Letting your TV upscale 480p

[stiffi]

Has anybody put their Tivo HD or Series 3 on 480p and let the their TV upscale the image? How does it look? Is it a huge downgrade from letting the Tivo output 720p or 1080i?

If anybody wants to know why I would try such insanity, here you go.

I'm an HD nut. My wife doesn't care at all. Currently we watch one TV on 1080i and one TV on 480p. To do this I have to switch the formats on my DVR.

My wife often says, "why don't you just leave it like that (on 480p) I barely see the difference. "

So, I'm thinking, maybe she's right. Maybe my HDTV is good enough at upscaling that we don't even notice.

Anybody else in this boat?

[litkaj]

If you're watching SD content then, no, there's not going to be much difference between the TiVo or your TV upscaling.

[stiffi]

My wife's argument is that the TV does a good enough job of upscaling the 480p output to 768p, or whatever it is, to just leave the DVR on 480p all the time.

[Bodie]

My wife's argument is that the TV does a good enough job of upscaling the 480p output to 768p, or whatever it is, to just leave the DVR on 480p all the time.

Perhaps its time for an annual eye exam...

There should be a drastic difference between SD and HD

[Dancar]

For SD shows the TiVo output setting may not make much of a difference. For HD shows, 480p is a significant downgrade.

My suggestion would be to connect the TiVo to the non-HD TV using the S-video cable. The S-Video always outputs 480i. That's not quite as good as 480p, but it's less of a downgrade than 1080i to 480p for HD shows.

[wierdo]

For SD shows the TiVo output setting may not make much of a difference. For HD shows, 480p is a significant downgrade.

My suggestion would be to connect the TiVo to the non-HD TV using the S-video cable. The S-Video always outputs 480i. That's not quite as good as 480p, but it's less of a downgrade than 1080i to 480p for HD shows.
Well, it's not much of a downgrade if you have either a small TV or are viewing the set from far away, or worse, both.

On my 37" set at about 10', there was a noticeable difference, but it wasn't huge on most material, although it was on some. My SO wouldn't notice anything was wrong when the TiVo switched itself back to 480p, as it did on occasion. She did notice that it was better when I switched it back to 1080i, though. On my new 47" set at the same distance, the difference between 480p and 720p or 1080i is plainly obvious. Even she can tell when the TiVo has decided to switch back to 480p.

[RonDawg]

While on your other thread I said I can't tell the difference between 480i and 480p with my particular TV, I can definitely see the difference between 480p and even the lowest high definition resolution (720p).

As already mentioned, TV size is a factor. On a small set (32 inches or less) it may not make a difference, on a bigger one it definitely will.

Also consider your programming source. I've mentioned especially on the Discovery HD threads that just because it says HD, doesn't mean it really is. I would use Discovery HD Theater (not the other Discovery HD channels) or HDNet as a good source of HD programming. Anything else is hit or miss in the HD department, including the OTA's.

[chewy2314]

My setup is Hybrid 480p/1080i. Reason is that using Fixed 1080i add those b&w tiny bars above the SD picture. Letting my TV do the scaling fixed that problem. Side effect is that the TV takes a second to display the picture when switching from SD to HD and vice versa.