New TV.. just for Saorview - advice needed..

Har0ld x9

I am purchasing a new tv (not for myself) which will just be used for Saorview & am wondering whether it is worth paying the extra money for full HD vs. HD ready..

The TV will solely be used for Rte (saorview) and also for a stanard free to air satellite box for BBC, ITV etc. as there is no scope for the TV to used for Sky/UPC HD or PS3/Xbox gaming I am thinking there is little point in spending the extra money for full HD coz it would never be utilised & would be a waste.

I think the below would suit the requirements but is my thinking flawed?

http://www.powercity.ie/?par=10-12-32LK330&pages=1&prod=32LK330&brands=LG&image=

Does anyone disagree with my methodology and think I should just pay the extra for the full HD??

MarkK

I think that with a "32 screen size HD ready will be fine.
IMHO you would need a bigger screen size to get the full benefit of HD anyway.

Har0ld x9

Thanks MarkK, The only people so far to disagree with my thinking are the salespeople, but they are working their own angle..

NIMAN

They reckon that 1080p (Full HD) is really only necessary on screen sizes above 42", and is really only noticeable to most people on the likes of the 55" or 60" sets.

For anything 32" and down, don't waste any money paying for 1080p over 720. I always have a little laugh when I see 19" Full HD Sets being sold, with the emphasis on the FULL HD!

Also, if you are using Saorview, majority of the programming will be upscaled and as such not true HD anyway, so having Full HD is more or less irrelevant. The only real source of 1080p Full HD video that most people will be watching will be BluRay discs. Any video coming from satellite channels or Saorview is not 1080p.

Gerry Wicklow

NIMAN wrote: »

... Any video coming from satellite channels or Saorview is not 1080p.

ITV 1 Granada, STV, CH4 and NHK are all 1920 x 1088 on FTA satellite

MarkK

Gerry Wicklow wrote: »

ITV 1 Granada, STV, CH4 and NHK are all 1920 x 1088 on FTA satellite

They are 1080i not 1080p

Peter Rhea

MarkK wrote: »

They are 1080i not 1080p

As far as this thread is concerned, it's the 1080 that's important, not the i or p.

MarkK

Peter Rhea wrote: »

As far as this thread is concerned, it's the 1080 that's important, not the i or p.

Why?

Peter Rhea

Display resolution rather than the matter of interlaced or progressive scanning is what defines 'HD Ready' v 'Full HD' (it's proper title is 'Full HD 1080p) as all 'HD' tvs should be capable of progressive scanning, or so I thought & we are dealing here with the tv set, not what is fed to it.

1080i fed to a 'HD ready' (720, 768 or whatever) set will have to be downscaled.

Har0ld x9

Peter Rhea wrote: »

Display resolution rather than the matter of interlaced or progressive scanning is what defines 'HD Ready' v 'Full HD' (it's proper title is 'Full HD 1080p) as all 'HD' tvs should be capable of progressive scanning, or so I thought & we are dealing here with the tv set, not what is fed to it.

1080i fed to a 'HD ready' (720, 768 or whatever) set will have to be downscaled.

So you are saying a 720p TV will play 1080 feed just not as clear? does not really matter as the Free to Air box does not support HD

Peter Rhea

The HD ready tv will have to downscale any higher resolution material to suit its own pixel count.

If you insist on getting the most out of all source material, even on a 32" screen, go for full HD, but on a subjective level under normal viewing conditions you'll probably be hard pushed to notice any difference.

MarkK

Peter Rhea wrote: »

Display resolution rather than the matter of interlaced or progressive scanning is what defines 'HD Ready' v 'Full HD' (it's proper title is 'Full HD 1080p)

If the proper title is "Full HD 1080p", how can you say progressive scanning is not part of what defines "Full HD 1080p"?

Peter Rhea

The progressive scanning capability is taken as a given, the interlaced broadcasts are deinterlaced & displayed in progressive format anyway. The OP in this thread was concerned with the choice between a higher & lower resolution display.

It was yourself introduced the 1080i v 1080p element, why don't you explain why you thought this necessary?

MarkK

Peter Rhea wrote: »

The progressive scanning capability is taken as a given, the interlaced broadcasts are deinterlaced & displayed in progressive format anyway.

