HD Resolutions

[frosty]

I've noticed some confusion on these boards over the various HD resolutions and framerates, as well as what each type of video connector is capable of. So, this thread is to put that confusion to rest.

Note: this comparison doesn't include PAL resolutions. I will update it later to add those.

480i

This is 720x480 which is displayed at 60 half frames per second. The NTSC standard has it start off drawing even lines first, (line 2,4,6,8,etc.) on the first 1/60 frame, and odd on the next. Phosphors on CRT monitors continue to glow after they are drawn on while the scan line draws the next line, so you don't see a black flicker on the screen. LCD's and plasmas have to employ some sort of de-interlacing technique in order to display 480i. 480i can produce interlace flicker and artifacts if there is motion between one 1/60 frame to the next. In order to display a 24 fps movie, 3:2 pulldown is required to adapt it to 30 fps.

Types of connectors capable of carrying 480i: composite, s-video, component, DVI, HDMI, coaxial, VGA

480p

This is a 720x480 image that runs at 30-60 frames per second, however it displays the entire image in every frame. 3:2 pulldown is still required for 24 fps if using the NTSC standard. It is possible to send a true 24 fps 480p image though.

Types of connectors that can carry 480p: Component, DVI, HDMI, VGA

720p

This displays a 1280x720 image at 24, 30, or 60 full frames per second.

Types of connectors that carry this image: component, DVI, HDMI, VGA

1080i

Displays a 1920x1080 image at 60 interlaced half frames per second, or 48 half frames for 24 fps. Interlacing starts on odd frames instead of even with NTSC.

Types of connectors that can carry this image: component, DVI, HDMI, VGA

1080p

Highest resolution available today. Displays a 1920x1080 image at 60, 30, or 24 full frames per second.

Types of connectors that carry this image: Component (limited to 24 or 30 fps) DVI, HDMI, VGA

Xbox 360's 1080p output is limited to 30 fps over it's component, though if you use VGA 1080p60 is possible.

Playstation 3 comes ready to support all of the above modes right out of the box with both models.

Nintendo Wii supports up to 480p over composite, component, or s-video.

[Beenie Man]

^I'm afraid a little since I am going to buy a 720p Bravia, but after the amazing reports of how the games looked on the 1080p screens, I won't get the same experience and I do not want to buy a 50''+ 1080p to see the advantage of 1080p as it costs too much money. Could anyone tell me if 720p is spectacular.

[frosty]

720p is comparable to a computer monitor running at 1024x768, so play a computer game at that resolution and that's what you get (roughly). It consists of 921,600 pixels, vs. 2, 073,600 pixels for 1080p. So, as you can see 1080p offers more than twice the resolution of 720p.

[PUNK em 733]

^I'm afraid a little since I am going to buy a 720p Bravia, but after the amazing reports of how the games looked on the 1080p screens, I won't get the same experience and I do not want to buy a 50''+ 1080p to see the advantage of 1080p as it costs too much money. Could anyone tell me if 720p is spectacular.

720P I would think would be fine, you might not get all the nice details, and overall nice pic of a 1080P, but that's too be expected. But really many 1080P tv's aren't as expensive as you think...look at Westinghouse's new line of 1080P Tvs that are not bad pricewise. I saw a 61" Toshiba DLP 1080P at costco, for about 2400, and after the holidays I know it's going down in price.

So what's the next great leap in HD resolution after 1080P?

[Viper]

Beenie, the difference in 720p and 1080p is dependant on TV size (at least in terms of human perspective). If the TV is smaller than 40", you won't see much difference. Only at 40", or higher really, does 1080p show it's true value.

[BahnNZ]

Thing about your modern TV is they give you 720p... And a little bit extra. This Bravia is 1360, above 720p(1280). So you feed it 1080i or 1080p(Presuming it supports 1080p) you get noticeably better picture than 720p, but not all the way to True HD.

Just great for watching movies in 1080p like the one I just watched on Blu Ray. Smoochie boochies, Morris Day and the Time motherf***ers!

...

It was Jay & Silent Bob. Blu Ray movies are looking better these days.

