Blogcast: Show #163 The One About HDTV

[Jeremy Charette]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.majornelson.com/2006/02/19/show-163-the-one-about-hdtv/' target='_blank'>http://www.majornelson.com/2006/02/19/show-163-the-one-about-hdtv/</a><br /><br /></div><i>"This week’s show: Xbox Week in Review, Interview: Tyler the HDTV Expert, Name the game…and much more!"</i><br /><br /><iframe src="http://gamercard.xbox.com/major%20nelson.card" scrolling="no" frameBorder="0" height="140" width="204">Major Nelson.</iframe><br /><br />Xbox Live's Larry Hryb has posted his latest blogcast, and it includes an interview with Tyler from MS Studios. Tyler gives very easy to understand explanations of all the different SDTV and HDTV formats, and what makes some better than others for certain types of content. This is an outstanding summary, and I'd recommend downloading it even if you think you already know all that there is to know about HDTV. Click the link and give it a listen. I'll give away one spoiler: 720p is better than 1080p. 8O

[Felix Torres]

[ I'll give away one spoiler: 720p is better than 1080p. 8O

Did he *literally* say that?
As an *absolute* blanket statement with no qualifiers? 8O

I hope not, because it is demonstrably, factually, false...

I'll have to find time to listen to it.

[Jeremy Charette]

He did qualify his statement, but also went on to explain why *today* 720p is better than 1080p, as far as what is available to consumers. Because 720p60 has more vertical lines of resolution than 1080i (720 vs. 540), and greater temporal density than 1080p24 or 1080p30 (60 frames per second vs. 24 or 30); 720p is, in practical terms, the best "looking" HD format in terms of human perception.

Tyler does go on to admit that 1080p60 is in fact "better" than 720p60, but for today's consumer, it's a non-issue, as 1080p60 just isn't available yet.

Listen to the interview, Tyler does a far better job of explaining it than I ever could.

[Jason Dunn]

I hope not, because it is demonstrably, factually, false...

I'd be interested in hearing your take on it, because what he said made a lot of sense to me, and I'd be surprised if you could prove it to be false. ;-)

I believe he did say that 1080i is better for movies shot at 24fps, but 720p is better for high-speed gaming.

[Jeremy Charette]

Aaaaactually what he said is that 1080p24 is better for movies shot at 24 frames per second. As far as vertical resolution, 720p60 has more lines per update (720) than 1080i60 (540). So for sports and movies, today, 720p is best.

For movies, 1080p24 is better than either, if you can get it.

And all of this is really academic, because the best format is whatever your television displays natively. Not to mention that today's cable providers compress the hell out of HD broadcasts, so you end up with severe macroblocking anyways no matter what format it's being transmitted in. :(