It can't be "taken as a given" that any 1080i, also does "FULL HD 1080p".
This tv for example is marketed as 1080i but is not 1080p
http://www.play.com/Electronics/Electronics/4-/22119981/Kogan-19-Inch-720p-1080i-HD-LED-TV-With-PVR-And-Digital-Tuner-Kogan-KULED19XXXA-Freeview/Product.html

Peter Rhea wrote: »

It was yourself introduced the 1080i v 1080p element, why don't you explain why you thought this necessary?

I didn't think it was 'necessary' to post. My post was in response to what they NIMAN and Gerry Wicklow had said about the availability of 1080p/1080i tv broadcasts.

Peter Rhea wrote: »

The OP in this thread was concerned with the choice between a higher & lower resolution display.

Yes, I gave my answer to the OPs question in my initial post.
How did your initial post in this thread help answer his question?
It seems to be you who is trying to derail the thread into some sort of 1080i v 1080p argument, when you would be hard pushed to tell the difference on a 32" TV anyway.

Peter Rhea

MarkK wrote: »

It can't be "taken as a given" that any 1080i, also does "FULL HD 1080p".
This tv for example is marketed as 1080i but is not 1080p

All LCD displays are progressive scan, if that tv really can't handle 1080p input it must be a processing limitation. You're still confusing display resolution with how the source material is encoded & processed.

Kristopherus

Full HD on a 32 in TV is indecipherable from 720. Only noticeable if you have 42 in & higher. Keep your hard earned cash in you pocket. As you say yourself, full HD is the salesman's spiel. 720p is absolutely fine for 32in & lower.

Ronnie Raygun

Peter Rhea wrote: »

All LCD displays....

LCD display?! Is that like an ATM machine or IRS system?

MarkK wrote: »

....some sort of 1080i v 1080p argument, when you would be hard pushed to tell the difference on a 32" TV anyway.

But such an argument would be more concerned with the visibility of deinterlacing artefacts & should be one for the broadcasters rather than the tv makers having to adapt their sets to substandard transmissions.

Ronnie Raygun

Har0ld x9 wrote: »

So you are saying a 720p TV will play 1080 feed just not as clear? does not really matter as the Free to Air box does not support HD

The closer the source material is matched to the tv's "native" display capability, the better, as it eliminates unnecessary scaling & deinterlacing issues.

MarkK

Peter Rhea wrote: »

All LCD displays are progressive scan, if that tv really can't handle 1080p input it must be a processing limitation. You're still confusing display resolution with how the source material is encoded & processed.

Actually that seems to be the source of your confusion, as a "1080i" TV does not necessarily have a 1080 line display. The "1080i" on a TV just means it is capable of displaying that type of signal.

Peter Rhea

MarkK wrote: »

Actually that seems to be the source of your confusion, as a "1080i" TV does not necessarily have a 1080 line display. The "1080i" on a TV just means it is capable of displaying that type of signal.

No confusion whatsoever on my part & the specs for any tv will show the actual pixel count along with the input signals it will display.

Ronnie Raygun

MarkK wrote: »

a "1080i" TV does not necessarily have a 1080 line display. The "1080i" on a TV just means it is capable of displaying that type of signal.

That's been the main thrust of most of the posts in this thread since you brought up the subject of 1080i/1080p.

Where do you see confusion?

MarkK

Ronnie Raygun wrote: »

Where do you see confusion?

I am confused as to what Peter Rhea meant by "As far as this thread is concerned, it's the 1080 that's important, not the i or p. "
1080p capable TVs are usually more expensive than 1080i, so it does seem relevant to me.

Peter Rhea

Do you know of any tvs with 1920 x 1080 pixel count that won't accept a 1080p input?

STB

Saorview Certified boxes of course must support 1080p .......... (there has been must consternation of Freeview HD boxes' in the UK on this very debate and how they handle progressive)

Even more interesting is that Nordig Spec mandates CI+ in TVs above 32"......

I wonder how many of the certified TVs have such a facility.

Ronnie Raygun

MarkK wrote: »

I am confused as to what Peter Rhea meant by "As far as this thread is concerned, it's the 1080 that's important, not the i or p. "

Thread title is "New TV...just for Saorview", so it should 'do' 1080p, leaving the actual screen resolution as the distinguishing factor.

Maybe that's what he meant (s'pose he can speak for himself).

MarkK

Peter Rhea wrote: »

Do you know of any tvs with 1920 x 1080 pixel count that won't accept a 1080p input?

I know that just because a TV accepts a 1080i input does not necessarily mean it has a 1080 line display.