Do I need/want 720p? [Archive] - Audio & Video Forums

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_jackal_
09-22-2004, 07:16 PM
Hello everyone.

First, I must say that I have been reading the forums and reviews on this site for almost a year, and I put alot of faith into the wealth of knowledge expressed here (not that I believe everything I read, however ;))

Anyway, on to my question. Soon, I am going to be purchasing a CRT RPTV (due largely to Woodman's emphatic recommendation of this technology). The set is going to be used likely 60% movies, 30% Bell ExpressVu digital satellite TV, and 10% Nintendo GameCube. I don't really subscribe to any HDTV channels, and don't plan on paying extra for any of them in the future. Where I would really like this set to shine is in the playing of DVDs.

So, can current DVD players output a standard DVD at 1080i and 720p, depending on the particular DVD player of course? I'm looking at the Hitachi 51F510 which appears to upscale the 720p to a 1080i. Will this be a factor in DVD playback? I can't even find a Hitachi CRT RPTV set on their site that can display a 720p signal at native 720p without upscaling.

Finally, why would I need a HDTV tuner built into the TV? Is this required for watching DVDs at 1080i or 720p? Will I need a DVD player with a built in HDTV tuner to output to the TV if the TV doesn't have a built in tuner?

Sorry if some of these questions don't make any sense, but I only started reading about all this technology a couple days ago and I'm starting to feel a little lost. I just don't want to spend a bunch of money and then kick myself when I'm losing image quality because my TV doesn't support some format that I should have ensured it did.

Thanks in advance.

eqm
09-23-2004, 06:22 AM
Hello everyone.

First, I must say that I have been reading the forums and reviews on this site for almost a year, and I put alot of faith into the wealth of knowledge expressed here (not that I believe everything I read, however ;))

Anyway, on to my question. Soon, I am going to be purchasing a CRT RPTV (due largely to Woodman's emphatic recommendation of this technology). The set is going to be used likely 60% movies, 30% Bell ExpressVu digital satellite TV, and 10% Nintendo GameCube. I don't really subscribe to any HDTV channels, and don't plan on paying extra for any of them in the future. Where I would really like this set to shine is in the playing of DVDs.

Any good quality RPHDTV will look great with a DVD.


So, can current DVD players output a standard DVD at 1080i and 720p, depending on the particular DVD player of course? I'm looking at the Hitachi 51F510 which appears to upscale the 720p to a 1080i. Will this be a factor in DVD playback? I can't even find a Hitachi CRT RPTV set on their site that can display a 720p signal at native 720p without upscaling.

You'll only find 480p/1080i CRT tvs out there. Your 720p tvs will be your DLPs and your LCDs. Some of the LCoS tvs will be 1080p. MOST of the programming out there will be of the 1080i type, although FOX and some others will show in 720p native. THIS IS NOT AN ISSUE FOR A DECENT HDTV, as it will convert to 1080i. In reality it is about the same number of pixels for practial application, and VERY hard to see a difference in all but the biggest screens (like the front projos). As far as Hitachi goes, they like to over-process IMO. They upconvert all 480p signals to 540p which in my eyes is like adding some FCOJ (see trading places for the acronym) to my fresh squeezed OJ.


Finally, why would I need a HDTV tuner built into the TV? Is this required for watching DVDs at 1080i or 720p? Will I need a DVD player with a built in HDTV tuner to output to the TV if the TV doesn't have a built in tuner?

1. If you'd like to pick up the local HD broadcasts NOW. Do you like network programming? Football maybe? In SOME tvs, their better models happen to include a HD tuner, so don't discount a TV ONLY because it includes an HD tuner. There may be other differences in the sets.
2. no, the native for a dvd is 480p. if you try to display it as anything better, it, once again, is like adding extra junk into the picture. Get a DVD player with a good video chip, i.e. the Faroujda or Silicon Image and you'll be a LOT happier in the long run

hope this helps! :)

_jackal_
09-23-2004, 06:37 AM
Thanks alot for your reply. You have made me feel better about my eventual purchase :)

sy_lu
09-23-2004, 08:49 AM
From a practical point of view, 720P only makes difference if you also want to use the TV as PC monitor. In the early days there were an number of CRT based RPTV that can do native 720P but due to the higher cost to make them and not much 720P materials out ther, Further more, most people will not see any difference between 720P material scaled to 1080i unless you are looking at a resolution chart. TV makers just dropped the 720P mode for CRT based TV.

recoveryone
09-23-2004, 11:33 AM
IF I understand your question, about DVD's playing in 1080i/720. Well from my knowledge there not any movie DVD's that are in that format. Your system may convert upward to the level but most/all DVD's only go as high around 400 most 300-380. So if you have a progressive DVD player hook to a T.V. that support progressive hookup then you can get full 480p. But if there are some DVD's out there that are made in full 1080i please let me know. I know the newer blue laser DVD players can show at that level but I haven't heard of any movie support of it yet.

_jackal_
09-23-2004, 12:10 PM
IF I understand your question, about DVD's playing in 1080i/720. Well from my knowledge there not any movie DVD's that are in that format. Your system may convert upward to the level but most/all DVD's only go as high around 400 most 300-380. So if you have a progressive DVD player hook to a T.V. that support progressive hookup then you can get full 480p. But if there are some DVD's out there that are made in full 1080i please let me know. I know the newer blue laser DVD players can show at that level but I haven't heard of any movie support of it yet.

The DVD 1080i or 720p questions were just my ignorance... I don't know of any non-standard DVDs.

Thanks everyone for your informative responses. I didn't realize that the DVD format was so far from HDTV standards. So, if this RPTV can play DVDs at their highest potential, then I will be more than happy :)