1080p/1080i Question

Joshawott

Joshawott

Monsieur Monster
AUKN Staff
Okay, I'm a total n00b when it comes to resolutions, I'll admit it.

Anyways, today, I decided to buy a Blu-Ray player (why not?). Anyways, when I set it up, I have the options of 1080p or 1080i; it seems my HDTV doesn't like 1080p (To be fair, we cancelled our Sky subscription so the only HD options we'd had before were the news and *shuders* Channel 4, so we didn't really investigate much).

So the question here is - what's the difference between 1080p and 1080i?
 
If it offers you a choice of 720p or 1080i, I'd try out both and see which looks better to you. I much prefer 720p to 1080i, when 1080p isn't available :)

1080p is much better than 1080i, but TVs only need to be capable of 720p to be badged as 'HD Ready' so it causes quite a lot of confusion when the higher numbers are thrown about.

R
 
Rui said:
If it offers you a choice of 720p or 1080i, I'd try out both and see which looks better to you. I much prefer 720p to 1080i, when 1080p isn't available :)

1080p is much better than 1080i, but TVs only need to be capable of 720p to be badged as 'HD Ready' so it causes quite a lot of confusion when the higher numbers are thrown about.

R
Click to expand...
I see, I'll have to fiddle about with my new toy a bit more then xD.

Thanks.
 
Right, this will be incredibly complicated, so bear with me...

You say that your TV doesn't like 1080p? That's impossible. Sky boxes don't output in 1080p, they output in 1080i (I'll explain the difference in a sec..)

Perhaps your TV, as Rui said, is only "HD Ready" and can only output 720p? So, in which case, you will need a new TV to get 1080p.

The difference between 1080p and 1080i is that p = Progressive and i = Interlaced.

Interlacing is when two images get put in the same frame. One image contains the odd row of pixels, and another contains the even row of pixels.

Now, the video itself is usually 25 frames per second for PAL video. And PAL TV's have a refresh rate of 50hz. So the TV shows the picture fast enough to show the whole picture together.

Progressive, however, doesn't do that. It's just one image in one frame.

HD Channels and BD's, as far as I know, save the image interlaced. So p or i doesn't matter.

My advice is to test all the options. If neither p or i doesn't work, go for 720p.
 
Paradox295 said:
HD Channels and BD's, as far as I know, save the image interlaced. So p or i doesn't matter.
Click to expand...
HDTV, yes. BD, no. Nearly all BDs are 1080p and not interlaced, which makes it more akin to watching film. Pause a BD and you get a sharp, still picture like viewing a photo slide. Pause a DVD and you will likely be able to see the lines caused by interlacing. It affects the look of the picture in motion too, as this slowed image demonstrates. Interlacing was necessary due to the size restrictions of SDTV and DVD but will likely disappear as physical media storage space and broadcast signal bandwidth continue to increase in size.
 
Paradox295 said:
Right, this will be incredibly complicated, so bear with me...

You say that your TV doesn't like 1080p? That's impossible. Sky boxes don't output in 1080p, they output in 1080i (I'll explain the difference in a sec..)
Click to expand...
When I try and go on 1080p, my TV says "Video Mode Not Supported" and goes to standard definition. However, if I go on 1080i, it's fine.
 
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