1080i vs. 720p

[BBTV]

Y'all would be literally sick if you ever had the chance to compare the garbage that comes out of your cable box (any cable box) to the signal leaving a broadcast truck or studio. If we could all see that quality, there would have been no need for the great failed 3D experiment. It is that good.

I usually respond to questions such as which format is better, with .... it was all better before cable I could probably make a case that if enhanced NTSC had been allowed to live, it might have rivalled or surpassed the digital formats as well. Of course, digital offers a lot of other features that analog never could but ...... hey, I'm old. What can I say ??

Oh yea ... your EYEBALLS are actually analog :-D But I digress .....

I thought it would be better with DirecTV or Dish, eliminating the land based compression in the various spots where that happens along the way, but sadly, no. The dirty little secret of digital TV is that unless you are looking at in "native" format, it's going through at least one, and usually many, format conversions, not the least of which happens in your actual display. And cable box. And And And. Each one of these steps has some penalty to quality.

Phooey!

[wa2ise]

Originally Posted by BBTV

... I could probably make a case that if enhanced NTSC had been allowed to live, it might have rivalled or surpassed the digital formats as well.

Back around 1988, when I worked for Philips Labs we were developing an enhanced NTSC scheme that would use a 2nd TV channel to provide side panel area for a 5:3 aspect ration screen, and additional scan lines to provide real progressive scan. It sorta worked, looked decent under clean lab conditions, but surely would look awful after noise and ghosts got into it. The side panels would have different ghosts and noise than the regular NTSC channel. It was a lame system...