Hdtv

[Penningtonsm]

Hey guys! I just got my Panasonic AE700 set up and the picture is amazing. I dont even have my screen yet and it looks great (displaying it on a white sheet until the screen arrives) But now my friend has told me a little bit about HDTV. Will this really make my picture better than it already is? Any help you can give my would be great.

Steve

[Ocelot]

Yes Yes and more Yes
HDTV is many times better than standard definition TV.
I have 120 cable channels, but only use the 10 HDTV channels because after watching HDTV, the standard channels just look bad ans I cant stand it. IMO

[PiDD]

I jusy got my HDTV setup as well .. I have the RCA DCT100 hooked up to a CRT projector. Im still trying to get used to TV that clear!

[Penningtonsm]

well I can almost see how it would make a regular tv look better, but my Projector? Any other people have projectors and also HDTV?


STEVE

[NMG]

It's all about the signal. Simply put, an HDTV signal has much higher resolution than a "normal" TV signal so it will indeed look better than regular TV when playing from your projector (or any other output device). Images will be sharper, colours will be more vivid, etc.

To be brutally honest after watching HDTV, there are times when I pop in a DVD on my progessive scan player and I think to myself "man this picture sucks".

I love my HDTV!

[chrispy35]

Improved resolution makes sense. Colours more vivid? Can you elaborate on that? Are NTSC feeds somehow inferior to HDTV in colour representation?

[aaron]

Steve.

What are you worried about? Your PE700 is a true High Def projector. Without looking it up, I believe it's native resolution is 720P which makes it true HDTV. It will also scale other resolutions. Of course you have to feed it a HDTV source signal, either from an HDTV Antenae on your roof, Cable TV (most are providing at least the locals in high def) or Satellite. You will only experience HD if the station and provider is broadcasting HD.

So relax and enjoy! It is suppossed to be one of the ultimate bargains on the market from what I have read. If you love it now, wait 'till you feed it that HD signal----it will blow your mind.

[aud19]

Here's a good example of a comparison between HDTV and NTSC.

This picture has the original HD picture on the left, the HD downconverted to NTSC to the right of that and normal NTSC to the right of that.



High Resolution, 3.3MB of the same picture

As you can see there's not only much more detail in the picture but the colours are much more accurate, especially noticeable in the gold material.

Oh and here's a link to the page I pulled that from:

http://earth.jsc.nasa.gov/newsletter/ISAG_HDTV_NTSC/

[stantheman2]

The fundamental difference is that a standard TV signal and a DVD signal have about 480 horizontal lines that make up the picture. An HDTV signal has 1,080 horizontal lines that make up the picture. As a result, the HDTV picture has about 2.25 times the detail (information) that a standard TV picture has. We perceive it as more detail, better sharpness, more colors, etc.

Now, all the video geeks are going to whine that this is a gross oversimplification, and yes, it is. But it is the "short answer" that honestly conveys the difference between standard TV and HDTV.

Now, in my situation, a high-quality DVD displayed progressive-scan on my 51" Hitachi RPTV looks damn good. However, a high-quality HDTV picture makes visitors go "Wow!".

[aud19]

I must be a video geek because I'm going to correct you :lol: HDTV actually has about 6.75 times more detail than NTSC as you forgot the increased vertical resolution as well. In other words 1920x1080 vs 640x480.

[stantheman2]

I knew someone wuld correct me - thanks for provin my point. :P

Now, how about a dissertation about the differences between 408 interlaced, 480 progressive, 720 progressive, and 1080 interlaced (not to mention 1080 progressive).

Next up - gamma correction for dummies!

[aud19]

:laughat: :roflmao: :laughat: :roflmao:

[Chris D]

Yes, the AE700 is a native 720p 16:9 projector. As for the dissertation... I'm too tired.

[jmc_htguide]

Steve,
I am looking to buy this same projector with 1-2 months. (I know, bad timing for the superbowl and all)

I can skip the dissertation on gamma correction, but I want the full user review of the projector

I would love to know the specifics of your setup: type of screen, projector distance from screen, viewing distance, screen size, type of mount (ceiling, wall, or table) etc. and any other info.

Do you notice any fan noise(in a quiet setting, loud setting), how far is the projector from your head?

Did you do any side by sides? What other projectors did you consider?

[JonMarsh]

Improved resolution makes sense. Colours more vivid? Can you elaborate on that? Are NTSC feeds somehow inferior to HDTV in colour representation?

Whoooo, boy, are they ever.

Standard NTSC, which uses the chroma burst signal to convey color information, while the majoriy of the signal is devoted to luminance (black and white). While a good NTSC signal may be able to resolve 400 or so vertical lines in the horizontal scanline for black and white, for a color signal (say, alternative cyan and magenta), 60 is about typical - trying to push past that just turns it into mud. This is part of why older NTSC TV's look so cartoonish- literallly, the way the technology works, it's like colorizing black and white.

S-Video helps quite a bit- with a separate color signal (though still not having all that much bandwith), it about doubles over composite video. Component video takes a different approach, with two color difference signals carried on seperate lines, and the net color bandwidth is raised to half the bandwidth of the luminance signal. YUV component is how HD signals are encoded, as are DVD's. The big difference is that most real world set's can't resolve the luminance info fully (typically they're only about 900-1000 lines), but they can usually resolve the color info completely.

Have you ever SEEN HDTV anywhere? If/when you do, you'll understand what we're talking about.

~Jon

[Penningtonsm]

Steve,
I am looking to buy this same projector with 1-2 months. (I know, bad timing for the superbowl and all)

I can skip the dissertation on gamma correction, but I want the full user review of the projector

I would love to know the specifics of your setup: type of screen, projector distance from screen, viewing distance, screen size, type of mount (ceiling, wall, or table) etc. and any other info.

Do you notice any fan noise(in a quiet setting, loud setting), how far is the projector from your head?

Did you do any side by sides? What other projectors did you consider?

I have a da lite 92" screen about 14ft away from the screen fixed mounted on my wall. My projector is also mounted using a tvdown i guess. I did side by side comparisons for about two months with the sanyo z3 and many other projectors that happen to be in the same price range. I am very happy with my choice. I just want to find out more about HDTV to get an even better picture than I already do. I truly cant even imagin a better picture than i already have because I have never seen ANY tv with HDTV. Looking forward to it though.

[jmc_htguide]

Steve, one last question. Where did you get the AE700 from and were you happy with the service. I'm ready to dive in!!

[Penningtonsm]

I got my projector from the projector people, and was very happy with the service. They answered all of my questions that I had and even suggested a cheaper projector than what I was going to get...

[BlazeMaster]

now, since we're talking about the improved image from HDTVs vs. NTSC. Got another question for the video experts here: Will HD DVD content look like what HDTV offers? Better detail and colors? One of the things I've heard is that there will be for sure less compression in the audio side, but if the video will be as good as HDTV, then I'm for sure getting a HD DVD player. Also, will HD DVD and BluRay DVD be displaying at a 720 or 1080p resolution?