# HD Output Settings 1080i vs 720p



## dmspen (Dec 1, 2006)

A bunch of us at work were debating the merits of 1080i vs 720p with regards to DISH receivers.

Is it 'better' to convert to 1080i, even a 720p picture? 
Or is it 'better' to downcovert a 1080i signal to 720p?

Please take the poll so I can see what you have your output set to.
Thanks!


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## DanB33 (Nov 17, 2003)

Mine is set to 1080i because that is the native resolution of my TV.
James Daniel Bishop


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## GrumpyBear (Feb 1, 2006)

Personally I watch all the Football, Soccer, and Rugby, I can. The orginal broadcast is 720p if its HD why change it? Sports look better at 720p, than 1080i. Now if you are watching nature shows, or other slow moving shows, upconverting is just fine.


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## snowcat (May 29, 2007)

I actually have one set to 1080i and two set to 720p. Those are the native resolutions of my HD sets.


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## RASCAL01 (Aug 2, 2006)

I have it set to 1080i which is native for my tv.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

There's a lot of "it depends" so this is not an easy answer.

Most channels in HD are 1080i, though there are quite a bit of 720p (notably FOX and Disney/ABC/ESPN family of channels).

Viewing them in their "native" broadcast resolution in most cases would be better than conversion up or down.

But... another fly in the ointment is the different types of HD TVs and what the native resolution of that TV is.

There are still many HD TVs that accept 1080i signals but actually do not display them at that resolution. There are other TVs that will display 720p or 1080i natively (without cross-conversion) while others will always convert to one resolution or the other.

Then if you're talking about a <50" vs a >60" HDTV... many find that until you get to a 50" screen it is difficult to tell a resolution difference from 720p to 1080i anyway.

The ultimate catch-all answer is to try both settings and test multiple channels of both resolutions... then leave your receiver set on what looks best to you.


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## olds403 (Nov 20, 2007)

I have it set to 1080i on my 60" 1080p television. Native passthrough would be awesome but I have given up hoping for that feature.


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## tsmacro (Apr 28, 2005)

720p for the same reason others have mentioned, it's native to my tv.


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## mhowie (Sep 30, 2006)

My native resolution is 768p. That being the case, is one setting better than the other?


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

mhowie said:


> My native resolution is 768p. That being the case, is one setting better than the other?


I'm not sure how those TVs work... With a 1080i signal does your TV only display a 720p equivalent? Or would it use those extra ~48 lines for some more detail?


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## RasputinAXP (Jan 23, 2008)

generally a 1366x768 screen will downres a 1080i signal to native, whereas a 720p signal will get uprezzed. Personally I think downrezzing is a better choice.


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## mhowie (Sep 30, 2006)

RasputinAXP said:


> generally a 1366x768 screen will downres a 1080i signal to native, whereas a 720p signal will get uprezzed. Personally I think downrezzing is a better choice.


I appreciate the input. I understand this logic if every source were 1080i. But, let's take a 720p signal (like ESPN). If I have the Dish receiver output 1080i, then won't there be two translations (720p to 1080i and downrez to 768p)? Is there any value in manually switching the receiver to match the source signal or is it virtually indiscriminable and one should just leave Dish receiver on the 1080i output for the 1366x768 screen and forget about it?

Thanks,


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## RasputinAXP (Jan 23, 2008)

mhowie said:


> I appreciate the input. I understand this logic if every source were 1080i. But, let's take a 720p signal (like ESPN). If I have the Dish receiver output 1080i, then won't there be two translations (720p to 1080i and downrez to 768p)? Is there any value in manually switching the receiver to match the source signal or is it virtually indiscriminable and one should just leave Dish receiver on the 1080i output for the 1366x768 screen and forget about it?
> 
> Thanks,


Just like Ron Popeil always says...set it and forget it. You're pretty much not going to notice anything.

The only time I notice a difference between 720 and 1080 is when I'm playing Madden on my 360 and my field of view is wider.


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## Dave (Jan 29, 2003)

I think they should have a 1080P setting for those of us that do have a 1080P HDTV. Some of us also have OTA. So if some day we ever get lucky and are locals send out a 1080P we are ready and waiting. Back to the question. I have mine set to 1080i.


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

My old Pany Plasma seems to give me the sharpest picture from 720p. And the ViP722 and ViP612 seem somehow to have fewer video problems with both the 720p and 1080i original content, though I wouldn't swear to it.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

Since getting my new DLP HDTV (1080p) I have considerably less overscan at 1080i than my old CRT.

