[Shin CZ]

Ironic, isn't it? You buy yourself a 720p set, yet 1080i looks better than what your TV was advertised as? Lol.


1920x1080 downscaled to 1366x768.


1280x720 upscaled to 1366x768.


1366x768 LCD's ALWAYS display at that resolution, so the i vs p argument is a non-issue as it'll all be progressive.


I know there are a couple of factors that come into play. One is whether the source can deinterlace properly or if it uses that 540p bobbing nonsense.


For gaming, it gets a bit weird. If the games are natively running at 1080p (which is hardly a handful), 1080i is the way to go, as 1080i holds the same res as 1080p.


If the game only supports 720p and 1080i (or if it's an XBox 360 game, which 99% are 720p native yet are falsely branded as 1080p), the 1280x720 signal is upscaled to 1080i res then downscaled back down to 1366x768, meaning 720p is better because it only has to be upscaled to 1366x768.


All I know is that on my 23" 1366x768 display, Blu-Rays look just as good as 1080p sets, if set to 1080i. So don't think you're missing much (aside from size) in the way of picture quality.


In all of my tests, 1080i has always looked better than 720p. Sharper, and more detailed. This is IF the native res of the source is 1920x1080 (doesn't matter if it's i or p, as again, it all becomes progressive.)


One thing I love about the ps3 is it's ability to display the game played at it's native res (as long as all boxes are checked in). It doesn't fool you like the 360.


So what about those 16:10 1440x900 televisions? How do they handle HD signals? Do they have some sort of underscan feature, as to only use the pixels necessary, or are they upscaled even moreso than 1366x768 sets, and do they even look as good?


Oh yeah, for 360 Elite users, DON'T upscale your standard DVDs to 1080i. You'll get horrendous artifacting everywhere. Looks like bobbed 1080i. Set your 360 to 720p. The only 1080p games on the 360 I can think of off the top of my head are some XBL Arcade games. So these would be the only ones benefitting from 1080i.

 

[bkchurch]

I always run my games at 720p on my 1366x768 set, I'll try 1080i when I start watching Blu-Rays on my PS3 and see how it looks. I was under the impression that 1080i always used the retarded "Let's throw half the fields away and downscale to 540p then upscale to 768p" nonsense on these TVs.

 

[Shin CZ]

Not at all. I've played a few native 1080p games (i.e. Ridge Racer 7, Super Stardust HD) which at 1080i both fields are captured and then downscaled to 1366x768, keeping more detail than just playing the game at 720p. Play the RR7 demo, and watch your replay. You'll notice that the leaves on the trees are a lot sharper and detailed compared to just playing at 720p. The problem is that most games are 720p natively, so changing to 1080i won't do anything helpful. For your ps3, I'd just check all boxes (480p/720p/1080i) since the ps3 will just play the game at whatever it's native resolution is.


For the 360 it's different. Almost ALL their games are native 720p, so you're not gaining any benefit in playing them at 1080i. Don't believe the back of the box (they put 720p/1080i/1080p on ALL their new games, which is a blatant lie. It just upconverts everything).


Oh yeah, Blu-Rays look better at 1080i than 720p, FOR CERTAIN. Every single Blu-Ray I've seen looks phenomenal at 1080i, rivalring 1080p sets, though I do have a 23".