oogins Posted September 5, 2001 Share Posted September 5, 2001 What is 480i? I'm buying a new TV with component input soon, and I noticed that some support 480i and some don't. What's so special about it? I thought all TV's were interlace. Does it use a higher resolution or more frames? ------------------ -Paul AMD T-Bird 900 Asus A7V Micron 256 MB PC-133 IBM 30 GB 7200 rpm ATA 100 Pioneer DVD-105 Slot-Load (16X/40X) 3Dfx Voodoo5 5500 AGP Sound Blaster Live! X-Gamer 5.1 (soon to be Hercules Fortissimo II) NEC MultiSync M700 17" (soon to be Sony CPDG420S 19") Razor Boomslang 2000 w/Everglide Giganta These speakers are for my computer, not a HT Receiver: Kenwood VR-409 (soon to be Denon AVR-2802) Speakers: Klipsch Quintets (5 sats. soon adding Klipsch KSC-C1) Sub: Sony SA-W305 mini-sub (soon to be HSU Research VTF-2) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iXtreme Posted September 5, 2001 Share Posted September 5, 2001 That has to do with the TV's ability to play (show) HDTV signals. Generally a good HDTV is I believe 1080i or something to that nature. The higher the number the sharper the tv. ------------------ Why do you like playing around with my little scope of reality? I can feel it all start slipping away..... See but I don't get it, don't you think maybe we can put it on credit? I get stupified. It's all the same... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oogins Posted September 5, 2001 Author Share Posted September 5, 2001 So 480i basically shows a sharper picture than regular TV's? I know it's not an HDTV, because those are 1080i. I guess another question would be, does 480i really make all that much of a difference? ------------------ -Paul AMD T-Bird 900 Asus A7V Micron 256 MB PC-133 IBM 30 GB 7200 rpm ATA 100 Pioneer DVD-105 Slot-Load (16X/40X) 3Dfx Voodoo5 5500 AGP Sound Blaster Live! X-Gamer 5.1 (soon to be Hercules Fortissimo II) NEC MultiSync M700 17" (soon to be Sony CPDG420S 19") Razor Boomslang 2000 w/Everglide Giganta These speakers are for my computer, not a HT Receiver: Kenwood VR-409 (soon to be Denon AVR-2802) Speakers: Klipsch Quintets (5 sats. soon adding Klipsch KSC-C1) Sub: Sony SA-W305 mini-sub (soon to be HSU Research VTF-2) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveLee Posted September 6, 2001 Share Posted September 6, 2001 Paul, Sound and Vision magazine has been running a series of articles on "How to shop for TV's" and "How to decipher the techno-babble surrounding TV's". I think these will probably answer your questions: http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/SoundAndVision/Article01/Features/howtv0301/howtv0301p01.html http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/SoundAndVision/FrameSet/Product/HomeTheater0100/laydownlawp01.html http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/SoundAndVision/Article01/Features/howhdtv0301/howhdtv0301p01.html Hope these help! Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
space_cowboy Posted September 6, 2001 Share Posted September 6, 2001 This may also help: "Plain Old" TVs are based on the NTSC system which specifies a picture consisting of 525 lines of resolution (horizontal lines), of those 525 lines only 480 have actual picture content. The TV updates every other line at a time at a rate of 60Hz, which means the entire picture updates 30 frames per second. This "every other line" update method is called interlaced and leads us to the 480i designation. If you keep the 480 lines but update every line at a time, you get a "progressive" image that shows a full frame at 60Hz instead of the 1/2 frame provided by the interlaced system. This is called 480p and essentialy means that double the information is being conveyed. This provides a much smoother image that works much better with motion but isn't very different from 480i for static images as they each have only 480 lines. The ATSC got together and made a new set of rules for digital TV. There are 18(?) formats specified by them, but the most common are 480p, 720p, and 1080i. An HD-Ready TV typically means it can display a signal at 1080i, but the term HD can be applied to either 720p or 1080i and there are many advocates who believe 720p is better (we won't get into that now). HD is defined as a 16:9 format and, while there used to be non-HD 16:9 sets, almost every 16:9 TV you see in the US will be HD-ready. Almost all DVD players will work with 16:9 sets and minimize letterboxing to accomodate the wider format (not all films are 16:9, some are wider and will still have some letterboxing, just not as much). Progressive DVD players go one step further by converting the 480i into 480p to produce a better picture. Most DVDs have information to allow the original frame of film to be reconstructed and most progressive DVD players will recreate that frame exactly, eliminating the interference caused by interlacing the frames for TV display. If