But, I've noticed even less (practically no) overscan displaying a native 720p signal...

So, that might be the one scenario when it might be something noticable... not the resolution, but if your HDTV puts more of it on the screen.


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## GrumpyBear (Feb 1, 2006)

Stewart Vernon said:


> The ultimate catch-all answer is to try both settings and test multiple channels of both resolutions... then leave your receiver set on what looks best to you.


Actually have somebody else make the setting changes, and see if you can tell the difference. Sometimes when you do it yourself, you don't have a unbiased viewpoint.


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## 4HiMarks (Jan 21, 2004)

I have an older 720p DLP, so mine is set to the native resolution. I would always choose progressive over interlaced anyway. When there is a reasonable amount of 1080p source material, then I will consider purchasing a 1080p set (or more likely a front projector). Until then, 720p on a 50" Samsung is fine.


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## Michael P (Oct 27, 2004)

Dave said:


> I think they should have a 1080P setting for those of us that do have a 1080P HDTV. Some of us also have OTA. So if some day we ever get lucky and are locals send out a 1080P we are ready and waiting. Back to the question. I have mine set to 1080i.


I thought there was a 1080p setting for the VOD content in 1080p. Or is that setting only available wile viewing 1080p VOD content?

I'm currently watching my 622 through an SD set using the S-Video jack so I have no real world experience with HD connections.


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## otnipj3s (Jul 20, 2008)

1080i....finally after a year and a half of multiple channels, sports vs movies, locals vs nationals ect. 1080i seemed to look a little better than 720p.


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## mhowie (Sep 30, 2006)

4HiMarks said:


> I would always choose progressive over interlaced anyway.


I'm curious as to why progressive would be preferred over interlaced?


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## bgothard72 (Oct 25, 2007)

Check this out. I prefer 720p over 1080i. Just waiting for 1080p!


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## GrumpyBear (Feb 1, 2006)

mhowie said:


> I'm curious as to why progressive would be preferred over interlaced?


Progressive scanning starts at the top and paints each line in order 1 thru 720, in this case. Interlacing Starts at the top, paints all the odd lines 1-1079, and then starts over and paints all the even lines 2-1080 on your screen, this leads to that blurring effect you see during Football, Soccer, Hockey, heck even Basketball or any show with lots of fast action.

Watch simulations and you will see that the 720p will paint the entire screen faster than the 1080i tv with the same rates.

Granted if your TV is 1080i native nothing wrong with leaving it that way. If your TV viewing is your avg TV News, Drama, or Sitcom show, you wont really be able to tell the difference, unless your set is really large in the 55" or larger group. Granted those with TV's that large are screaming for 1080p broadcasts and support, but the Broadcasters aren't going to make that move anytime soon, wish they would but.... want in one hand......

To do a real test, leave the room, have somebody else make the changes, comeback in the room, view, leave room again, have your friend make changes and then see what you think.

Most will really see a difference by actually calibrating thier TV, rather than setting 720 vs 1080i. Way to many people have thier Sharpness and color setting way out of whack.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

bgothard72 said:


> Check this out. I prefer 720p over 1080i. Just waiting for 1080p!


I hope that was a joke. I stopped watching once he said 1080i<720p.

I swore to never get dragged into this old misinformation debate again... so I won't. But I do wish people like the guy in the video who clearly don't understand the technology would stop presenting misinformation as if he were an expert.


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## HobbyTalk (Jul 14, 2007)

Mine is set to 1080i. My Panny is 768p but will convert a 720p signal to 1080i before it downcoverts to 768p. So I eliminate that step by outputting 1080i.


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## mhowie (Sep 30, 2006)

HobbyTalk said:


> Mine is set to 1080i. My Panny is 768p but will convert a 720p signal to 1080i before it downcoverts to 768p. So I eliminate that step by outputting 1080i.


I have a similar Panny as you (50") and didn't realize they operated in that fashion. I was assuming (apparently incorrectly) a one-step conversion based on the input signal and Dish receiver output being congruent. Based on this "two-step", the 1080i output would be the only way to fly with the older Pannys.