[frosty]

So what's the next great leap in HD resolution after 1080P?

2k x 4k, or 8 million pixels.

Beenie, the difference in 720p and 1080p is dependant on TV size (at least in terms of human perspective). If the TV is smaller than 40", you won't see much difference. Only at 40", or higher really, does 1080p show it's true value.

I'll have to respectfully disagree here, as my 21 inch computer monitor is 1680x1050, or about 400k pixels short of 1080p but 800k pixels more than 720p. You can see a clear difference on it between 720p and 1080p video.


However, you do sit a good bit closer to a monitor than a TV, so I can see where you come from.

[PUNK em 733]

2k x 4k, or 8 million pixels.

WHOAA! When should we expect this? That is a crazy leap.

[frosty]

Sony already has 2kx4k projectors on the market, thing is there isn't a video format in place yet to take advantage of it (nor is there a connection format, you would have to use multiple DVI or HDMI ports for one image). With these 100GB and up Blu-Ray discs coming out, there should be plenty of storage space to accomidate it with the right codec.

[xbdestroya]

'2K' - as the resolution is known - is presently high-end movie theatre targeted equipment. I wouldn't worry about it on the TV for a while Pumk 'em.

And it's already used in several hundred theatres actually.

[frosty]

I wouldn't see it in the home for another 7-10 years. It's cost is very prohibitive and the tech to support it doesn't really exist at the moment (for the home user, that is).

[aclar00]

'2K' - as the resolution is known - is presently high-end movie theatre targeted equipment. I wouldn't worry about it on the TV for a while Pumk 'em.

And it's already used in several theatres actually.

I thought that was ultra high def... guess not though because i dont recall there ever being any mention of it being used in movie theatres

[frosty]

The highest tech theaters out there use it. It's actually said to simulate the resolution of actual film, but all digitally so there are no scratches and such on the image anymore.

[BahnNZ]

Jah, this is PS4 stuff.

[xbdestroya]

I thought that was ultra high def... guess not though because i dont recall there ever being any mention of it being used in movie theatres

Ok, me and Frosty are talking about different things... and I think you've been caught in the crossfire Aclar! He's talking about '4K,' which indeed is what you're terming as 'ultra high-def,' where as I'm talking about 2K, a little higher than 1080p and the current high-end 'norm' for digital theatres.

4K is definitely the new beast of resolution, and is slowly being adopted by certain theatres (it's expensive!)

[frosty]

OK, yeah he's right. 2k isn't much better than 1080p at all, it only increases the 1920 to 2048. A negligable difference. 2kx4k is where it's at. The former is for theaters to display movies shot in a "wider screen" (the widescreen movies that still letterbox when displayed on a 16:9 TV) and is basically the same as 1080p.

For those interested in reading up on 2k x 4k projectors, here's Sony's.

http://news.ecoustics.com/bbs/messag...81/170722.html

Top of the line if you have 67'000 euros ($85,230) to spend on one.

[curryking1]

Isn't 720p resolution 1280 x 720 pixels? 1280 x 720 pixels is very sharp for games on a computer monitor, and if 720p is in fact 1280 x 720, 720p should be a good option for people who just want to balance the cost more effectively with the product they get.

[frosty]

1280x720 isn't much higher than 1024x768, which is pretty much a standard resolution for PC monitors. Windows XP doesn't let you go below 800x600, for example, so it's really only a click higher than XP's lowest resolution setting. It's about 540,000 pixels higher than standard definition, but over a million pixels less than 1080p.

[Smokey]

ok i bought a 1024x1080 hitachi 42inch plasma today (beautiful picture ). isnt the second lot of numbers (1080) the important ones. there was a 116cm LCD 1920x1080 (sony) there but it was 8Gs a little bit out of reach at the moment lol

[frosty]

no, both numbers are equally important. It's about on par with 720p if you factor in pixel count, but the pixels aren't in aspect, so you won't even get that resolution out of them. I wonder how the TV can have that resoluiton and still be widescreen, because that violates the 16:9 aspect ratio. 1024x1080 is pretty much square, it doesn't even fit SDTV's aspect ratio (rectangular) at 4:3.