[nwgarratt]

I have started wondering about this. When the time comes to get a HD DLP PJ, will upscaled SD generally look better even at 1080p than what LCD and Plasma TV's can do?

[Avi]

Originally Posted by nwgarratt

I have started wondering about this. When the time comes to get a HD DLP PJ, will upscaled SD generally look better even at 1080p than what LCD and Plasma TV's can do?

In my experince an SD image on small (relative) SD/HD Ready LCD/Plasma will look cleaner than the source upscaled to a 7' 1080 image at the same relative viewing distance. You're still stuck with 576/480x720 bits of real image with SD and that's a lot of "guessed" image to get to 1080. Plus when it gets magnified to 7' so do all the source and processing artefacts.

I have a decent DVD transport and use a video processor with a 1080 PJ but SD PQ looks poor relative to HD. Viewing distance is also important with ~ 1.5 or less screen widths being the optimum distance to resolve the extra detail 1080 offers. The converse is at this distance you also see all the problerms in upscaled SD material.

I contiune to use a 50" plasma for SD viewing.

AVI

[nwgarratt]

I am happy with the BenQ W100 for the immediate future and maybe even for a few years. I would be happy for a HD PJ to do a SD picture like what I get now. I have 1500 odd SD DVD's and they need to still look good when I upgrade the PJ again (not replacing SD with HD). Otherwise, I will have to keep the BenQ and have it just for SD.

[Avi]

Originally Posted by nwgarratt

I am happy with the BenQ W100 for the immediate future and maybe even for a few years. I would be happy for a HD PJ to do a SD picture like what I get now. I have 1500 odd SD DVD's and they need to still look good when I upgrade the PJ again (not replacing SD with HD). Otherwise, I will have to keep the BenQ and have it just for SD.

If you have no plans to use HD source material then I would not upgrade to a native 1080pj just to watch SD material. There are plenty of good deals on "HD ready" PJ's (1280x720) that may be a less costly step in the right direction.

AVI

[nwgarratt]

Originally Posted by Avi

If you have no plans to use HD source material then I would not upgrade to a native 1080pj just to watch SD material. There are plenty of good deals on "HD ready" PJ's (1280x720) that may be a less costly step in the right direction.

AVI

I will be upgrading to HD DVD or Blu Ray (or both) sometime but I won't be replacing SD DVD's except the LOTR trilogy.

[stevos]

Personal opinion a dlp projector produces a better picture than a lcd/plasma does at sd and hd.

I suffer badly from compression artifacts and grain and these are less obvious on a projector.

However if your talking about sd tv which is normally very low quality, i would stick with a crt.

[Liam @ Prog AV]

It all boils down to screen size, resolution of said screen and viewing distance. These three values are all related.

e.g. sitting 3 1/2 foot away from a 50" plasma screen is exactly the same as sitting 6ft away from a 6ft wide projection screen in terms of perceived size of image and it's related artefacts.

e.g. sit 10ft from a 6ft 720p image is similar in resolution to sitting 15ft from a 6ft 1080p image (I can't remember the exact figures for this one!)

In my job we look at where in the room the client wants to sit, then adjust screen size for how big an image client wants it to feel, and then increase resolution if client is quite close to a big image.

There is then the factor of how good the video processing in the display or system is and how much it cleans it up as to what artefacts you will or won't see brought about by processing.

Whether it is projected, shown on an LCD or shown on a plasma makes little difference to what shows SD best though, it is the above factors that are much more relevant.

[nwgarratt]

Originally Posted by stevos

However if your talking about sd tv which is normally very low quality, i would stick with a crt.

Unfortunately, CRT's are hard to come by now. I use a widescreen CRT now and will have to replace it to LCD/Plasma when it goes. However, I won't be spending lot of money on one as the PJ is more important. I still watch Freeview on my Panny AE100 occasionally.

I have a 6ft 16:9 wide image (about 80" diagonal) and watch at 9.5ft away.

[Sweet Green]

The panny ax-100 has the most impressive NR i have ever seen and works wonders with SD material especially, it seems to be able to remove virtually all artifacts whilst retaining good detail at large sizes.

[pRot3us]

Originally Posted by nwgarratt

I will be upgrading to HD DVD or Blu Ray (or both) sometime but I won't be replacing SD DVD's except the LOTR trilogy.

Thats what you think now

[nwgarratt]

Originally Posted by pRot3us

Thats what you think now

I won't be upgrading anything else. I think it is mad for people to upgrade their complete collections. I can understand when it is only a few but when I have 1500+. It is out of the question.

[warbie]

heh, I said exactly the same thing, untill my first projector arrived and it became obvious how staggeringly massive the difference between hd and sd was with a large image. Steak and tripe

[pRot3us]

Originally Posted by nwgarratt

I won't be upgrading anything else. I think it is mad for people to upgrade their complete collections. I can understand when it is only a few but when I have 1500+. It is out of the question.

Of course I'm not suggesting you'll be replacing your whole collection, they will never all come out in HD anyway, but you will find yourself replacing more than you had anticipated once you put the HD needle into your vein

[nwgarratt]

Originally Posted by pRot3us

Of course I'm not suggesting you'll be replacing your whole collection, they will never all come out in HD anyway, but you will find yourself replacing more than you had anticipated once you put the HD needle into your vein

Still not going to happen.

I have been playing some HD through the W100 and I am still really pleased with the results. I can't see myself upgrading the PJ for some time now. Hopefully, by the time I do, perhaps SD is better on a HD PJ than it is now.

[anibap]

Originally Posted by nwgarratt

Still not going to happen.

I have been playing some HD through the W100 and I am still really pleased with the results. I can't see myself upgrading the PJ for some time now.

I have the same experience. HD sources (trailers only.) look fantastic on my IN72. I won't upgrade in the next 1 year.

But i think HD PJS (new ones) not only offer better resolution but they are also good machines in terms of quality...

[nwgarratt]

Originally Posted by anibap

I have the same experience. HD sources (trailers only.) look fantastic on my IN72. I won't upgrade in the next 1 year.

But i think HD PJS (new ones) not only offer better resolution but they are also good machines in terms of quality...

I have clips as well as trailers. I might do a HD thread for the W100 like yours. I need to borrow a better camera though.

[stevos]

Originally Posted by Liam @ Prog AV

It all boils down to screen size, resolution of said screen and viewing distance. These three values are all related.

e.g. sitting 3 1/2 foot away from a 50" plasma screen is exactly the same as sitting 6ft away from a 6ft wide projection screen in terms of perceived size of image and it's related artefacts.

e.g. sit 10ft from a 6ft 720p image is similar in resolution to sitting 15ft from a 6ft 1080p image (I can't remember the exact figures for this one!)

In my job we look at where in the room the client wants to sit, then adjust screen size for how big an image client wants it to feel, and then increase resolution if client is quite close to a big image.

There is then the factor of how good the video processing in the display or system is and how much it cleans it up as to what artefacts you will or won't see brought about by processing.

Whether it is projected, shown on an LCD or shown on a plasma makes little difference to what shows SD best though, it is the above factors that are much more relevant.

For me and my strange eyes this is not the case. I have seen a 32" sony lcd and my 6foot dlp image from the same viewing distance and massively prefered the dlp image. There is something about lcd/plasma pictures that i just can't get on with (i call it compression artifacts/blocking and grain but not sure what the proper terms are). Although the new models are certainly a lot better and so this opinion may change over the next year or so.