120 hz supported?

[Jim Houser]

Does the tcd648250B model (thx certified HD series 3) support 120 hz?

I wouldve thought it would, since plasmas generate well beyond that redrawing of the screen rate, however my new LCD 120hz samsung tv seems to indicate its only recieving 60hz. Can u help? Thank you

[jrm01]

The 120 hz capabilities of some of the newer TVs has nothing to do with the input signal being received. The TV merely takes that signal and refreshes the image twice as often as the 60 hz systems.

And, although plasmas list their figure as 600 hz, that doesn't mean they refresh 10 times as often. Can't compare these two figures across the technologies.

[Jim Houser]

Yes I've heard plasma outperforms LCD dramatically in this area, I'm not smart enough for all that. :-) Key issue for me is that Series 3 thx certified TiVo playback thru my 120hz Samsung LCD tv is indicating playback at only 60hz on it's on screen indicator. Does this mean my TiVo can not output at better than 60hz? Or is it a settings issue? I can't find specs or information on this anywhere. Links or screen shots showing 120hz or better output appreciated. Trying to resolve while I can still return. Thk you

[A J Ricaud]

Yes I've heard plasma outperforms LCD dramatically in this area, I'm not smart enough for all that. :-) Key issue for me is that Series 3 thx certified TiVo playback thru my 120hz Samsung LCD tv is indicating playback at only 60hz on it's on screen indicator. Does this mean my TiVo can not output at better than 60hz? Or is it a settings issue? I can't find specs or information on this anywhere. Links or screen shots showing 120hz or better output appreciated. Trying to resolve while I can still return. Thk you
To my knowledge, no HD receivers (like the Tivo) or even BluRay players output 120 HZ. Read jrm01's post above. That's the way it is.

[Worf]

There is no device that can output 120Hz. That's how fast your TV refreshes the display.

The reason for 120Hz is because it can support all the framerates that your sources may provide - from 24Hz for movies, 30Hz/60Hz for TV and games.

Your PC might be able to output a 120Hz output, but there's no HDTV standard that supports it.

Instead, a video processing chip inside your TV takes the input signal (480i/p, 720p, 1080i/p) and converts it to 120Hz to give you the best possible picture through a process called "frame interpolation".

[JimPa]

If what you are experiencing is an unnatural look to the picture on your display(often motion related), you need to find a forum/thread that discusses your particular display. Some of the 120hz implementations aren't done very well and they may have suggestions on how to make it look better.

[Dssturbo1]

Yes I've heard plasma outperforms LCD dramatically in this area, I'm not smart enough for all that. :-) Key issue for me is that Series 3 thx certified TiVo playback thru my 120hz Samsung LCD tv is indicating playback at only 60hz on it's on screen indicator. Does this mean my TiVo can not output at better than 60hz? Or is it a settings issue? I can't find specs or information on this anywhere. Links or screen shots showing 120hz or better output appreciated. Trying to resolve while I can still return. Thk you

you and many other regular buyers are the reason the manufacturers spend alot of money on their marketing departments and spew out many numbers that are just bs.

plasmas do not have 600Hz refresh rates like Panasonic advertises.
they are using subfield numbers. (Pioneer subfield is 840Hz but they didn't use that in any marketing bs like panasonic is trying to do to combat those 120/240hz lcd marketing crap.

just like upscaling dvd players are not outputting true 720/1080p HD.

if you like the pic keep the tv if not return it and find one you enjoy.

[Jim Houser]

Thk you. I will go check other forums for other info. Still, now that I have people w a clue gathered I want to make sure im thinking correctly. At the risk of you losing patience w a novice, one more question post. The TiVo output does have some pixelation in fast motion situations. From your answers, Im believing TiVo is as good as any other recorder, so it's not the issue, true? So then, would my TiVo look the same on a 60hz, 120hz, or 240hz LCD sets or plasmas? Or improve w/ higher redraw rates (however they r marketed)? I love watching hockey & football & just want to make a good decision on which is best option Tivo/recorder/tv for least pixelation now and in the future

[aaronwt]

If what you are experiencing is an unnatural look to the picture on your display(often motion related), you need to find a forum/thread that discusses your particular display. Some of the 120hz implementations aren't done very well and they may have suggestions on how to make it look better.

That's a different feature, unrelated to 120Hz, 240hz, etc. that is a feature that tries to fill information between frames and can give it a video look(the soap opera effect)
All 120hz does is double the existing frames from 60hz(or quadruple for 240hz), that does not give the sopa opera effect look.

[pmiranda]

Most folks seem to be missing the point... a 120Hz display can take a 24 frame-per-second (fps) signal and show it in an integral number of frames, which in an ideal world should improve quality over one that has to interpolate 24 frames to 60. To take advantage of this, you have to set TiVo to passthrough 1080i unchanged. If you have TiVo upconvert to 60fps 720p then the TV will do nothing.

However that's all a bit academic, since if you really did show 24 frames per second without some motion-based interpolation, even on a 120Hz display, it would look jerky, so in reality it's down to how good the interpolation is in the TV, and a 60Hz TV with a better algorithm can look better than a 120Hz TV with a bad one.

[jrm01]

The info that you are seeing on the screen does not indicate what the "playback" mode is, only what the input signal is. Even though you are seeing 60 hz, it will be displayed at 120 hz as long as you have Auto Motion Plus turned on. You can check this in your advanced settings menu.

BTW, the Samsung LCDs do not use frame doubling for their 120 hz implementation, but rather uses frame interpolation for the added frame. Most reviewers suggest that this provides a better image quality.

Bottom line, if you are not sure if you are getting the 120 hz that you want, just check the menu settings to be sure that it is turned on. You can even adjust it to a high-medium-low setting. If you would like to compare the difference, you can select demo mode and it will pisplay 60 hz on the right half of the screen and 120 hz on the left.

Just go to Tools > Picture Settings > Advanced Options

[Mars Rocket]

The TiVo output does have some pixelation in fast motion situations. From your answers, Im believing TiVo is as good as any other recorder, so it's not the issue, true?

The pixelization is a byproduct of the compression done on the video signal; all HD recorders will have some pixelization as it is done by the broadcaster, not the recorder. The TiVo records and plays back the signal exactly as it receives it. Even OTA signals are compressed and can show pixelization on fast moving scenes.

[milo99]

and just to add some fuel to the fire, if you like fast action sports like hockey and football, you shouldn't have gotten an LCD, plasmas are universally known to provide smoother action flow than LCDs.

or you could just take that as my opinion, because i love my Panasonic plasma and can't stand to watch games on an LCD.. unless i'm far away, but then the whole big screen deal is pointless. :D