Resolution Question

[phonecarhead]

Question for the experts;

I have a 61" 1080P Samsung. Just got the DTV H20. I am messing around with all the settings right now and wonder if it would be best to only check 1080i as the resolution supported by my TV. Would this give me a better picture on non HD channels, or should I just check off that my TV supports all resolutions and also check off the "native" button, which would automatically produce whatever the show is broadcast in. Please offer suggestions on this and any other settings suggestions you may have to ensure best quality. Thank you!!!!!!

 

[ChrisClearman]

Try the native first. This will output in whatever the show is broadcast in and let your TV scale it to fit 1080p. This is probably the best route.

The other option is to have the D* box upscale everything to 1080i andhave your TV deinterlace. The scaler in the D* box is "probably" not as good as the TV, so I'd just do native pass through.

 

[texasbrit]

Everyone has this question!! The best answer is "try different settings and see what you prefer". But I suggest you do NOT just set 1080i. Programs that are transmitted in 720p will get needless processing this way.
Either set "native on" or set your H20 to "native off" and pass 720p and 1080i.

 

[phonecarhead]

Would that have an effect on non HD programming?

 

[ChrisClearman]

If you set 720p/1080i it will upconvert the 480i/p signals...I'm not sure what it upscales them too though, 720 or 1080...and I think it only passes the upscaled version over HDMI, not component. I looked at 480 signals through component (pass through) and HDMI (upscale to 720p) with my RCA HD box and couldn't tell any difference.

Try native first and see how the scaler in your TV works.

If there are issues I would just choose whatever your native TV resolution is and have the box convert to that.

 

[jpn]

The previous post is incorrect: upscaling happens on the component and HDMI outputs.

Your viewing habits are a key part. 1080i has more pixels, but they are interlaced. Slow action movie scenes will probably look just fine at 1080i. Fast-action sports may not look all that great in 1080i, they benefit from non-interlaced (progressive) scan. That's why a lot of people choose a fixed 720p for convenience.

Don't forget that your monitor may do its own upscaling. Think about what happens if you set your H20 to 720p (for sports-viewing) and the monitor is set for 1080i: the tv will convert the 720p signal to 1080i, and your sports may not look their best. So either set the monitor the same as the H20 (both 1080i or 720p), or set the H20 as you like and the monitor to 'native' (if it supports native).