Is hi def agreed on at 720p? or is 1080p an issue?

[Stephen Neal]

Originally Posted by nigelbb

When you say we will see a mix of 720p & 1080i do you mean that they will change formats for different shows on the same channel? I thought that in the US they consistently broadcast a channel in either 720p or 1080i.

No changing of format within a channel - it would be a nightmare to build a transmission area that did that (and it is likely that receivers would glitch horribly on the transmission - or lock-up)

It IS entirely possible that different channels may appear in different formats though - say with Sky Sports 720/50p but Sky One or BBC One 1080/50i for example.

[petebrady]

Originally Posted by Nic Rhodes

9830 is an 1080p panel. It can not however take a 1080p signal input.

Can someone explain this please? Am contemplating spending silly money on a 37" and want to make sure i make the right choices.... totally confused right about now.

[neilmcl]

Originally Posted by petebrady

Can someone explain this please? Am contemplating spending silly money on a 37" and want to make sure i make the right choices.... totally confused right about now.

Quite simply the Philips has a resolution of 1920x1080 but doesn't accept a 1080p signal, only 720p or 1080i.

[petebrady]

Originally Posted by neilmcl

Quite simply the Philips has a resolution of 1920x1080 but doesn't accept a 1080p signal, only 720p or 1080i.

ok

so.... does anything output a 1080p signal yet?

*ducks*

[Starburst]

Originally Posted by petebrady

ok

so.... does anything output a 1080p signal yet?

*ducks*

Yeah my Iscan HD does, not got anything to try it on though as my LCD doesn't accept 1080p, mind you it doesn't even accept 1366*768 and that's it native resolution!


There are a few DVD players which can upscale upto 1080p and not doubt that will become the norm over the next year.

[scooby77]

Originally Posted by petebrady

ok

so.... does anything output a 1080p signal yet?

*ducks*

Not really. This whole 1080p debate is kinda irrelevant at the moment. No panel supports it at the moment, the PS3 will output to it but that is probably because sony want the ability to output in modes that have not been manufactured yet as their product will not be revised for another 5 odd years. Either way you have a choice

1. Buy a 1366x768 panel and be happy
2. Buy a 1920x1080 panel and pay a lot more and still not be able to output in 1080p
3. Wait a year or more until 1080p support becomes a reality

What you probably should take into account is that HDTV will probably be 720p in the UK, definitely not 1080p, in fact the only thing using 1080p technology will be either the PS3 and certain HD DVD or Blu Ray DVDs and even they will be quite watchable at 1080i or 720p. So unless you want to hook your TV up to your PC @ 1920x1080 (which is understandable if you have a large panel) there's not much point.

[Nic Rhodes]

BR / PS3 are both a little way off and only 'talk' about 1080p however I know of NO 1080P HDTV standard and thinK if his ever happens it will be ages in the future. Yes it would be nice to be able to drive every panel at native resolutions, like 1080p and more often 768p, but we don't even have that at the moment in many cases. To future proof make sure you have HDMI which will allow 720p@50/60 and1080i@50/60Hz and of course 480i/p and 576i/p inputs at 60 and 50 Hz repsectively. This will allow a HQ picture with just about anything as it is the standard. 1080p isn't.Then look for a quality panel and there are a few out there now which will give great enjoment. Yes we get very flattered by 1080p but we don't have the sources to exploit this extra resolution at the moment, even with 1080i source that I use.

Personally I won't buy a 1080p source until it can take 1080p (like a Ruby) but feel other things are more inportant and have therefore purchased 'just' a HD plasma that does all the HDMI thing. I feel this a better solutio to long term satisfaction.

[pjskel]

Totally echo what Nic has said - far too many fixations over 1080p, when no-one in the industry is doing anything but paying lip service to it. IOW, no-one's talking about it to any real degree, so I think you'll be safe for a good 2-3 years before 1080p is the buzz word then.
I know Marantz has the 9600, which does 1080p, and there's another couple of DVD players floating about doing the same - mainly the US, but all they are doing is taking a DVD's 540 resolution and upscaling to any of the 3 outputs (720p/1080i/1080p).
Any one contemplating buying soon, will not have made the wrong decision, or jumped too soon. In the next 3 months, I'm convinced there will be more full HD native resolution panels coming - Philips has their 9830 range - the first to market of the big names. Benq was doing it at much the same time, only in Europe, with their 37".
So, it's only a matter of time before Jap versions make their way over here - Sharp/JVC/etc.
I think all will become clear in feb/Mar, when Sky+ HD officially opens for business.

[petebrady]

Originally Posted by scooby77

1. Buy a 1366x768 panel and be happy
2. Buy a 1920x1080 panel and pay a lot more and still not be able to output in 1080p
3. Wait a year or more until 1080p support becomes a reality

well i've already got a 32" @ 1366x768, but I want to wall mount that in my newly renovated dining room / kitchen and stick my consoles and my just ordered htp70 in there.

So I'm looking for a nice 37" to replace it in the living room, but not prepared to wait a year. It pains me to go 37" and only get 1366x768, as I'll be hooking a HTPC up to it, but i just can't justify spending €4,000+ to get 1920x1080.

