# HD DVD Resolution Question



## bpob (Jul 13, 2007)

Just purchased Toshiba unit (HD A30) and curious about the resolution to use. Currently have it hooked up to a Panny plasma with 1366x768. I can select up to 720p, 1080i or 1080p. Since my TV is not 1080p that leaves 720p or 1080i. Which should I use? 

Sorry if this has been posted elsewhere.


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## ccr1958 (Aug 29, 2007)

doesn't the resolution options say "up to" in front
of them...i think my A20 does...i would use the 1080p selection


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## machavez00 (Nov 2, 2006)

bpob said:


> Just purchased Toshiba unit (HD A30) and curious about the resolution to use. Currently have it hooked up to a Panny plasma with 1366x768. I can select up to 720p, 1080i or 1080p. Since my TV is not 1080p that leaves 720p or 1080i. Which should I use?
> 
> Sorry if this has been posted elsewhere.


your set is a "720P", so I would select that


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## Tom Robertson (Nov 15, 2005)

Both the TV and the player will scale the signal as necessary. Your best option is to take good look at 1080i and 720p to see which looks the best overall. High action scenes and smoky or foggy scenes should give you some of the best examples to review.

My best guess is 720p, but your eyes will tell you. 

Cheers,
Tom


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## chris0 (Jun 25, 2007)

bpob said:


> Just purchased Toshiba unit (HD A30) and curious about the resolution to use. Currently have it hooked up to a Panny plasma with 1366x768. I can select up to 720p, 1080i or 1080p. Since my TV is not 1080p that leaves 720p or 1080i. Which should I use?
> 
> Sorry if this has been posted elsewhere.


There are different schools of thought on this. The one I like is to send 1080 to a 768 set. If you send 1080 then it only gets scaled once, from 1080>768. If you send 720 it gets scaled twice, from 1080>720>768.

Try them both out and see if you notice a difference.


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## BudShark (Aug 11, 2003)

But whichever you select 720 or 1080 - your best bet is to select the "P" option - progressive - so all the data is sent. You wouldn't want the player interlacing 1080, the TV scaling to 768, and then deinterlacing back to progressive.

I would try 1080P - which your TV probably won't accept (assuming thats the only item negotiated by HDMI connection). You'll probably be best with 720P - but do a little clicking and a lot of watching. You'll know whats best for you.

Chris


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## Jason Nipp (Jun 10, 2004)

BudShark said:


> But whichever you select 720 or 1080 - your best bet is to select the "P" option - progressive - so all the data is sent. You wouldn't want the player interlacing 1080, the TV scaling to 768, and then deinterlacing back to progressive.
> 
> I would try 1080P - which your TV probably won't accept (assuming thats the only item negotiated by HDMI connection). You'll probably be best with 720P - but do a little clicking and a lot of watching. You'll know whats best for you.
> 
> Chris


Most 720 native sets even if they scale 1080i signals, will scramble if you even try 1080p. I would not recommend 1080p if the TV specs doe not specify the ability to accept a 1080p signal.


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## bpob (Jul 13, 2007)

Jason Nipp said:


> Most 720 native sets even if they scale 1080i signals, will scramble if you even try 1080p. I would not recommend 1080p if the TV specs doe not specify the ability to accept a 1080p signal.


What do you mean by "720 native sets scale to 1080i" Since my TV is 768 is that the same as 1080i?


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## Jason Nipp (Jun 10, 2004)

bpob said:


> What do you mean by "720 native sets scale to 1080i" Since my TV is 768 is that the same as 1080i?


_*edit* _Oops, I think you added and read a "to" into the quote that was not in my original post. _*edit*_

If the 720p set is designed to be able to accept a 1080i input signal, then if you do input a 1080i signal, it will be scaled (Down-rezzed) by the display to match the display's native resolution.

This is only applicable to displays that are able to accept signals above it's native resolution. Otherwise the picture with scramble or blank and you may have fun returning the source to a resolution that can be displayed.

Take into consideration that I never said a 768 display would display a 1080i source at 1080i resolution, only that some sets can accept the signal. From there it would be scaled to fit.

Hope this clarifies my statement for you. If not no big deal let me know and I'll try to explain again in another manner.

Best,
Jason


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## ccr1958 (Aug 29, 2007)

i was under the impression that the DVD player be it
Blu Ray or HDDVD did all the work to send the best possible
signal to your TV depending on what connection a person
is using...


