1080p-720p shoot-out in Athens!

A very interesting shoot-out was organized last Saturday in Athens by the Greek www.avclub.gr, where 35 of its members were invited to comment on the differences between the 720 and 1080 DLP panels when fed by HD and SD material.



As sources we used two HTPCs with identical Hardware and Software configuration: Hardware: P4 at 3.0, ATI X800 PRO graphics card,1gb memory,asus m/b.
Software: For SD zoom player 4.51 (VMR9 renderless, dscaler 5008 decoders, reclock 1.5b, 2X lanczos resize) For HD: Media Player Classic (Overlay, Dscaler 5008 decoders) ATI Catalyst driver version 6.5.
As reference clips, the following were used:
HD VIDEO: BenQ demo, Epson Demo, Shakira Tortura mtv video clip, Samsung Demo, (all at 1920Χ1080i)
HD FILM: Starship Troopers (1920Χ1080i)
SD FILM: SW III, Chronicles of ridick, Sin City, Alexander, Van Helsing (all 720X576)

We used two Marantz projectors (VP11-S1 1080p & VP12-S4 720p) which were D65 calibrated and were matched in brightness.



The interesting thing was that we managed to have both projectors to project the same half picture simultaneously on the same Dalitte High Contrast DaMatt screen at about 130'! This way it was very easy to draw conclusions without having to even turn your head from the screen!



Each one was connected to a HTPC via a dvi to hdmi Oelbach cable and at the native resolution of each projector ( 720p for VP12-S4 and 1080p for VP11-S1) with 1:1 pixel mapping.
The results were really eye-opening: The majority of the people present felt that from a distance of 4 meters and beyond from the 130' screen, the resolution difference between the two projectors was from minimal to insignificant! We even had 3-4 people who in fact thought that the 720 projector was the 1080 one! Some thought that the 1080 had better depth, but all agreed that if you have a very good 720 projector and you are not planning to sit very close to the screen or to project more than 130', then the upgrade to 1080 is not necessary.
Both projectors threw a glorious image, in HD and in SD and did match perfectly with the HTPC as source. We also connected a BR player with 5-6 BR titles just to have a taste of the new HD reality. We all felt that the real revolution nowadays is not the 1080 projectors but the 1080 software which will transform our existing 720 projectors.
Also, on a personal note, I think that it might be a very wise idea to invest today on a top 720 projector like the Marantz S4 with great optics, scaler, deinterlacer etc, instead of a new 1080 projector with worse optics, scaler, deinterlacer etc if you don't plan to have a very large screen (over 130' ) in your house.

More screenshots:

The top one is the ..........model. (edit at the request of a member !)
Bear in mind that, although both were D65 calibrated it was not possible ( due to time restictions) to have in both models the exact same gamma and color i.e. there were some minor differences (if I remember correctly the 1080 had the magenda on the reference spot, when the 720 was a bit off).

I must add that the we did not pause for the camera so these screenshots come from moving picture.

The 1080 had a new lamp (around 30 hours if I recall correctly) where the 720 had around 300.
The screen was around 130 inches in diagonal.
The brightness was more than adequate (the room was rather dark).
The pj's were about 4,5 meters from the screen.

I agree that those Marantz units are a safe bet, especially the 1080 comes with an excellent gamma tracking from the factory default values.

No, actually I couldn't resolve the resolution differences from where I was standing (4 meters). In that respect, given that in my house I sit at 4,7 meters from my 110' screen, I guess I will hold on that 1080 upgrade for now..

Also, I disagree that the DLPs look better on lower resolution. I believe it is the other way around. The crispness I have seen in the DLPs with HIDeF material is not evident when I see the same material with SXRD or LCD. On the contrary, I always enjoy SD better with the Ruby SXRD of a friend of mine!

Please, let me stress again that those are moving screenshots so the differences you may (or not) see in the images may be the result of the camera focus or a split-second frame difference.
Yes all pics above are HD.