PS3 slim and true high definition

treesarefaster

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I'd really appreciate your help with setting up my lovely new PS3 slim. I'm really impressed with it so far, but slightly stunned at the technological complexities required to get the most out of this machine.
I have a new LG37LF7700 TV which should be capable of 1080p.
I first connected a 'free' HDMI cabale and struggled with a flashing grey display and distorted sound. I bought a fancy £40 lead with no improvement- I know hdmi cable quality is controversial, but I thought it was worth a try. I can now get a good display by limiting the PS3 to 1080i.

I have 2 questions:
1) Does it matter? Will I notice the difference between 1080 p and 1080i?
2) Can I fix it? Is it a hardware problem with my TV?

I'm very grateful for your help.

Best wishes,

Ben.
 
720p is "better" than 1080i, in general, but it all depends on the performance of up/downscaling ability of your TV.

If it's meant to support 1080p then it should display 1080p, if it doesn't then something's wrong with the TV...

Just looked it up, hard to find info about, but it does state 1080p, it also states 24p playback, which only works via 1080p so it really should be able to display that resolution.
 
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720p is "better" than 1080i, in general, but it all depends on the performance of up/downscaling ability of your TV.

If it's meant to support 1080p then it should display 1080p, if it doesn't then something's wrong with the TV...

Just looked it up, hard to find info about, but it does state 1080p, it also states 24p playback, which only works via 1080p so it really should be able to display that resolution.

On a 1080p resolution TV 1080i will look better than 720p. Why would reducing the information available and resizing the picture and then re-upscaling look better than leaving it in its natural resolution.
 
I don't know a lot about it to be honest, i was just relaying what's said in a LOT of articles, 720p would be a lot better for motion shots apparently, but as i said, it depends on the TV....

For images that have a lot of motion in it, "p" is definitely better than "i"...

But then on the other hand, most places say it's an "argument" not worth having as the difference is neglible in day-to-day viewing...

Quote me a source which says 1080i is better than 720p.....on a 1080p TV.....?
 
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I don't know a lot about it to be honest, i was just relaying what's said in a LOT of articles, 720p would be a lot better for motion shots apparently, but as i said, it depends on the TV....

For images that have a lot of motion in it, "p" is definitely better than "i"...

But then on the other hand, most places say it's an "argument" not worth having as the difference is neglible in day-to-day viewing...

Quote me a source which says 1080i is better than 720p.....on a 1080p TV.....?

I don't need a source. It's just common sense that you wouldn't get a better picture using 720p on a TV with a resolution of 1080 if you're downscalling then upscalling then re-interlacing. You're putting several steps in that aren't needed and it will affect the image in a negative way. If you're using 1080i then it's at the sets natural resolution so there is no scaling needed as it's already in the correct resolution and all the set needs to do is re-interlace the image so you can see it. The re-interlacing on modern TV sets is far better than you'd expect.

Why on earth would you reduce the picture information by half (which is what happens when you re-scale to 720 from 1080) then upscale (which re-samples the 720 image not the original 1080 image, making up from nowhere half of the picture information) back to 1080, then re-interlace the image? That doesn't make any sense.

The motion blur is nothing to do with the quality of the picture it's more to do with the re-interlacing step which would largely be dependent on the original frame-rate of the source and the handling capabilities of the television in question.
 
OK, fair enough, but then why do most postings/reviews etc suggest differently ?

Most say that 1080i isn't good for sports or fast-motion, due to the fact that not all lines are visible on-screen at once, whereas they are with 720p..

I'm only relaying what you can read on a lot of posts...although a lot are in relation to Satellite/Cable broadcasts and discussing why 720p looks better than 1080i....
 
OK, fair enough, but then why do most postings/reviews etc suggest differently ?

Most say that 1080i isn't good for sports or fast-motion, due to the fact that not all lines are visible on-screen at once, whereas they are with 720p..

I'm only relaying what you can read on a lot of posts...although a lot are in relation to Satellite/Cable broadcasts and discussing why 720p looks better than 1080i....

I don't see any benefit in 720p over 1080i on a broadcast image as it's interlaced as a signal before it gets to be 720p anyway. The image is broadcast interlaced and the re-interlaced by the sky/freesat box and the resolution re-scaled to 720p. I'd rather have the re-interlacing done in a TV of decent quality than in a freesat/sky box. I guess if you have a rubbish or cheap TV then there is a chance that the box may be better at scaling and re-interlacing an image than the TV but in most cases i very much doubt it.
 
the OP needs to buy another hdmi lead, try tesco's for a cheap one that will work.
if that doesnt work at 1080p, then either there is a fault with the tv, or the ps3 slim, so testing on another tv would be the way to go.

but it would appear, some LG tv's have issues with the ps3, and also with connecting via hdmi
 
He's tried a rubbish lead and a £40 lead to no avail...

both could be crap leads though..and as we all know, £40 for a lead means squat..:D
 
So you want him to try another......crap......lead ? ;)

:D not really, but IMO, but its worth a try.
expensive doesn't equate to good, sometimes...
 
Hehe, yeah i know, but he's already tried one that came with the TV (i assume, as it was free), poor guy, 3 HDMI cables that'll be!

yeah, but if all he can get is 1080i, then to me, that would mean either the leads are the older CAT1(720p/1080i) type, or just plain crap..whereas at least tesco are handily close in most cases, and at around £5, their leads do 1080p.

at a push, it may be the tv/ps3 at fault, but as he can get a picture..i would leave them out till i had at least tested another lead.
first lead - crap.
second lead - £40, possibly crap, as per my last post
third lead - official ps3 hdmi lead(blockbusters sell them cheap, or tesco, for a 1080p CAT 2 certified cable, for around a fiver.

worth a shot i reckon.
 
Before he buys yet another lead, probably an even better idea to tell us the make/model of the expensive one.....

If it's a QED lead or something like that then, unless faulty which i guess COULD happen, it's not going to be the lead...but i guess for a £5 outlay it's worth another go...
 
Have we established whether the OP has set up his PS3 correctly. Did the OP do the "holding down the standby" thing to set the optimum resolution?
 
Hehe, no idea, between you, me, and RottenFox, we've not given the OP the chance to respond ;)

Haha :p I'm sure the OP probably has but we all know how easy it is to forget the brutally obvious stuff.
 
So right about forgetting to do the simple things. Hold down the standby button, you say? I'll give it a go. The set up procedure is seductively simple, so you are tempted to assume that the ps3 and tv will work things out between them .
I'll double check the make of my fancy hdmi cable. It was a Richer Sounds purchase and certainly looks lovely with a nice braided casing.
Maybe I'll find another wire to borrow rather than go to Tescos...
Thanks for your help.

Best wishes,

Ben.
 
My TV supports 1080p but I usually leave the PS3 on 720p. The forced 1080p scaling that the PS3 does on certain games (e.g. NGS2, Bioshock, MGS4 etc) degrades the picture considerably.

As long as you have 24p forced "on" then the PS3 auto-switches to 1080p24 as well so need to faff every time you play a BD.
 
hi, its not a cable, try different hdmi input on your tv. If it's got 4 hdmi inputs try fourth that should work.
 
OK, fair enough, but then why do most postings/reviews etc suggest differently ?

Most say that 1080i isn't good for sports or fast-motion, due to the fact that not all lines are visible on-screen at once, whereas they are with 720p..

I'm only relaying what you can read on a lot of posts...although a lot are in relation to Satellite/Cable broadcasts and discussing why 720p looks better than 1080i....
I'm pretty sure they talk about leaving games at 720p (If thats the native resolution) rather than forcing it to 1080p.
 

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