your main focus is on DVD movie watching, then you will be very well served by a 16:9 TV. If you're more into standard cable TV, you probably won't get much benefit from the 16x9 set. The v-compression provided by sony is a method on squeezing the 480 lines of the 4:3 TV into a 16:9 space. This way, you get a sharper picture because lines are not wasted on the letterbox portions, but you still get visual letterboxing and a smaller on-screen image than you would have gotten with a native 16x9 TV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boa12 Posted September 6, 2001 Share Posted September 6, 2001 great info sc! think i'll hold off for the 1080p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oogins Posted September 6, 2001 Author Share Posted September 6, 2001 So basically, all TV's that have component input and don't support progressive scan or HDTV are 480i. Also meaning, that they don't have a higher resolution or more frames than regular TV's. If that's the case, then I've been right all along. But I just had to be sure. ------------------ -Paul AMD T-Bird 900 Asus A7V Micron 256 MB PC-133 IBM 30 GB 7200 rpm ATA 100 Pioneer DVD-105 Slot-Load (16X/40X) 3Dfx Voodoo5 5500 AGP Sound Blaster Live! X-Gamer 5.1 (soon to be Hercules Fortissimo II) NEC MultiSync M700 17" (soon to be Sony CPDG420S 19") Razor Boomslang 2000 w/Everglide Giganta These speakers are for my computer, not a HT Receiver: Kenwood VR-409 (soon to be Denon AVR-2802) Speakers: Klipsch Quintets (5 sats. soon adding Klipsch KSC-C1) Sub: Sony SA-W305 mini-sub (soon to be HSU Research VTF-2) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fried Elliott Posted September 6, 2001 Share Posted September 6, 2001 I am going to ask a dumb question, and I think I know the "answer" but here goes anywayz... After having spent all this energy (and money) figuring out all the cool HT component electronics and getting all my Klipsch speakers set up just right, why can't I just buy a freakin' video *monitor* to hook up to my AVR? Its like going to buy a turntable and find I have to buy half a stereo system to go with it that I will never use. Or as if our computer monitors had embedded video cards we never need because better functionality is also available from our PC. I will never use my tv's speakers, its internal tuner, or its remote. I know tv's have to function outside of HT setups and I know us "best-of-breed component integrator" types are not the mainstream buyer, but come on! Pull the electronics and speakers out, build a "clean" high quality monitor, and I will gladly invest in it knowing I can keep its signal processing "front end" current over the years by buying the latest and greatest electronics. Do they make such things but because I don't subscribe to Conde Nast I don't know about them? -------------------- Okay, my bad. Now that I have read the links kindly served up above, I read there are indeed HDTV monitors. Anyone have any favorites? This message has been edited by Fried Elliott on 09-06-2001 at 07:25 PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avman Posted September 7, 2001 Share Posted September 7, 2001 the sonys i sell have a unique up-conversion process vs. other brands. lets say you double horiz.density to 480p. the picture becomes 'smoother', but-progressive scan is better for graphics and data (ie:computer monitors). sony doubles BOTH horizontal AND vertical picture density (960i) w/drc processing while keeping the 'picture-making' process interlaced-better for motion. that's all for now-gotta go! avman. ------------------ 1-pair klf 30's c-7 center sony strda-777ES receiver NEW! sony playstation 2! dishnetwork model 7200 dishplayer satellite receiver/digital bitstream recorder pioneer dvd player sharp 35"tv panamax max dbs+5 surge protector/power conditioner monster cable interconnects/12 gua.speaker wire surrounds and a 'teens sub coming! KLIPSCH-So Good It Hz! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t-man Posted September 7, 2001 Share Posted September 7, 2001 Fried Elliot, I hear you loud and clear! It seems the better "monitors" force you to pay extra, because they have the better sound systems. I want to order mine like a car... I went through this 7 years ago when I bought my first Sony. I wanted the same thing then, and the same thing now. Just give me the best picture, and screw all the sound gizmos. That way I can fit a big TV in my Entertainment center, without worrying about those damn speakers fitting inside, too. I can fit a 32" wega, but not the 32" 16:9, because of the damn speakers taking up room on the sides. Stupid. T-man ------------------ KG 5.5 (mains) KG 2.2v (center) KG 1 (rears) KSW-12 (sub) Denon AVR 681/1601 Toshiba SD-3109 DVD Kenwood LVD700 LD Sony CD changer Sony 27" Trinitron Sony PLX I Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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