OT: 1080i/p questions!

[Thomas Rogers]

Fkent,



Did I call Samsung a liar? Of course not.



All I am saying is that when doing digital upconversion you can't invent pixels where none existed before. The best you can do is interpolate (I incorrectly said extrapolate before...it's one of those two). You end up with the right resolution, but not the same clarity and tone as a true HD source.



I agree with letting the format war settle. And besides, my old HDTV supports only component in, so I can't get HD DVD at 1080i anyway. Since component is an analog HD format and doesn't include HDCP digital copy protection, the folks at the MPAA thought it best to DOWNGRADE those ports on the HD player to 480p (bastiches). Meaning we early adopters are screwed blue.



TJR

 

[Bill V]

fkent--



TJR's right on this one. Samsung's not lying--but they are saying something that you're misinterpetting to mean something it doesn't.



Have you ever zoomed in the view of a graphic on your computer (particularly one from a website, which tend to be lower resolution), to where you can see individual squares, that are each a single color? If you're zoomed in enough for my analogy to work, the picture looks grainy, or even like just a bunch of squares. Think of that as a standard definition TV input.



How can you make this picture look better--more like the actual item in the photo would look like under a microscope? Easy--you make the squares smaller, so that each of the smaller squares can be its own color, meaning more different colors in the same amount of space. The problem is, if you just have the blocky, standard definition image to start with, and you then chop those squares down in size, you really don't know what color to make those new squares. You can try to guess what those colors are (if the square to the left of it is dark green, and the square to the right of it is medium green, then this square must be sort of medium green), but there's no way of knowing for sure--that definitive info isn't provided.



An upconverting processor (be it in a DVD player, TV, VCR, receiver, game system, etc.) effectively tries to put together a best guess of what should be in those empty squares, based on the squares whose color is known. But again, there's no way for it to know if it got it right. Will it be better than just standard definition? Yes, simply because there are more squares per inch. Will it be as good as true HD? No--it's just making an educated guess as to what HD would look like. Technically, it will be in 1080i--the 1080 ties into how many squares there are, and it meets those requirements. (This is why Samsung isn't lying about the upconversion capabilities.) But because it's only guessing at what should be in those squares, it most definitely is NOT HD.



A true HD source, such as an HD tuner, or a Blue Ray or HD-DVD player, has all the information available regarding what color those squares should be. The system doesn't need to guess.



Make sense?

 

[Rick Kent]

TJR, I guess I forgot to post the obligatory



Bill V, thanks for the info I am sure someone who did not already know this will findi it interesting to read.



Everyone is too defensive lately.



I know what upconverting is and what it is not. I simply stated the picture was spectacular followed by another post acknowleding a true HD signal would look even better.



Stop arguing and parsing everything that gets posted and we may all just get along.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Okay Fkent, okay. Yes, I too want everyone to get along. A good way to do that is not escalate and not post inflammatory statements like "Are you saying so-and-so is a liar???"



Have fun with the new TV. I am jealous. I am waiting for the HD DVD format war to end and 75" DLP TVs to drop under $1200. Once that happens, I will think about putting my 55" Mitsu on the curb.

 

[Rick Kent]

TJR,



Imagine the liar line in my post using your best Tony Montoya voice from Scarface. I hope we can still be friends.



:wub: XOXOXO:wub:

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Group hug!



Better than friends, FKent, brothers. And brother's gotta hug!

 

[Bill V]

Fkent--



Wasn't getting defensive--I just completely missed that your comment was sarcasm. Sorry about that! Yes, your smileys would have helped.

 

[Tom Schindler]

I still have a 27" Toshiba TV and absolutly love it.





Tom

 

[Chris Kulbaba]

So it doesnt really sound like the XBOX HD-DVD Drive is going to be enuff... Id like my old DVD's to be upscaled if possible..



What HD-DVD drives are out there that do full 1080p (with 1080p content of course)?



THanks all, big help.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

I just read in Wired magazine that there is an available firmware upgrade to the $200 Xbox-360 HD-DVD periph that allows it to work as a fully-functioning, stand-alone HD DVD player (not connected to an XBox or a PC).



If that's true, and I can find the "upgrade" then I may just be making the plunge to HD-DVD sooner. Because it seems that the player supports component output at 1080i (not bad...better than the 480p I have for DVD today).



The status on found on the Component output are:



- HD DVD - 1080i resolution maximum, limited by AACS

- DVD - Upscaled to 480p maximum, limited by CSS



TJR