Resolution Setting for Cable Receiver to HDTV (1 Viewer)

[Dolph]

I have a Samsung DLP TV HLP 5063W which is hooked up to a Comcast HD Receiver through a DVI cable. Since the native resolution of the Samsung is 720P, is it better to send a 720P signal to the TV from the Cable box or send a 1080i signal from the Cable box and let the TV convert it to 720P? Is there a quality difference in the two approaches?

Dolph

 

[Alan Wise]

Dolph,

I had the same question several months ago regarding the Comcast HD signal and my Hitachi 50V500A, LCD-RPTV. I spent a few hours switching back and forth and found 1080i to be more clear overall. You will probably get various recomendations, but bottom line is that it comes down to what you actually prefer.
Let us know how you make out.

Best Regards, Al. Wise

 

[Jim Mcc]

Dolph, I would try both ways also. But, it seems that the 720p native resolution would work better since there is no scaling required by the TV.

 

[matt mettin]

if you feed the audio to an external receiver you may want to stick to 720p to avoid the audio sync issues

regards

matt

 

[Dom P.]

Where can I find more info on the audio sync problem... I'm having audio sync issues with my Samsung DLP & DirecTv HD Receiver...

Thanks,

 

[Elinor]

Dolph, you may well find, as I did, that there is no single answer as to one res. or another being "best."

With my Dish 811 receiver and RP-LCD, what looks best is to set the 811 to output whatever resolution that programming is broadcast in. This is 1080i for most HD, except ABC, Fox, and ESPN. Not hard to remember. And I have programmed macros on my remote to do the res. switching.

The reason for this is: the tv does a better job of scaling 1080i to 720p. So for 1080i stations, I set the 811 to 1080i and let the tv scale. For 720p stations, I set the 811 to output 720p since that is the native rate of the tv and the 811 just passes the signal through. If I left the 811 set to 1080i for stations broadcast in 720p, the 811 would convert the signal to 1080i, then the tv would have to convert it back to 720p. The fewer conversions, the better the picture is going to look.

It would be nice if it were all simpler, but with macros, it's not that hard to change. And I really don't mind, because the difference it noticeable.