Just got my HDTV today, although I only have an "average" DVD player (Toshiba 2109). I don't know much about progressive scan DVD players. Will they make the picture considerabely better? The signal now is 480i. I heard that a PS DVD player upgrades the signal to 420p. Is that correct? If so, what does it mean exactly?

Sorry if this question might have been asked before. I did a search and couldn't find anything.

Thanks.

Progressive scan is a definite increase in picture quality.

Progressive scan put simply...

480i is an interlaced signal meaning when the picture is being built it scans all the odd lines at 1/30 a second and then all the even lines at 1/30 a second.

480p displays each frame of the film as a whole frame when the picture is being built at 1/60 a second. This reduces the amount of jitter associated with interlanced signals resulting in sharper and better picture stabilazation.

Thanks. That helped a lot.

Also, so that others are aware, you must have both a television and a DVD player that will support progressive scan technology. It is not enough to upgrade only your DVD player.

Bodai, with an HDTV you should definitely take advantage of a progressive scan player. It's absolutely worth the extra cost of the current models. I would advise against the Pioneer 434 though. It doesn't do 3:2 pull down so isn't considered a true progressive player.

Here's a possibly silly question: How do you know if your TV will support progressive scan. Is it only HDTV, or will some traditional RPTVs also support it?

Obviously not every TV that has component inputs have progressive component inputs. The best way is if your TV has component inputs check the owners manual to see if they are progressive. There are some "regular" TV's, like the XBR model sony wegas, that have progressive inputs.

[Edited by palebluedot on 02-14-01 at 09:03 AM]

not to muddy the waters, but . . . even if you have a tv that supports progressive scan you may not see any (or only a marginal )improvement in quality. how much of an improvement depends on how good the line doubler in your tv is. many new tv's (e.g. sharpvision) provide built in support for 3:2 pulldown. perfect vision did a side-bar article a while back on this very topic; they stated clearly that the quality difference is very brand/model specific and not to assume that you will get any improvement just because you add a progressive scan dvd player.

Also, the Pioneer 434 IS progressive because it passes a progressive signal. That's all it takes to call your dvd player a progressive scan. It may suck but it's still PS.