Thanks,


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## HobbyTalk (Jul 14, 2007)

mhowie said:


> I have a similar Panny as you (50") and didn't realize they operated in that fashion. I was assuming (apparently incorrectly) a one-step conversion based on the input signal and Dish receiver output being congruent. Based on this "two-step", the 1080i output would be the only way to fly with the older Pannys.
> 
> Thanks,


When I bought my Panny (42PX77U) I read up on it AVS Forums. A Panny tech used to post there and stated that they converted 720p to 1080i before downcoverting to 768p. Something about going from 1080i to 768p was mathematically more direct then going from 720p to 768p. Personally, I don't see a difference


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## HarveyLA (Jun 8, 2006)

My standard Dish setting for my 46" 1080p set is 1080i unless I am watching something special on ABC, ESPN or FOX, which are in 720p. In that case, the picture always looks a bit better when I switch Dish to 720p. Keep in mind that 720p has 60 complete progressive images/sec. (on live telecast mode, not film) while 1080i has only 30 images (interlaced). 
Either way, a 1080p set will convert to a 1080p picture which is its native display format. But if you first convert 720p to 1080i, I suspect you lose the smooth 60 images/sec. and wind up with 30 instead (defeating one of 720p's advantages on non-film material). Some may not see the difference, but I do, on sports or live/recorded specials.


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## dmspen (Dec 1, 2006)

Interesting...

Most posters agree that the 720p setting will give a better picture - or at least it's not noticeable, yet the poll says that most people have their receivers set to 1080i.


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## 4HiMarks (Jan 21, 2004)

Makers of (CRT) computer monitors gave up interlaced resolutions sometime in the early to mid-90's because no one would buy them even though they were cheaper than progressive. Same thing happened with DVD players more recently. 

Interlacing is a old format which I think was developed to overcome the deficiencies of early CRT technology back when that was the only game in town. The electron guns or the phospor coating on the tube, or whatever, couldn't respond fast enough for progressive display. That is no longer true. Why pick interlaced then, if you have a choice?


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

dmspen said:


> Interesting...
> 
> Most posters agree that the 720p setting will give a better picture - or at least it's not noticeable, yet the poll says that most people have their receivers set to 1080i.


95 people have voted thus far, while there are only 30 posts in the entire thread. 17 people voted for 720p... so it could be that there's just more of them posting in the thread.


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## HobbyTalk (Jul 14, 2007)

He is a nice, fairly easy to understand, explanation of 720p vs 1080i

http://www.highdefinitionblog.com/?page_id=88


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## prm1177 (Aug 21, 2007)

Two issues at stake here; one is spatial resolution which is generally display preferential and the other is temporal resolution which is determined by the recording and carrier medium.

Most people own 1080i or 1080p sets and since the majority of programming is available as 1080i source, a 1080i setting is more compelling I think than 720p.

With a few sources available at 720p (ABC & ESPN), the upconversion to 1080i is relatively simple and not troublesome.

This is why I tell my friends to set their receivers to output at the native resolution for their sets. If you have a 1080i set, doesn't make sense to double convert the image (1080 to 720 in the receiver and 720 back to 1080 in the set). Vice versa for 720 sets.


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## dpd146 (Oct 1, 2005)

720 because native resolution of tv. Have done it both ways and can not tell a difference.


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## festivus (Nov 10, 2008)

I have a Panny 1080p plasma, 50 inch. I don't notice any diff between the 720p and the 1080i setting so I just keep it at 1080i. I honestly can't tell any difference at all.

With my 720p native projector in the basement I keep that at 720p since it's the native resolution.


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## Jim5506 (Jun 7, 2004)

My 722k is set to 1080i because that is the native rsolution of my Hitachi 57F59 AND I tried both 720p and 1080i on the set, the 1080i has a better picture.

Even when watching ESPN, ABC and other native 720p sources, the 1080i still is a better picture, and I can see the softness in the 720p picture as converted to 1080i compared to the crispness of a good 1080i picture from CBS OTA and other 1080i sources.

So I, for one, disagree that 720p is a better picture than 1080i.

I do not notice interlacing artifacts on my CRT projector to be that bad.

I guess the persistence of the phosphors mitigates that problem a bit.


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## Jeff_DML (Feb 12, 2008)

1080i since the chipset that the 722 uses does not deinterlace 1080i properly, just line double/bob's it. Hard to tell but you lose vertical resolution.


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## INSIDERINFO (Nov 3, 2009)

1080i here


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## wiles01 (Nov 9, 2009)

Question regarding data space taken up on a DVR from a 720p vs 1080i.

I have Dish Network HD. Does a 720p HD video take up less space on a DVR than 1080i or vice versa? or do they take up roughly the same amount?

Just curious if anyone has any idea.


