1080i vs. 1080P

[rdefino]

My TV and projector only do 1080i. So I've been watching Blurays lately and they look great. So how much better does 1080P look when compared to 1080i?

thanks

[SomeWhatLost]

just curious, but are you sure both your TV and projector wont do 1080P?
I just ask because both my TV and Projector claim to only accept 1080i over component, but in reality, they both are very happy accepting 1080p...

but to answer your question, it depends on your TV/Pro... what is their native resolution (assuming a fixed pixel display, or bandwidth/scan lines if CRT based)?

if they are native 1080P displays, then even if you are sending it 1080i you are still seeing 1080P (although at a slower frame rate)

if they are <1080P native, then real 1080P display will be slightly better... but you may not be able to tell under normal situations...
ie actually watching a move from your comfy chair, you wont notice...
but if you get up and put you nose to the screen, you might notice...

[stanger89]

I've got to ask, what's your actual question? Should you upgrade to a 1080p display? The reason I ask is because the question in the OP is incredibly complicated.

Firstly, 1080i is utterly worthless for anything but a transmission format, and even then it's of dubious value.

That said, 1080i60 (the most common form) can losslessly contain 1080p24 (the most common form) or 1080p30.

The thing that makes it complicated is there's almost no 1080i display that has a performance-equivalent 1080p display.

[rdefino]

Nope, both projector and TV are about 5yrs old. They only go as high as 1080i.

Stanger89, Truefully, I have no idea what you are talking about? You lost me. I was just wondering how much of a difference 1080i was compared to 1080p.

[stanger89]

The problem is it depends on a ton of factors, and it's very, very hard to compare them directly, all else equal.

[macsupergeek]

Isnt it just an issue of interlaced versus progressive -- so "p" shows twice the amount of lines and "i" has to fill in the data, so if your system does well enough at filling in, then perceptually there should be no difference unless you make the image so drastically huge that you could perceive the missing information. So if you have say an 50" screen and you are sitting 8 ft back could our eyes even tell the difference between i and p?

[stanger89]

That's what I mean, "i" vs "p" is a loaded/open ended question. You listed just a couple of the many issues. There are cases where they can be the same, cases where they can be different.

[ccsmoke]

I think it's kind of like finding a dead pixel on your LCD. If you don't notice it...it doesn't bother you but once you do it just bothers the heck out of you heh.

The source and equipment come into play huge here and as Stanger pointed out it is very hard to get apples to apples comparison unless you are using the same source.

Using the same source, interlaced generally will have trouble with fast moving scenes, slow panning, film and video mixed movies, edits in the material and usually give a softer feel to the movie itself. All this has to due with the post processing speed of de-interlacers. If not fast enough, the frame being redrawn will have not line up perfectly giving it a motion blurr look to it.

[PLUCKYHD]

To me I still can't notice a difference between my 40" 420p panny and my 50" 720p panny when viewing from 10' away up close I can see but not far. That being said on my projection (110") I can definitely tell the difference between my 720p projector and 1080 24fps projector.

Like others have said there are so many factors size (the bigger the more pixel count, brightness etc you need). but also comes down to grade of equipment there are some very very good 720p projectors out there as well and some crap 1080p ones.

[stanger89]

Let's see if I can lay out a few generalities:
As a storage format

• 1080p60 is better than 1080i60
• 1080p24 is better 1080i60 (though depending on processing 1080i60 can be equivalent)
• 1080p30 vs 1080i60, depends on the the content and the processing, 1080i60 would have more temporal (motion) resolution, but 1080p30 might have better spacial resolution.

As a display format, realy progressive is always better. Of course that assumes quality processing of interlaced content. Displaying content interslaced results in combing, which is undesireable. Of course this assumes all lelse is equal, and it rarely is.

[panteragstk]

I sold TV's for a while so for me the 1080p-1080i transition wasn't a good one. There is a huge difference between 1080i and 1080p on the two tv's I have. Granted the only reason I switched from my 42" 1080p plasma to the crt 55" 1080i display was for the size, but I miss my plasma more and more. native 1080i content looks great, but interlacing progressive content doesn't make my eyes happy. I hate that I notice this kind of stuff.

[Taddeusz]

Try looking at a PAL CRT TV when you're used to looking at NTSC TV's your whole life. The 50Hz flicker was driving me batty at first.

[Chriscic]

Originally Posted by rdefino

My TV and projector only do 1080i. So I've been watching Blurays lately and they look great. So how much better does 1080P look when compared to 1080i?

thanks

Since your PJ is 5 years old, you don't have 1900x1080 pixels anyway (and I doubt your 5 year-old TV does either), so you're not even watching 1080i really.

A better question might be how much better picture quality you can get by getting a new TV/projector. Given the advances in picture quality I would say significant to me. It's a subjective question though... my buddy is perfectly happy with his 6 year-old (or something like that) CRT projection set and doesn't think it's worth upgrading, while it looks kinds crummy to me.

So, essentially your question is unanswerable in any objective way : )