[oumagicbaby]

I have had this Sony since October but just got an HD receiver on 1/9/04. I was watching the "State of the Union" and CBS/NBC looked great and ABC looked comparably bad. I read in the HDTV section that it was probably because my TV was native 1080i (CBS/NBC) and ABC was broadcast in 720p. To confirm this, I went to the manual and found a shocking fact (if true). On page 42 it states that 720p is converted to 480p. Obviously, that makes my 720p HDTV channel no longer HD. I have e-mailed Sony and am waiting on a reply. If this is the case, it was misrepresented when I bought. Should I return this? 1080i looks fabulous and I have been happy with the product until now. I heard that when Fox starts HD, it too will be 720p. I hope that the manual is incorrect but was wondering if anyone had this same problem. If/when I hear from Sony I will update this.

 

[Gabatta]

I have the same TV, and this has been a topic of much discussion on these boards. Many HDTVs do not display 720p natively. When you identify one that does, you need to compare all decision points before deciding to return the Sony. Remember, you bought this TV after (hopefully) some consideration. In my opinion it has the best picture in its size and price range.


One question for you. How are you receiving your HD signal? For example, in my area, many people get their HD through Comcast Cable. On the box (Motorola 6200), you can select the output. If it is set to 1080, and the override is turned off, everything is upconverted to 1080i. While 1080i channels look a but better (in my opinion), then 720 upconverts like ABC, the 720 channels still look pretty damn good, and better than SD TV.

 

[oumagicbaby]

I have a Samsung TS160 with DirecTV. I use the DVI connection and have it set on 1080i. I have been happy with the HD picture. This was the first broadcast that I could compare stations on the same content. If it looked close, I would not have made a post. It was a glaring difference, leading me to think that something was wrong. It was like DVD versus HD which would make since (480p VS 1080i). I did a lot of research and was not aware that 720p HDTV would be turned into EDTV, like it states in the manual. I wanted a native 1080i set, but not one that downconvert everything else to 480p. I am not sure that this actually is happening and is why I posted. Maybe it could be the receiver or something else, but I don't know...