HD PVR on Plasma

Polish

Polish

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Hi,

I have a HD ready plasma and am looking at the hd pvr.

I und the constraints of HD ready, i would just like to get some group comments if the results on the plasma will justify spending the money on the pvr ?

Will apprec some factual opinions.

P
 
Not really facts, but, I've seen my mates HD-PVR + HD TV in action. Watching rugby/soccer in HD and then in SD back at home makes me want to cry.

That's about all I can say. HD looks fantastic!
 
Thank you for the comms.

My Q is more around will the 720p still offer a reasonable amount of HD presence in comparison to the full hd of 1080 ?

Or in other words will the 720 display a substantial improvement as opposed to the SD 480 ? Surely the hdmi cable should already offer some imporivement.
 
gopes said:
hdpvr is 720p/1080i........
Click to expand...

Exactly what he said, DSTV broadcast in 720p anyway so the only way you'll be able to watch 1080P would be with a ps3/xbox/bluray etc.

And, yes the 720 display will be a substantial improvement of 480 SD
 
I have a 720p plasma and all I can say is that I would easily choose my TV over a full HD LCD any day. The only upgrade I'd be willing to do is to move to a full HD LED or plasma but right now, those cost quite a bit.

Upside with 720p plasmas is that even SD looks great, and the HD channels look amazing.
 
+1 what feo said. I bought a Samsung 720p plasma and HD PVR not long ago and the picture is astounding.

I put my old Sansui plasma(not HD ready) and SD PVR in the bedroom and I also find the difference between the picture on the new Samsung plasma and the old plasma worlds apart.

The blacks on the Samsung is really black and SD picture also looks much better on the Sammy compared to my old plasma. 720P on my Xbox,Mede8er and PS3 also looks very good.
 
i have an HD ready Sinotec and my bro has a full a HD Sinotec DSTV looks the same on both, as DSTV only broadcasts in 720. (some SD channles like trace look horrible though on both )
We both have xboxs, and that look much better on his so if you have a xbox or blu ray or ps3 etc then sure a Full HD will be better viewing but for DSTV hd ready is fine.
 
Thanks all, my butt is itching for the HD pvr more for the video recording and the HD is a plus.

But i'm a bit confused. If you say dstv already broadcasts in 720p, and afaik the plasma hd ready maxes at 720p then how will an hd pvr broadcasting at 1080 benefit ?

Or is this a scaling issue ?
 
Polish said:
Thanks all, my butt is itching for the HD pvr more for the video recording and the HD is a plus.

But i'm a bit confused. If you say dstv already broadcasts in 720p, and afaik the plasma hd ready maxes at 720p then how will an hd pvr broadcasting at 1080 benefit ?

Or is this a scaling issue ?
Click to expand...
the HD chanels that dstv broadcasts is on 720p (on the HD pvr)
 
feo said:
Upside with 720p plasmas is that even SD looks great, and the HD channels look amazing.
Click to expand...

I have seen this as well. The only plus with the HD decoder is that there is no stretching on the HD channels as they are all in the correct ratio
 
The HD are 720p (HD Ready) at max anyway so I don't think you'll have any issues anyway.
 
And is the software lag still an issue on the currently retailed models ?
 
Um, not to burst anyone's bubble, but it seems that Multichoice have made some changes to their broadcasts since launch. Initially they broadcast all HD at 720p. However, due to some of the content that they were receiving (especially Sky HD football from the UK <ironically>), they now broadcast much of the content in 1080i.

For Movie content, 1080i is better on a Full HD screen, especially if it is big enough. For sports.... not so much. If you're looking to buy a set that is 50" or bigger, I'd definitely recommend Full HD.
 
You've gotta think what exactly you're gonna use the TV for.

If it's just for watching DStv, then 720p is the way to go...I'd even say go for plasma whether you're a sports guy or not.

If you're gonna be hooking up a console or HTPC, then Full HD should be your aim.

If you're even asking these kinda questions, most likely you won't even be able to tell the difference between DStv on a 1080o set vs a 720p set.
 
arf9999 said:
Um, not to burst anyone's bubble, but it seems that Multichoice have made some changes to their broadcasts since launch. Initially they broadcast all HD at 720p. However, due to some of the content that they were receiving (especially Sky HD football from the UK <ironically>), they now broadcast much of the content in 1080i.

For Movie content, 1080i is better on a Full HD screen, especially if it is big enough. For sports.... not so much. If you're looking to buy a set that is 50" or bigger, I'd definitely recommend Full HD.
Click to expand...

not realy an issue since current hd ready is capable of 1080i
 
isie said:
not realy an issue since current hd ready is capable of 1080i
Click to expand...

er no. HD-ready usually indicates that the screen can display at least 1280x720 pixels but not full HD (1920 x 1080). Many HD-ready screens can accept a 1080i/p signal but they will downscale the image to 720p.

If a plasma or LCD screen is capable of 1080i display, then it is also capable of 1080p, because all LCDs and Plasmas are progressive displays by design and have to convert interlaced input into progressive in order to display it.
 
arf9999 said:
er no. HD-ready usually indicates that the screen can display at least 1280x720 pixels but not full HD (1920 x 1080). Many HD-ready screens can accept a 1080i/p signal but they will downscale the image to 720p.

If a plasma or LCD screen is capable of 1080i display, then it is also capable of 1080p, because all LCDs and Plasmas are progressive displays by design and have to convert interlaced input into progressive in order to display them.
Click to expand...

Correction there: HD Ready technically means that the display has at least 720 lines of resolution (not necessarily 1280x720), which is why older plasmas at 1024x768 are HD Ready compliant; they have more than the requisite 720 lines.

:D
 
What sort of HD Ready panels downscale 1080p? My old 32" Samsung HD Ready screen would do 1080i but not 1080p.
 
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