaced or progressive scan playback.

[MCF]

When it comes to the DVD player, is Progressive always better picture quality than interlaced? My Time Warner Digital HD cable box gives me a choice of 1080i, 480i, 480p and 720p....is 108i or 720p or 480p better?

[edtyct]

Progressive output from a DVD player isn't always better than its interlaced output. It's possible, but not probable, that your TV can do a better job of deinterlacing than your DVD player. Just compare the two. Many newer DVD players have the option via their DVI or HDMI outputs to upconvert 480 to 720p or 1080i (see below for reasons to choose one over the other). The advantage primarily goes to fixed-pixel microdisplays, which can benefit from a such a feed because of their inherent pixel counts. These displays will upconvert 480 to their native resolutions, anyway, but often letting the DVD player do the work relieves the TV of conversions that can soften the picture. Measurement has shown in some cases that DVD digital upconversion can result in a sharper 480 resolution.

The formats that your cable box offers are an attempt to match as closely as possible the capability of your display device. Most fixed pixels (DLP, LCD, LCoS, DiLA) do better with a 720p output, since it either matches their pixel outlay perfectly or comes closest to it. Most CRTs thrive on 1080i, since 720p is foreign to them. The point is to make the TV do as little scaling as possible, since scaling can cause picture distortion. (A few stations, like ESPN and ABC, broadcast their HD in 720p, which makes no difference to most CRTs, which would have to convert them to 1080i, anyway.) Your cable box should allow you to set a standard resolution format of 480i or 480p for non-HD material. If your TV displays all 480p material as widescreen even if it isn't, chose 480i as the standard definition default.
Ed