If they were all the same screen size and properly calibrated, which of the following flat-panel types would likely display 480i sources with a picture quality level nearly as high as that of a standard-def CRT TV (also the same screen size)?

480p native LCD
480p native Plasma
720p native LCD
720p native Plasma
1080p native LCD
1080p native Plasma

My new Panasonic 46G10 1080p plasma displays analog and digital SD better than my older 768p plasma and better than any Tube TV i've ever seen, including the almighty 34XBR960. But the quality of the picture will be dependent on the quality of the signal - and i get a great signal.

Your premise is wrong because you can't buy a tv monitor in the 480 range, all flat panel TVs will be 720 (or 768) and higher. Also the source material has more of an impact that the monitor. I've seen great 480i on my 768p and my 1080p sets, as well as crappy. For that matter I've seem pretty crappy 480i on crts.

There is no perfect display.

Thanks for the corrections.

What I'm looking for is a flat-panel HDTV that displays 480i from Over-the-air-digital, Playstation 2, and GameCube sources very well. Is there any general consensus as to some of the best SD-playing HDTVs out there (just like the XBR960/Loewe 38" Aconda are considered the best of the CRT HDTVs and a certain couple of Pioneer Kuros considered the current best of the Plasma HDTVs)?

If not, how about any suggestions from personal experience?

I believe that any of the listed 720p/1080p TVs will do a good job with 480i. All HD displays will mercilessly disclose the lower resolution source which will always look worse than true HD material, but that's hardly the same thing as doing a bad job with SD source. I like SD better on my HDTV than on my high-end analog Sony VVega.

What you need is a display with effective aliasing (juggies) reduction and pull-down detection. High quality scaling and effective noise reduction are also vital.

If you live in the UK, I'll be able to recommend few models (e.g. Samsung B650, B750, Tosh RX etc...)


PS: You could always buy an external video processor, but it will cost you.

*isn't from the UK*

Nice. I've never heard of an external video processor before. Just read up on them, and they sound like something that would work out great if one doesn't mind the price of the quality ones.

Is scaling and/or aliasing a factor when the native resolution of a TV matches the source, but the source is interlaced while the native is progressive scan (ex. 1080i content on a 1080p HDTV)? I'm guessing quality de-interlacing would be the most important processing factor for those situations.

De-interlacing and aliasing reduction are partially the same.

And there's no need for scaling when displaying 1080i on a 1080p display.

De-interlacing and aliasing reduction are partially the same.

And there's no need for scaling when displaying 1080i on a 1080p display.
Unless you have an absolutely horrid deinterlacer which throws out half of the vertical resolution!

Do those still exist?