Posted by Lloyd Parsons on 06/09/07 19:13

In article <f4essq01pav@enews5.newsguy.com>, "Pete" <pete@nospam.net>
wrote:

> Hi again everyone,
>
> I believe I read that all "blue ray" and "hd dvd" are in encoded with 1080p.
> I also thought I saw references that you could still watch them (on a high
> def dvd player) in lesser resolutions (eg 720p or 1080i). Is this true.
>
> Isn't that kind of like downconverting the high def (but will it still be
> true high def). Whereas the standard disc upconverting is bullshit IMO, at
> least for the cheap ones (I bought one of the cheap $50 ones and there is
> hardly any difference at all between 480p, 720p and 1080i - I have a Sharp
> Aquious 1080i hdtv). I understand it is all in the upconverting chip, and
> this is probably a case of you get what you pay for. I called Magnavox up
> and gave them an earful and told them I will keep it as a spare (and the
> free HDMI cable that came with it is a joke - if it was any thinner you
> wouldn't be able to see it - lol).
>
> So, if I were to buy a hd dvd player (say a Toshiba) that plays up to 1080p,
> and I buy a blue ray disc that is in 1080p, will the hd dvd player play the
> disc on my 1080i tv in true high def in either 720p or 1080i. And will the
> player allow me to down convert to either of these lower settings. Or will
> the picture look like shit, like the upconverting dvd players do, that are
> not true high def but some kind of upscaled version. I also believe I read
> that the high def dvd players will upconvert standard discs better than the
> standard upconverting dvd players that are not high def - is this true - if
> it is I guess they must have better chips in them.
>
> Thanks...Pete

Good questions.

The players output either 1080i or 1080p depending on player. If your
set is capable of either of those, you get that and it really does look
much better than upconverted SD.

You can also set the output of the players to a lower setting if you so
desire. I have done 720p as a test and it looked very good. Not as
good as 1080i though.

Finally, at least with the Toshiba HDA2 that I have, the upconverting of
SD is much better than it was with my sony SD upconverting player.

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