[Stephen Neal]

Surely PCs and Macs running DVI at 1920x1080 are capable of outputting 1080p aren't they?

If you have a Mac connected to a 23" or 30" Cinema screen then you are potentially running at around the 1080p resolution, as the Mac won't be outputting an interlaced signal?

I realise that neither of these screens are 1920x1080 native - but they are in the same ball-park (with the 30" being higher resolution than this)

The lack of source MEDIA at 1080p is a different matter.

At the moment there is very little 1080/60p or 1080/50p (i.e. the same fluid motion as 720/60p or 720/50p but higher resolution) - but there is loads of production at the film-equivalents of 1080/24p and 1080/25p. This is usually interlaced to 1080/60i or 1080/50i for delivery - though often visible at 48p or 50p in the edit suite. (You have to frame double to avoid nasty flicker - just as film is projected at 48 or 72Hz using double or triple shuttering)

[pjskel]

Originally Posted by petebrady

well i've already got a 32" @ 1366x768, but I want to wall mount that in my newly renovated dining room / kitchen and stick my consoles and my just ordered htp70 in there.

So I'm looking for a nice 37" to replace it in the living room, but not prepared to wait a year. It pains me to go 37" and only get 1366x768, as I'll be hooking a HTPC up to it, but i just can't justify spending €4,000+ to get 1920x1080.

Well, there's the Philips 9830, which @ 37" is full HD. If you can persevere until around March time, the rest of the big brands will probably have their version(s) out in time to jump on the Sky+ HD bandwagon.

[petebrady]

Originally Posted by pjskel

Well, there's the Philips 9830, which @ 37" is full HD. If you can persevere until around March time, the rest of the big brands will probably have their version(s) out in time to jump on the Sky+ HD bandwagon.

had looked at the 9830 but that's the one which retails at €4,000+.... wife's reaction knocked that one on the head.

Currently looking at the Dell W3706MC 37" panel. Does up to 1080i, has more inputs than you could shake a stick at, looks like a bargain... but ne'er a review to be found.

[pjskel]

Originally Posted by Stephen Neal

Surely PCs and Macs running DVI at 1920x1080 are capable of outputting 1080p aren't they?

If you have a Mac connected to a 23" or 30" Cinema screen then you are potentially running at around the 1080p resolution, as the Mac won't be outputting an interlaced signal?

I realise that neither of these screens are 1920x1080 native - but they are in the same ball-park (with the 30" being higher resolution than this)

The lack of source MEDIA at 1080p is a different matter.

At the moment there is very little 1080/60p or 1080/50p (i.e. the same fluid motion as 720/60p or 720/50p but higher resolution) - but there is loads of production at the film-equivalents of 1080/24p and 1080/25p. This is usually interlaced to 1080/60i or 1080/50i for delivery - though often visible at 48p or 50p in the edit suite. (You have to frame double to avoid nasty flicker - just as film is projected at 48 or 72Hz using double or triple shuttering)

Yes, Stephen, but most people don't hook-up PCs/Macs to their TV - so it's often forgotten that's one source of 1080p output. Most are fixated (as I already said) on the PS3 and DVD players.

Like you said, the lack of 1080p media, rather than an upscaled or deinterlaced version is what makes this fixation all the worse. It's understandable, that most people want their TV to be as capable as long as possible, but even when 1080p comes, it'll be in drips and drabs whilst the market gathers momentuum.
I think it's safe to say there will still be a healthy second-hand market for current TVs then, so the upgrade won't be that costly.
Besides, wh knows what prices and technology will be like then. Not much different for the former, and something new for the latter, perhaps. OLED and other technologies may even then still not be mature enough for mass production or the sizes the market demands.

[pjskel]

Originally Posted by petebrady

had looked at the 9830 but that's the one which retails at €4,000+.... wife's reaction knocked that one on the head.

Currently looking at the Dell W3706MC 37" panel. Does up to 1080i, has more inputs than you could shake a stick at, looks like a bargain... but ne'er a review to be found.

Well, you did say "contemplating spending silly money". Richer Sounds - £2400 for 9830 - I'm sure that'll drop soon enough, or you could haggle a bit more off it. (€3500)
I personally wouldn't consider the Dell - not when Benq already was doing a 37" full HD native for £1100. I was a bit plain looking, but for the money - you can't really complain.
Komplett were selling it - but it's EOL now. I can only presume they are working on a better, more stylish looking version for release soon. We'll see soon enough, I guess.

[petebrady]

Originally Posted by pjskel

Well, you did say "contemplating spending silly money". Richer Sounds - £2400 for 9830 - I'm sure that'll drop soon enough, or you could haggle a bit more off it. (€3500)
I personally wouldn't consider the Dell - not when Benq already was doing a 37" full HD native for £1100. I was a bit plain looking, but for the money - you can't really complain.
Komplett were selling it - but it's EOL now. I can only presume they are working on a better, more stylish looking version for release soon. We'll see soon enough, I guess.

yeah i watched that benq go from €1500 to €1650 to N/A over a couple of days. should have just gone for it.... who knows what benq'll do.

And €2,000+ for a telly when i've already got a perfectly good 32" LCD is silly money!!

Komplett will be doing the 9830 for €3,500 too http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=315306&cks=PRL