de-interlacing
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HD Guru evaluates 125 HDTVs in the resolution loss test
Motion blur has been a big topic in the world of HDTV for as long as we can remember, but it wasn't until recently that someone figured out a way to test it in a non-subjective way. Our friend Gary Merson -- aka the HD Guru -- actually got his hands on 125 2008 model HDTVs and not only ran them through all the more traditional tests like 3:2 pull-down, and de-interlacing, but also tried out his resolution motion loss test that indicates how many lines of resolution a set is capable of displaying when there is motion -- yeah, so like most of the time. For the most part Pioneer plasmas ruled the charts at about 900 lines, as expected, but the real surprise is that the ultimate winner was the Samsung LN-46A950 -- in fact it was the only 1080 set to actually display all 1080 lines when there was motion (but only in one specific setting, other settings were as low as 330 lines!). What's more of a reason for 46A950 fans to rejoice in is that most 120Hz LCDs were closer to 600 lines, so it really is in a league of its own in regards to LCDs. These stats are fun and all, but we'd like to remind you while you download the PDF and check ou the specs on the latest sets, that specs seldom ever tell the whole story, so we still recommend buying with your eyes instead of a spec sheet.
De-interlacing and scaling the most important buying factors?
While the whole "1080i vs. 1080p" debate could likely go on for a good decade or so, having that oh-so-coveted "Full HD" logo slapped on your set evidently isn't the answer to all your HD problems, at least if you watch a good percentage of cable / satellite-provided content. A rather informative writeup / rant over at HD1080i lends a bit more insight into the ongoing discussion of when 1080p differs from 1080i, and goes on to explain that many incorrectly processed images cause quite a bit of dissatisfaction when it comes to quality, and oftentimes, it's not even your fault. Sure, folks outputting 1080p from an HD DVD or Blu-ray player get the benefit of seeing a progressive, pre-cleaned-up image, which basically removes all the hard work from your TV's internal scaler; however, for those watching a processed episode of TNT HD's Charmed, for instance, could witness a bit of "interlacing crop errors when de-interlacing is not done properly," rather than just a correctly rendered motion blur. Essentially, this fellow attempts to convince us that 1080p is an important matter, and it's great to have it there "when you need it," even though it's not likely that we see 1080p content coming through our cable STB anytime soon. So be sure and hit the read link to take a gander at yet another perspective, because a bit more research never hurt anyone, eh?
De-interlacing demystified
This site is targeted towards people looking for information on video compression, but their information on de-interlacing, how it works and the various challenges faced can give you a lot of information on what your TV or media player is doing when upconverting content. If you can't understand why some people get so up in arms over the 1080p-or-not debate, or why SD content can look so bad on your brand new HDTV, take a look and be educated. There are a lot of ways to get around resizing and upconverting content, and some are better than others (blending fields, adaptive, bob, bob and weave or progressive scan, motion compensation or motion adaptive just to name a few).[Via DV Guru]