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## Jeff_DML (Feb 12, 2008)

wiles01 said:


> Question regarding data space taken up on a DVR from a 720p vs 1080i.
> 
> I have Dish Network HD. Does a 720p HD video take up less space on a DVR than 1080i or vice versa? or do they take up roughly the same amount?
> 
> Just curious if anyone has any idea.


all things being equal on the encoding setup, 1080i will take up ~9% more. Setting your output resolution has nothing to do with this though.


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## Jeff_DML (Feb 12, 2008)

also people claim DISH is still doing HD lite so 1080i might be the same or even smaller. Also compression efficiency varies so you never know, not much you can do about it anyways unless you stop watch most of the major networks since they broadcast 1080i, fox ,espn and abc only


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## 4HiMarks (Jan 21, 2004)

I was under the impression it was DirecTV (D*) that broadcast HD lite. I have seen many posts from former D* subscribers commenting on how much better E* looks, but practically none the other way. But then I don't hang out on D* boards, either.


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## olds403 (Nov 20, 2007)

I thought I had read somewhere, maybe on AVS, that both sat services are broadcasting approximately 1080 x 1440, as opposed to 1080 x 1920. I think they both qualify as "light".


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## JeffChap (Feb 10, 2007)

I have a Samsung LCD with a native rez of 768p. When I first got my 622, I expected 720p to look better. But I notice that scrolling text along the bottom of the screen on Fox News and ESPN were jerky looking. I switched the output to 1080i and the jerkiness went away. So 1080i it is for me.


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## Jeff_DML (Feb 12, 2008)

JeffChap said:


> I have a Samsung LCD with a native rez of 768p. When I first got my 622, I expected 720p to look better. But I notice that scrolling text along the bottom of the screen on Fox News and ESPN were jerky looking. I switched the output to 1080i and the jerkiness went away. So 1080i it is for me.


thats odd figuring FOX and ESPN both broadcast in 720p


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## GrumpyBear (Feb 1, 2006)

Jeff_DML said:


> thats odd figuring FOX and ESPN both broadcast in 720p


It could be true. 
Its one of those things that you need somebody else to make the changes while you are our of the room, to get a true perspective though.


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## karrank% (Sep 20, 2009)

Have only a 37' Vizio (720p native I believe), and can barely tell the difference but 720p seems a little sharper. 
We're only 8 feet away on the couch....
Watch too much of the d***ed idjit box anyway.

OT here but did they just change something in the screen display adjustment menu? zoom looks different--found out by accident..


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## RasputinAXP (Jan 23, 2008)

8 feet away from a 37*'* Vizio? That's a short range for such a big TV!


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## olds403 (Nov 20, 2007)

I am only about 10 feet from my 60" sony, that falls right into the recommended seating distance based on size. If anything I would think 8 feet from a 37" might be a little far.


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## karrank% (Sep 20, 2009)

Well, 10 feet if we slouch all the way to the back of the couch, 8 if we sit on the edge (misplaced spectacles or suspense films I guess) but from seeing all these posts it seems 37" although fitting our dinky living room--and budget-- is rather small potatoes.


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## olds403 (Nov 20, 2007)

Karrank, wasn't meaning to sound like I was saying your TV was too small. Just that you will get the most out of your HDTV by sitting at a recommended distance. This allows you to see all the resolution that your tv is capable of delivering. 

There is a chart that shows the various seating distances in comparison to screen size and resolution(720 or 1080). I don't have the link handy but it has been posted here many times and should be easy to find. Someone else here might even have the link.


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## karrank% (Sep 20, 2009)

No prob, no offense taken, and in fact I think I visited the link you mentioned prior to shopping just so we could "match" our room size to the displays we were considering.

Love this forum, you all have been a great help, thanks.


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## EDWIN MAESTRE (Apr 19, 2006)

1080i is the proven winner for my 768P 50" display on my 722.  On BD output I set to 1080p and also obtained improved results versus native.


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## JcT21 (Nov 30, 2004)

720p for me


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## xmguy (Mar 27, 2008)

I just leave mine set to Native on and have enabled all of the HD resolutions. Then my TV will display what ever the channel is in. If SD (Which 75% of my stuff is , storage space) I restrict to 480p. 480i IMO doesn't look as good.


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## Jeff_DML (Feb 12, 2008)

xmguy said:


> I just leave mine set to Native on and have enabled all of the HD resolutions. Then my TV will display what ever the channel is in. If SD (Which 75% of my stuff is , storage space) I restrict to 480p. 480i IMO doesn't look as good.


no native support in DISH VIP dvr's


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