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## Jason Nipp (Jun 10, 2004)

ccr1958 said:


> i was under the impression that the DVD player be it
> Blu Ray or HDDVD did all the work to send the best possible
> signal to your TV depending on what connection a person
> is using...


I am not sure what your trying to say? No slam to you, I'm just not understanding what your trying to communicate...

All displays have internal scaling circuitry, no matter if the display is 480, 720, 768, or 1080 native. If the display itself cannot accept and process a signal at a particular resolution, i.e. the sets scaling unit cannot process a 1080p signal, if you try to feed the display a 1080p signal it will not be able to decode it and you will end up scrambling or blanking the picture. It doesn't matter how good or bad the source unit is if the medium at the otherside can't understand the information being sent to it.

If you have a display that is 720, but has a scaling unit built in that can decode an input signal at 1080p (I do not know of many that can), then your fine, but again do not arbitrarily assume that all displays can process the signal. This may get you trapped in a place that your blind to get out of.


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## ccr1958 (Aug 29, 2007)

i mean the DVD player detects what your HDTV is capable of
before it streams the signal....not sure about the HDDVD but
on the ps3 blu ray in the setup it detects that the best possible
output for my display is 1080i no matter that i have it set to 
1080p...


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## Jason Nipp (Jun 10, 2004)

ccr1958 said:


> i mean the DVD player detects what your HDTV is capable of
> before it streams the signal....not sure about the HDDVD but
> on the ps3 blu ray in the setup it detects that the best possible
> output for my display is 1080i no matter that i have it set to
> 1080p...


Not necessarily. On Component Video (YPrPb) absolutely false. There is no eDID across the analog connection. On DVI/HDMI...Yes there is eDID broadcasting.... But if the unit cannot establish an eDID handshake, for whatever reason, then it will not auto-detect the display's information. With all the revisions of DVI and HDMI eDID transport protocols, one cannot assume that all displays will detect and correctly establish eDID.

Having a PS3 myself, you can do a manual setup, and if you were to check off the 1080p box and the display couldn't handle it you will see the display scramble.

The whole point behind my line of posts was to caution the user, you stated just "use the 1080p selection" and this is a wrong thing to say in my opinion. Now perhaps I have taken it too far, but this could really mess someone up if their display cannot support 1080p resolution signals. Never force a source device to transmit a signal to a device if it is incapable of processing the signal. Again, I pretty much interpreted your statement to the original poster as set it to max and leave it and not all displays will react favorably doing this.

My intentions are not to slam you, only to caution that doing this could be a bad thing.

Jason


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## bpob (Jul 13, 2007)

I've experimented with both 720p and 1080i and I can't seem to tell the difference. Not sure if I am doing something wrong, but I'm not that impressed with the picture quality of the HD DVD. IMHO, the HD picture I get from D*is better than any dvd I've watched. I thought I would be blown away by the PQ. Perhaps bluray is better?


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

bpob said:


> I've experimented with both 720p and 1080i and I can't seem to tell the difference. Not sure if I am doing something wrong, but I'm not that impressed with the picture quality of the HD DVD. IMHO, the HD picture I get from D*is better than any dvd I've watched. I thought I would be blown away by the PQ. Perhaps bluray is better?


More info would be necessary to tell the tale... What HD DVD movies have you watched? There are some HD movies on HD DVD and Blu ray that are not good transfers, while others are spectacular.


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## ccr1958 (Aug 29, 2007)

Jason Nipp said:


> Not necessarily. On Component Video (YPrPb) absolutely false. There is no eDID across the analog connection. On DVI/HDMI...Yes there is eDID broadcasting.... But if the unit cannot establish an eDID handshake, for whatever reason, then it will not auto-detect the display's information. With all the revisions of DVI and HDMI eDID transport protocols, one cannot assume that all displays will detect and correctly establish eDID.
> 
> Having a PS3 myself, you can do a manual setup, and if you were to check off the 1080p box and the display couldn't handle it you will see the display scramble.
> 
> ...


no problem...i appreciate all the info i can get on all HD sources...
so the next time i upgrade a HD Display i can get one that will handle the
fullest extent....like 1080p/24 frames for instance...

thanks


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## bpob (Jul 13, 2007)

HDMe said:


> More info would be necessary to tell the tale... What HD DVD movies have you watched? There are some HD movies on HD DVD and Blu ray that are not good transfers, while others are spectacular.


