Question about the benefits/drawbacks of progressive scan. (1 Viewer)

[Frank@N]

I currently have modest setup including an interlaced player and interlaced direct-view set.

My initial plan was to put all my HT cash into software while there's so many cheap DVDs.

Now that my collection is over 500 movies, I'm considering saving up for a hardware upgrade (player and TV).

Questions:

1) Progressive scan / 3:2 pull-down should provide a more stable image and film-like 'feel', but will it eliminate the annoying shimmer that is present in many film title sequences?

2) How will interlaced sources (like PS2 games) fare on progressive set? I'm a little concerned about the set trying to de-interlace fast-moving sources and creating a huge blur.

 

[Steve Schaffer]

That annoying shimmer on vertical pans and during the credits is caused mostly by your player's anamorphic downconversion. Getting an HD-ready set, either widescreen or 4/3 with 16/9 mode will let you set the player for 16/9 sets and eliminate the downconversion and shimmer.

I've played hours of PS-2 games on my widescreen Sony using the set's line doubling and it looks fantastic, no blurring at all.

 

[Frank@N]

Despite going cheap on the hardware, I did have the foresight to get a direct-view with a 16x9 mode.

To be honest, the picture quality on most (newer) transfers is so good that it's hard to imagine what prog scan could bring to the table (other than some shimmer reduction on older discs, I hope).

Even so, I'm glad to hear that interlaced sources are generally improved as well.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Line doublers work OK on video games, but the true 480p video games look a LOT better.

Unlike movies, there is no 3:2 pulldown to reconstruct true progressive frames with video games.

 

[Frank@N]

Line doublers work OK on video games, but the true 480p video games look a LOT better.

I figured as much and was concerned.

I debated the PS2 vs. Xbox equation a few years back, but opted for PS2 due to having a PS1 collection.

I think only one of my PS2 games has a progressive mode.

Too bad they can't do another software revision of the PS2 that forces all games (PS1/PS2) into progressive (since the hardware is capable).

But I guess it's strictly a software support issue (much like DC VGA support).