[Sam Katz]

I have the Sharp XV-ZW99U projector and I am very confused about its support of HDTV formats. I am now thinking about purchasing the Samsung (SIRT151) STB as an OTA receiver. However, if I can only use 480P, I am not sure it's worth the effort/cost to go HD. The sharp manual is not very clear on supported formats.


Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks!

Sam
[email protected]

 

[John Mason]

The three 832X624 panels (4:3) may be similar in resolution to some direct-view-CRT sets. The set, or an external scaler, would have to scale HDTV images, leaving black bars on the top and bottom.


Although broadcast HDTV is less than theoretical maximums, this panel resolution couldn't display a lot of finer detail in many HDTV programs. A table in this thread shows these measured resolutions in early ATSC tests (with very high-quality equipment). -- John

 

[Sam Katz]

John,


Thanks for the rapid response. It appears I really messed up on my question of "formats" supported. I am interested in its resolution (480p, 720p, 1080i) capability. The PJ is switchable for 16:9 and/or 4:3 formats. However, is 480p SDTV worth going to if that's all the PJ can support?


I've been an avid audiophile for many years but this video stuff is pretty new to me; I appreciate your patience.


Sam

 

[John Mason]

IMO, those panel resolutions are more than adequate for 480p from DVDs and 480p digital TV (theoretically 480X720 or 480X704, respectively). They could probably display nice images from scaled-down HDTV signals (720p, 1080i), too. You'll have to judge whether it's worth chasing the extra detail a higher-resolution display could provide. Because of equipment used, the consensus seems to be that broadcast resolutions are closer to 1200 (horizontal) rather than the test resolutions indicated in that link above, likely obtained under lab-like conditions with top-grade gear. -- John

 

[Sam Katz]

Thanks John!


Guess I'll try it with scaled-down images from the OTA STB.


Sam