ASK DBSTALK: For Mark 720P VS. 1080i on Sony KP51HW40

[Eagles]

Mark, I'm asking you this question because I know you have the same TV.
How do you set your 921 when viewing HD 720p? (Fox, ESPNHD)
It seems on this particular TV 1080i looks so much better.(CBS Football & Shows) As you know, this TV accepts HD in 1080i only. When a native 720p signal is received, it's displayed in 480p. When I set the 921 to 720p for say FOX Football or Baseball it doesn't look nearly as good as leaving the 921 set at 1080i. What exactly is being sent to the TV from the 921 when the native signal coming into the receiver is 720p which is converted to 1080i? Am I actually ending up with 480p on this particular TV when receiving 720p? I know this sounds confusing, but I'm sure you know exactly what I'm trying to ask.

[Dustin_Moore]

You answered your own question!

921 set to 720P=480p
921 set to 1080i=1080i HD (upconverted from 720p)

Set your output to 1080i and all will be well. :D

[Eagles]

You answered your own question!

921 set to 720P=480p
921 set to 1080i=1080i HD (upconverted from 720p)

Set your output to 1080i and all will be well. :D

Dustin, Thanks for the reply. What I am ultimately trying to figure out is this.
Would 720p signals look better on a similar TV which could actually receive them
as 720p as opposed to receiving them converted to 1080i from the 921? Do you think the conversion from 720p to 1080i degrades the PQ?

[Mark Lamutt]

Eagles, what Dustin said. :)

Yes, I think that conversion of 1080i to 720p does degrade the picture somewhat. Native resolution is almost always best (with a couple of exceptions) if the display device can display the native resolution. As you well know, though, our display devices can't display 720p, so converting to 1080i is the best option that we have available to us...without going out and spending $$$ on a new digital display device (which we'll all be doing eventually, but are trying to hold off as long as possible...:))

[Slordak]

The answer is, yes, if you have a TV which can natively accept 720p signals and the native signal source is 720p, this image should look better than having the image scaled first to 1080i, although to some degree this depends on the scalar in the 921 compared to any scalar being used inside the HDTV.

If only we had resolution pass through on the 921, so that digital sets which can handle both 720p and 1080i receive the source signal exactly as it was transmitted, without additional up-conversion or down-conversion!

[Dustin_Moore]

If only we had resolution pass through on the 921, so that digital sets which can handle both 720p and 1080i receive the source signal exactly as it was transmitted, without additional up-conversion or down-conversion!

This is a problem I would like to have...

(going back to watch my 3 year old junker) :(