Sony KP-51WS500 resolution questions (1 Viewer)

[JoseEduardo]

Hi all,

I have 2 questions about this set, I am about to buy one but need clarification first

1. Does this set "downconvert" 720p to 480p? or does it "upconvert" it to 1080i? or 960i?

2. wht is the deal with this 960i anyways?? this tv is capable of 1080i right? or is everyhting displayed at 960i?
Thank you!

 

[Rich Chiavaroli]

It downconverts it to either 480p or 960i. You can choose which to display it as (as you can for any non 1080i signal).

As for "what's with 960i", 960 is a multiple of 480. It's easier(cheaper) for them to build in this functionality rather than build in seperate conversions from any resolution to any other resolution.

The hitachi's and toshibas decided to go with 540p and 1080i instead of 480p and 960i. The tradeoff is that the hitachi/toshibas have a higher up-converted resolution while the sony displays the 480p stuff as it's supposed to and doesn't loose detail in the upconversion process. Now whether or not you can see a difference is a different story.

Which is best? People could argue about this stuffforever. My personal prefrence is the Hitachi. Some people swear by the Toshiba's. Others wouldn't take anything but the Sony.

And to answer your other question, yes it set does 1080i. It will display 1080i as 1080i. If it didn't do 1080i, they couldn't call it a HDTV. Technically, it could be a HDTV without supporting 1080i, but it would have to support one of the other high definition formats. It seems that 1080i is the resolution that every set supports first. For example, I haven't seen a set that does 720p naitive and doesn't do 1080i.

 

[JoseEduardo]

Rick,

Thank you very much for your response, it did clarify some things. But I also had an online session with Sony Customer support representative and here's what he had to say about the 720p issue:

"Jose: ok now this next question is very very important to make a
decision
Jose: i understand that the TV supports NATIVE resolutions of 480i,
480p and 1080i..........
Jose: whay will happen in the tv is fed a 720p signal???? how would
this signal be displayed?
Robert: Please give me a moment.
Robert: I am afraid this Tv does not support 720p.
Jose: i understand that it does not support NATIVE 720p........
Jose: what i want to know is IF i feed it a 720p signal, how would this
signal be displayed on the TV? will the TV DOWNCONVERT it to 480p??
or will it UPCONVERT it to 1080i? or 960i??
Robert: Please give me a moment while I get this information for you.
Jose: ok
Robert: 720p will be converted to 1080i.
Jose: great! and the last question is, do I have to option to convert
720p to 960i? or can it only be displayed at 1080i?
Robert: It will be displayed only at 1080i."

So I am still confused about this.....720p, is it converted to 1080i like Sony says? or 960i? I assume 960i looks a litle better that 480p right?
Thanks!

 

[Rich Chiavaroli]

This it what I've gathered from my net research. The WS500 line is pretty much the same as Sony's line from last year. Last years line did not convert to 1080i (some people say this is an upconversion, some say a downconversion). Rather it handled it like any other non-1080i signal and let you choose 480p or 960i.
I have not seen anything in print that says the WS500 line will convert to 1080i. I have however seen specs that say the WV600 and WV700 series will convert a 720p signal to 1080i. So what I deduce from that is the WS500 series is still like last years models (only difference is there's no glare screen and you gain a DVI input). If you look at the 57wv600 at www.onecall.com you'll see it says that it converts to 1080i. It however does not say this for any ws500 set.

 

[JoseEduardo]

Rich,

Thank you for your time once again. I think I'm clear now on the issue and will go ahead and give this TV a try. Good thing Best Buy has a 30 day return policy just in case I'm not satisfied. My other choice is the JVC AV48 but I've heard tis set converts everything to 1080i so I don't know about that one......
Thank you!
Jose

 

[Rich Chiavaroli]

I haven't given the JVC too close of a look, but I've heard a lot of negatives about it.

The Sony tends to be in the top 4 for popularity right now (for this price range).

I'd say the most talked about sets are..

Hitachi
Mitsubishi
Toshiba
Sony

There's also the Panasonic that a lot of people think is a great value once tweaked.

 

[Steve Schaffer]

JoseEduardo,
Are you planning to use the set with the XBox 720p output? If not you should be aware that most HD tuners will not output 720p anyway, but convert it to 1080i. ABC and the upcoming ESPNHD channels are the only ones broadcasting HD material in 720p.

I have only one local OTA HD channel, and ABC affilliate in 720p. My DirecTV HD capable box converts this to 1080i, and the picture is indistinguishable from native 1080i from Showtime HD or HBO HD.

Some of the newer HD boxes now coming out will output 720p both natively and as a conversion from other scan rates.
This is useful mostly in combination with Plasma or DLP sets, most of which have native scanning rates of 720p.

Only a small handful of CRT based HD ready sets will display 720p natively.

 

[JoseEduardo]

Yes Steve i am planning on using this set to take advantage of the Xbox 720p games, that is why I want a set that will display 720p upconverted to 1080i and not downconverted to 480p.
Sounds like the Sony 51WS500 can do this. Do you know of any other sets that will output 1080i when fed a 720p signal? I'd be interedted to know if the Toshiba 50H82 does this conversion..........
Thanks

 

[Rich Chiavaroli]

Jose -

Have you found documentation that says the ws500 converts 720p to 1080i? Somthing other than the person on the web you spoke with? I'm 99% sure it does not convert it to 1080i. The 600 and 700 series say they do while nothing is mentioned for the 500 series.

 

[JoseEduardo]

Rich,

I have not found any documentation that supports what the Sony rep told me. And I've looked everywhere on the net. Seems that the rep was wrong or maybe gave me the information about the 600 or 700 series....bummer.....
Do you know if the Toshibas upconvert? It seems that they only upconvert 720p into 540p....

 

[Rich Chiavaroli]

I'm pretty sure that the Toshiba and Hitachi will take a 720p signal and convert it to either 540p or 1080i. Searching this forum for "Hitachi 720p" and "Toshiba 720p", I found posts stating that they convert to either 540p or 1080i (which ever you select).

 

[JoseEduardo]

Rich,

Thanks again for the information, I will do a search of my own, but from what I've heard it seems that I will go with the Toshiba 50H82 if it can in fact upconvert 720p to 1080i. Customer service reps do not seem to know what they're talking about! Sony's gave me the wrong information and I just spoke with Toshiba'sand he told me that the set actually displays native 720p!!! haha, go figure....
anyways, thanks for your help!

Jose

 

[Rich Chiavaroli]

From toshiba's web site.

Improved IDSC™ Pro
This new feature maintains all the benifits of IDSC™ Pro, then adds the ability to accept 720p HDTV signals. The TV will convert all 720p signals to 1080i before display.

 

[JoseEduardo]

Rich,

Exactly what I was looking for! Thank you very much, you da man! Decision has been made and either tonight or tomorrow night I'm off to Best Buy to pick up the 50H82!
Thank you again for all your help!!
Regards,

Jose