HD-DVD on a 1080i HDTV?
11-07-06, 03:31 PM
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HD-DVD on a 1080i HDTV?
I own a Xbox 360 and was interested in purchasing the HD-DVD add-on. I am still confused on what to do. My HDTV only displays 480p and 1080i resolutions, and as no HDMI input (HD-DVDs use a 1080p resolution) which my TV does not support. But Microsoft claims HD-DVD movies will look identical on 1080i and 1080p HDTVs. Is this true? But I have also read that movie studios force HD-DVDs and Blu-Ray discs to play at a lower resolution when played on anything less than a 1080p display through HDMI connection (and will look no better that a standard DVD). WTF??? Am I wasting my time and money investing in HD-DVD without the right HDTV? PLEASE HELP!!!
11-07-06, 04:30 PM
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Well, 1080i and 1080p TVs don't look identical, so it can't be perfectly true that they look the same. But you are not wasting your time, it will look great on a 1080i TV.
I don't know what you are talking about with studios forcing resolutions. Most of the players don't even offer a 1080p pass-through mode in the first place, and that has nothing to do with the discs. However, if your TV is less resolution than 1080p, then you are watching it in less resolution. That's a physical fact. I just don't see where that is a problem, these discs will give you the best picture of any format around, on whatever TV you happen to have.
I don't know what you are talking about with studios forcing resolutions. Most of the players don't even offer a 1080p pass-through mode in the first place, and that has nothing to do with the discs. However, if your TV is less resolution than 1080p, then you are watching it in less resolution. That's a physical fact. I just don't see where that is a problem, these discs will give you the best picture of any format around, on whatever TV you happen to have.
Last edited by Spiky; 11-07-06 at 04:33 PM.
11-07-06, 04:55 PM
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my tv also only accepts 480p and 1080i. I bought the hdtv back in 2002. it only has component inputs no hdmi or dvi. I will be hooking up the xbox 360 add on through component. their is a huge difference in picture quality from standard dvd to hd-dvd. the colors and detail look extremely sharp and once you compare them with the old standard def dvd you will not want to go back. also the majority of people who own hdtv's do not have a 1080p set.
11-07-06, 06:11 PM
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Summary answer...
Your 1080i TV w/ Component Video imputs will be perfect & should look fantastic with the HD-DVD.
Some details...
1) HD-DVD & Blu-Ray currently support full resolution over analog component connections. They are all *required* to support a technology called ICT (Image Constraint Token) that *can* be used by content-providers on their discs. If used, ICT reduces the resolution to just slightly over normal DVD quality if played back over analog component connections.
Currently though, no actual content-producer is flagging their discs with ICT. It has been rumored there is an agreement to not use ICT until 2010-2012 at the earliest.
2) Most HD-DVD & Blu-Ray content is encoded at 1080p, but the current stand-alone HD-DVD players only output 1080i max. (The Samsung Blu-Ray can do 1080p output.) I'm not sure if the X-Box HD-DVD drive will offer 1080p.
3) Relatively few HDTVs can accept a true 1080p signal in the first place. (Mostly only very new models can.) Of those that do, most can only accept 1080p via HDMI/DVI. I've only heard of a few that can accept it via component (e.g. Westinghouse LCDs).
4) 1080p & 1080i are technically different, and 1080p does carry twice the amount of data of 1080i, but there are technicalities that make 1080i *transmission* effectively exactly the same as 1080p transmission for almost all movies.
1080i / 1080p *video* is 60 fields/frames per second respectively. Film-based content is "filmed" at 24 frames-per-second. 24FPS film is converted to 60FPS video for display. Since 24FPS doesn't fit exactly into 60FPS, there's some technical magic that happens to get this to work. (Google "3:2 Pull Down" for more info.)
The end result is that for film-based content, 1080i and 1080p both end up *transmitting* the exact same data. For digital displays that actually display 1080p, the 1080i signal can theoretically be "de-interlaced" perfectly, so that transmission over 1080i or 1080p doesn’t matter at all. 1080p transmission *would* matter for true 1080p/60FPS video-based content, but very little if any content comes from that format.
5) It sounds like you might be using an analog CRT HDTV. (Most HDTVs that are restricted to 480p or 1080i are CRTs.) If so, there's no need to worry about 1080p at all, since your display will only show 1080i anyways. 1080i can still look stupendously great.
Your 1080i TV w/ Component Video imputs will be perfect & should look fantastic with the HD-DVD.
Some details...
1) HD-DVD & Blu-Ray currently support full resolution over analog component connections. They are all *required* to support a technology called ICT (Image Constraint Token) that *can* be used by content-providers on their discs. If used, ICT reduces the resolution to just slightly over normal DVD quality if played back over analog component connections.
Currently though, no actual content-producer is flagging their discs with ICT. It has been rumored there is an agreement to not use ICT until 2010-2012 at the earliest.
2) Most HD-DVD & Blu-Ray content is encoded at 1080p, but the current stand-alone HD-DVD players only output 1080i max. (The Samsung Blu-Ray can do 1080p output.) I'm not sure if the X-Box HD-DVD drive will offer 1080p.
3) Relatively few HDTVs can accept a true 1080p signal in the first place. (Mostly only very new models can.) Of those that do, most can only accept 1080p via HDMI/DVI. I've only heard of a few that can accept it via component (e.g. Westinghouse LCDs).
4) 1080p & 1080i are technically different, and 1080p does carry twice the amount of data of 1080i, but there are technicalities that make 1080i *transmission* effectively exactly the same as 1080p transmission for almost all movies.
1080i / 1080p *video* is 60 fields/frames per second respectively. Film-based content is "filmed" at 24 frames-per-second. 24FPS film is converted to 60FPS video for display. Since 24FPS doesn't fit exactly into 60FPS, there's some technical magic that happens to get this to work. (Google "3:2 Pull Down" for more info.)
The end result is that for film-based content, 1080i and 1080p both end up *transmitting* the exact same data. For digital displays that actually display 1080p, the 1080i signal can theoretically be "de-interlaced" perfectly, so that transmission over 1080i or 1080p doesn’t matter at all. 1080p transmission *would* matter for true 1080p/60FPS video-based content, but very little if any content comes from that format.
5) It sounds like you might be using an analog CRT HDTV. (Most HDTVs that are restricted to 480p or 1080i are CRTs.) If so, there's no need to worry about 1080p at all, since your display will only show 1080i anyways. 1080i can still look stupendously great.
Last edited by obispo21; 11-07-06 at 06:14 PM.
