Need quick help with 480p vs. 480i (1 Viewer)

[Shawn Shultzaberger]

I belong to a Chevy Truck forum and there was a post in the off topic section that went something like this:

"Im planning on buying a DVD player... and so is my sister. So I decided to research it. One thing I learned is that some players tout "Progressive scan"
Its supposed to give an even better picture than a regular DVD player. So you may pay more money for this progressivce scan, but what most wont tell you is
that this progresive scan is all but worthless if you have a regular TV. You may get a better picture because a DVD is playing (vs. a VHS), but the even better quality that progressive scan can achieve is not available
on regular TV's. In order to make this progressive scan worthwhile, your TV MUST be HDTV ready. (a real HDTV TV is slightly different from a HDTV "ready" TV. The ready TV requires some additional equipment to get the HDTV signal or something), but whats important
is that the HDTV ready TV has the capability to display the extra lines(480 lines more i think) that make this progressive scan feature a super sharp image........

Just thought Id share this with you since I was surprissed to learn of this little feature myself.... you know why pay for it if you wont ever use it, unless you plan on upgrading the TV.

Do you truly need an HDTV ready TV to use 480p? I thought that if you had a TV with Component Video you could run 480p as long as the DVD player could run 480p. I want to make sure my thinking is correct before responding.

[Edit] - Now that I think more about it, the TV will have to be able to display in Progressive mode. So...not just any TV with component video in is going to be able to do this.

 

[TimTurtino]

The article's gist is correct, although . . . oddly . . . phrased. You don't actually need an HDTV monitor (what the article calls "HDTV ready TV") to get the benefit of a progressive scan DVD player, but
A) Almost every HDTV monitor will show progressive scan in all its glory, and
B) Most analog TVs (whether or not they have component video inputs) can not show progressive scan.
There are (I believe) exceptions to both statements above, but they're true in the vast majority of cases. I can't actually produce a counterexample to either off the top of my head...
There's a gray area here-- there are some TVs that are digital but _not_ HDTV, and some of these can show progressive scan (if, for instance, they are EDTVs). These TVs are fairly rare if you're not buying a plasma screen or an older projector. Again, this is a fairly small issue.
Basically, the article is mostly right, and your edit captures the issue well.
However, I would still buy a good progressive scan DVD player, and then use that to justify buying my HDTV monitor.
Me