HD vs HDX on 1080i

[rubyst]

Hi... I am using vudu on a SONY WEGA XBR Plasma (KE-50XBR900) bought in 2003 that still gives me an amazing picture but only supports 1080i. It doesn't support 24p. I'm thinking that I'm not going to see much difference between a Vudu HD picture and vudu HDX picture... but would like to hear it from an expert. Everything I have read says the HD format is still 1080i, and that is the best picture my television is capable of receiving.

Thanks... I appreciate the help! I am trying to compare movies, but once the HD or HDX is purchased, I have to wait until it's completely off before ordering it again. It would be nice if it let me order both and then I'd be able to compare.

[NA9D]

Re: HD vs HDX on 1080i

My TV is 720p and I see a HUGE difference between HD and HDX. The resolution of HD movies is also 1080p/24 - same as the resolution of HDX. All the resolution means is the number of pixels.

HDX movies are encoded at a higher bit rate and have less compression artifacts. Therefore, the quality of the video is noticeably better.

If you don't mind waiting the time for HDX to download, it's well worth the experience. You will see a difference.

[Nded]

Re: HD vs HDX on 1080i

I can see the difference between HD and HDX on my 1080i projector. There is also a noticeable improvement in sound quality with HDX. If you have a decent surround sound setup you'll probably hear the difference also. We still go with HD or even SD when we sit down and go looking for something to watch on the spur of the moment, but when something special on my wish list is in HDX I go ahead and rent it right away.

[NA9D]

Re: HD vs HDX on 1080i

but when something special on my wish list is in HDX I go ahead and rent it right away.

Waiting for a chance to watch The Dark Knight in HDX...

[aaronwt]

Re: HD vs HDX on 1080i

Wait until Kung Fu Panda is available in HDX. It will blow away the Dark Knight. At least it did with the Blu-ray Disc versions.

[NA9D]

Re: HD vs HDX on 1080i

Wait until Kung Fu Panda is available in HDX.

I have ZERO desire to watch that movie...

OK, watch Speed Racer in HDX. There's one we can agree on!

[Citizen Erased]

Re: HD vs HDX on 1080i

Day Watch is a really good example of a very good look HDX encode. Be warned, you need to watch Night Watch first to make any sense of Day Watch.

[aaronwt]

Re: HD vs HDX on 1080i

Day Watch is a really good example of a very good look HDX encode. Be warned, you need to watch Night Watch first to make any sense of Day Watch.

I watched both of them yesterday. They definitely upped the budget with Day Watch.

Interesting Russian movies, and I actually enjoyed Nochnoy dozor(Night Watch) and Dnevnoy dozor (Day Watch) even with the subtitles.

[GArmbruster]

Re: HD vs HDX on 1080i

I have ZERO desire to watch that movie...

OK, watch Speed Racer in HDX. There's one we can agree on!

Speed Racer in HDX was AWESOME!

[GArmbruster]

Re: HD vs HDX on 1080i

Back to original question - HDX looks much better through my 1080i projector compared to HD.

In my theater I *try* to only watch HDX, but occasionally I don't have the choice.

HD & HDX also look much better on my SD TV than the SD version. I generally watch HD there because I don't want to wait. But for my theater, I just order online and go to the theater after it's had time to download.

[Nded]

Re: HD vs HDX on 1080i

Back to original question - HDX looks much better through my 1080i projector compared to HD.

In my theater I *try* to only watch HDX, but occasionally I don't have the choice.

HD & HDX also look much better on my SD TV than the SD version. I generally watch HD there because I don't want to wait. But for my theater, I just order online and go to the theater after it's had time to download.

If you go back to the October press release for HDX, Vudu made a strong emphasis on how HDX was a response to providing a better picture quality for larger screens (ie. > 40"). While I'm happy with all 3 formats on my 110" projector at 1080i, HDX definitely comes out as the best of the lot. The rest of my family does not seem to notice or care about the difference and are quick to pull the trigger for instant viewing, even when HDX is available for the same title.

[jjnoahjames]

Why does VUDU look bad on my 1080i HDX?

I was looking for some help on this. I'm not happy that VUDU claims it looks good in 1080i. There are diagonal lines on a lot of detailed parts and it looks very shotty. I watch movies on HULU plus Netflix, and Cinemanow with no problems. It has to be VUDU. I'm pretty sure it doesn't look good on anything Interlaced.

I searched on the net with no success but I found a way to fix the problem.

I set my blu-ray to 720p. Note the p. Again it doesn't look good in i.
After that you have to rent in HDX it still doesn't look good in HD, it's better but it still looks shotty in a differnt way.

SO FOR ALL YOU WHO HAVE 720i or 1080i. You have to switch to 720p than use HDX.

I have tried adjusting the sharpness settings it's not that.

Please let me know, maybe it's something else but I'm pretty sure VUDU just doesn't look good in "i".

[jjnoahjames]

Re: HD vs HDX on 1080i

There's a lot more to this story. I've used VUDU on 1080i with lots of problems. There are strange lines on the edges of everything. It doesn't have to do with sharpness....

Long story short you have to set your Blu Ray or T.V. to 720p. I have come to the conclusion that VUDU does not mesh well with 1080i. After this watch the film in HDX and it will look great but not HD (it looks bad in a different way here).

That's my advice. It's still better than 720p on the computer or itunes or something. For some reason this is the only way I can get it to look good on my 1080i t.v.

[NA9D]

Re: HD vs HDX on 1080i

That's because your TV is probably really a 720p set. Most 1080i sets are really 720p. There is conversion that goes on inside.

Plus 1080i pretty much blows as a format. It's really two 540p frames. 720p is much better quality.

[nimmzwei]

Re: HD vs HDX on 1080i

I'm sorry if I have to contradict you on the 1080i issue... at least in some parts.
We may agree that interlaced formats are inferior to progressive formats at the same resolution but claiming that 1080i is basically 2x 540p is just wrong.
The resolution of each field is 1920x540 not 960x540 as 540p would suggest (keeping the 16:9 aspect ratio).
All the details of the FullHD image are still there. The fact, that these details are displayed with a minimal delay is usually undetectable to the human eye.
Most problems with interlaced material arise when format conversion is involved. And unfortunatly that's the case with most TVs nowadays.
The fact is: Your shiny new flat panel can't display interlaced material. So what it does is this: It combines the top and bottom field of each frame and converts e.g. 1080i60 to 1080p30 or - even worse - 1080p24. The algorithm that tries to detect which fields make a full frame just sucks on most devices. Resulting in a FullHD picture that is a pain to look at, because it is unsteady and motion just looks like crap.
The same problem occurs the other way around. If you feed 1080p24 material to your 1080i TV format conversion occurs - in this case 1080p24 to 1080i60. Again the conversion that is done with your TV is far from optimal resulting in bad picture quality.
My point is: Just because something is interlaced doesn't mean it has to look like crap. Just take the BBC Planet Earth documentary. If you happen to have an Euro-BD-Player that is capable of 50i and a display that can handle it (although most likely it will not display 50i but convert to 25p) it looks amazing and I would take the 1080i picture any time over the 720p version.