Posted by Lloyd Parsons on 06/10/07 04:13

In article <f4fqhk02sqh@enews5.newsguy.com>, "Pete" <pete@nospam.net>
wrote:

> Lloyd Parsons wrote:
> > 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.
>
> Thanks Lloyd...just want to make sure I totally understand this, so please
> excuse my repetition. If I set a 1080p capable hd player to 1080i, and put
> a 1080p hd dvd in it, will it play just as good on my 1080i tv as a 1080i
> broadcast that I get from my cable company, or does it lose something due to
> the downconverting (so to speak). I believe you are indicating it will play
> just as good - I just want to make sure.
>
> Pete

It will be better than you get from the cable company, most likely. The
cable companies and the satellite services do a lot of compression to
save bandwidth. That isn't an issue with a HDDVD or BluRay player, nor
even with the upconverting SD players. Except for really crappy
upconverting SD players.

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