I have watched 300 (looks kind of grainy, but not sure if that is because of the CGI aspect of the movie) and Transformers.


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## dbooth (Nov 6, 2007)

bpob said:


> Just purchased Toshiba unit (HD A30) and curious about the resolution to use. Currently have it hooked up to a Panny plasma with 1366x768. I can select up to 720p, 1080i or 1080p. Since my TV is not 1080p that leaves 720p or 1080i. Which should I use?
> 
> Sorry if this has been posted elsewhere.


wondering why you would purchase that at this point


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

bpob said:


> I have watched 300 (looks kind of grainy, but not sure if that is because of the CGI aspect of the movie) and Transformers.


300 will look grainy, as that was the intent of the director... but Transformers should look pretty sharp. IT has been one of the most consistently highly rated/reviewed HD title on either format.


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## csgo (Oct 15, 2006)

bpob said:


> Just purchased Toshiba unit (HD A30) and curious about the resolution to use. Currently have it hooked up to a Panny plasma with 1366x768. I can select up to 720p, 1080i or 1080p. Since my TV is not 1080p that leaves 720p or 1080i. Which should I use?
> 
> Sorry if this has been posted elsewhere.


You may want to return the unit if you can. Word on the street today is that Toshiba is going to announce that they're going to discontinue all HD-DVD units.

Wal-Mart pulled the plug on HD-DVD today as well.

http://www.appleinsider.com/article...to_quit_hd_dvd_as_wal_mart_pulls_support.html

Looks like the war is over.


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## chris0 (Jun 25, 2007)

bpob said:


> I have watched 300 (looks kind of grainy, but not sure if that is because of the CGI aspect of the movie) and Transformers.


As HDMe said, 300 has lots of intentional grain. Transformers also has some grain in some of the night time shots.

I think you're expecting something from HD DVD that it's not meant to deliver. The point behind HD DVD (and Blu-Ray) is to give you an accurate representation of the movie as intended by the director. It won't make everything look as sharp as what you see on Discovery HD or any of those channels because most movies don't look like that. Movies shot on film look different than video. It's the same with Blu-Ray. There's a thread here on AVS that ranks HD DVD movies by picture quality.

And I still think you'll most likely be better off setting the player to 1080i rather than 720p. You'll have one less conversion that way.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

chris0 said:


> I think you're expecting something from HD DVD that it's not meant to deliver. The point behind HD DVD (and Blu-Ray) is to give you an accurate representation of the movie as intended by the director. It won't make everything look as sharp as what you see on Discovery HD or any of those channels because most movies don't look like that. Movies shot on film look different than video. It's the same with Blu-Ray.


You are bringing up the very good point that is illustrated very well on the Stardust HD DVD.

The movie itself is very nice, and high quality... but does not look like watching through a window in the same way as my local news in HD does. This is by design of the director. For comparison, there is a behind-the-scenes featurette on the Stardust HD DVD in HD... and if you watch that, you can see things a lot clearer, because the featurette is treated like a documentary and does not have any effects applied to it like the movie does for a visual look.

A good example of comparison of how high quality can be delivered on HD DVD... but at the same time how the director actually doesn't want that much clarity on a movie in most cases.


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## bpob (Jul 13, 2007)

chris0 said:


> As HDMe said, 300 has lots of intentional grain. Transformers also has some grain in some of the night time shots.
> 
> I think you're expecting something from HD DVD that it's not meant to deliver. The point behind HD DVD (and Blu-Ray) is to give you an accurate representation of the movie as intended by the director. It won't make everything look as sharp as what you see on Discovery HD or any of those channels because most movies don't look like that. Movies shot on film look different than video. It's the same with Blu-Ray. There's a thread here on AVS that ranks HD DVD movies by picture quality.
> 
> And I still think you'll most likely be better off setting the player to 1080i rather than 720p. You'll have one less conversion that way.


Thanks for the info. Whenever I looked at these players at Best Buy the picture was eye popping. I guess that is probably because the set their tv's that way.


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## chris0 (Jun 25, 2007)

bpob said:


> Thanks for the info. Whenever I looked at these players at Best Buy the picture was eye popping. I guess that is probably because the set their tv's that way.


That, and they pick movies that really show off the HD format.


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