HD resolution and standalone amp hookup Q's (1 Viewer)

[Ryan*Pr*]

What do the different resolutions for HDTV mean? I have seen 480i/p, 720i/p, 1080i/p (I can't remember which have i's and p's)...what does the i and p mean? I thought regular TV had 640X480 resolution so why is 480i/p there, or does it mean normal TV resolution? I will be looking for a projection HDTV in the somewhat near future, what types of features should I look for?

I was looking at some standalone amps for the future and was wondering why they take an RCA connection from the pre/pro instead of digital connection?

 

[Lew Crippen]

Those numbers stand for vertical lines of resolution. The ‘i’ and ‘p’ stand for interlaced and progressive respectively. These two terms refer to how the screen is refreshed. ‘Interlaced’ is the way ordinary TV works. Every time the screen is refreshed, only ever other line is actually refreshed, so that on one refresh all of the odd numbered lines are refreshed and on the next the even numbered lines are refreshed. Hence the term, ‘interlaced’. ‘Progressive means that each time the screen is refreshed all of the lines are refreshed in order (from top to bottom).

Standard Definition (SD) TV has 480 vertical lines of resolution and is interlaced. This is abbreviated 480i. HD TV (as it is today) has two formats 720p and 1080i. Many enthusiasts wait for the day that 1080p will be broadcast. 1080p appears to be gaining in popularity in HD video. 480p is what you get fromthe playback of a progressive scan DVD player and on Fox digital telecasts (at least until they go HD).

All of this is video. It has nothing to do with audio. Amplifiers are typically used to amplify audio signals. The connection from a pre/pro should be only concerned with audio.

 

[Ryan*Pr*]

Thank you for the information on interlaced/progressive. I realized that I was asking two completely different questions, but I thought I would do it in one thread. The reason why I asked about the different audio connections is because optical or digital coax sends a cleaner signal and I would think that amps would want to take advantage of this.

 

[Lew Crippen]

Oops, sorry Ryan—I read your post a bit too quickly.

Many high end audio buffs prefer analog connections, especially for non-5.1 audio. If the DD/DTS decoding is done in the pre/pro and not the amp, then the amp will need the six discrete analog channels fed directly to it. Receivers typically do the DD & DTS decoding and so can easily accept a digital feed.

In the end the digital data has to get converted to analog in any case—it is just a question of where this occurs.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Ryan,

Perhaps someday we will have equipment that will remain in the digital domain from the source to the speaker connections. But at this point, the digital signal from the source component (DVD player, sat receiver, etc.) is converted to multi-channel analog signals by the receiver’s DA converters before it reaches the amplifier stages. Thus all amplifier sends are analog.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt