Give us a little more detail

I haven't seen the other posts and I'm on dial-up so I don't want to look them up.

What is the maximum resolution of your TV?

If it's not yyyy x 1080 (or an even factor there of) then the 1080i setting on your tivo will be useless. The TV will down res to whatever it's maximum is.

Which output are you using to connect to the TV? For best results use HDMI then DVI, then component in that order. Unless you've got 1394 then it would be first choice for picture quality, but last choice for usability. The 1394 connection is sending a raw MPEG stream of video and audio directly to the TV so it's the best quality and the slowest to react to channel changes, the other digital outputs (HDMI and DVI) are decoded first. The component is of course analog and your best choice as far as analog can go but lacking that true digital quality.

hi,

my tv supports 1080i. is that what you're asking? it even says that it upgrades stuff less than that to 1080i (if that's possible). it seems to have all the same resolution/setting options the tivo does. it's a good tv, ready for HD and stuff generally looks great on it at 1080i - - except for the faint horiz. lines in the bkgrnd.

i originally started w/component cable, then switched to HDMI, which made the ghost lines in the background a LITTLE less noticeable, but still a long way from solving the problem

i don't even know what DVI is. but if component or HDMI didn't fix the problem, prob. not likely DVI would, rt?

but am i correct that 720p is NOT as great a picture as 1080i, assuming both tv and tivo offer/support it?

thanks for your thoughts. looking forward to more!

It depends

1080i is not always "better" than 720p. It depends. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/720p#720p_versus_1080i

wow, jbs thanks - - that was a very int'ing article

that could explain why sometimes switching back and forth betw. 720 and 1080i i can't usually really see a dramatic diff. in picture quality, but SOMETIMES i think i do. do you think the gist of that article is that if i set my tivo for 720 (which gets rid of the wavy ghost lines in the background, unlike when it's set for 1080i), i won't really be giving up much in the way of HD wow factor? it almost sounds like 6 of one, half a dozen of another. can that be so? i'm not a technophile so i just assumed, hey 1080 is a bigger # than 720 so it must produce a better HD picture

what do you think? will i give up much leaving it set for 720? i will tell you that when i watch the nature/animal planet channel(s), which my cable co. tells me, and i agree, are the best for demonstrating HD, they seem to look better in 1080i than 720. maybe cuz, like the article sez, less "fast moving" stuff?

what would you advise??

thanks again for the article referral

It depends on a lot of things. For some programs, 720p will look better, for others 1080i will look better. Some people will find the disadvantages of each format more troublesome.

My recommendation is to go with whatever looks better to you. If you can't tell, or can't decide, then it doesn't matter much.

There is no universally "better" format between 720p and 1080i, but as you suggest, each is better for certain types of content. 1080i does have certain advantages for movies, so if you watch a lot of movies you might want to keep trying to figure out why your 1080i isn't working right.

>> so if you watch a lot of movies you might want to keep trying to figure out why your 1080i isn't working right.<<

sadly, that's kind of the conclusion i came to... : (

(except during baseball season, then it might be mets in 720 all summer long!)

btw, am i imagining things, or does a 1080i setting make even old shows like roseanne and mash and whatever look better? is it possible or am i imagining things? (btw, the manual in my tv said something about "elevating" things towards or to that 1080i; hard to believe! also, the tivo setting for 1080i sez "shows all shows in 1080i," meaning/implying even non-HD shows. is it all just hype. i have to say, those roseannes have never looked better!)

thanks again

Upscaling

Whenever you are displaying a lower-resolution program, such as an old episode of M*A*S*H or Rosanne, on a higher resolution device (such as your TV), something has to convert it. If the show looks better coming out of your TiVo at 1080i (or 720p), then the TiVo is doing a better job with the conversion than your TV.

ah, so tivo CAN "up-convert" i wasn't sure if this was all hype or not, since the notion of standard def tv shows being made to look better (when "more data" simply isn't there in the original broadcast to be found/upconverted) was something i wasn't sure could even happen

and as i said, my tv says something similiar, that it "upconverts." it doesn't specifically say that, but i think it all but says that at one spot in the manual

thanks again

Most current TVs (plasma, LCD, LCD projection, etc.) are fixed-resolution devices. Which means there *has* to be some device upconverting. If it isn't done before it gets to the TV, the TV will do it.

That doesn't mean there is more data to be found. The device just does its best to make the picture "look good," given the limited data available.

Typically, the upconverter inside the TV is of cheaper quality than what is in a set top box. (From a STB manufacturer's point of view. I'm sure the TV manufacturer would argue the point.) You can think of 1080i and 720p in the same way as you do digital camera resoultions. 1080 has more pixels than 720, if you expand it too much it looses it quality. In our experiments we found that upconverting standard def pictures to 1080 looks better to the lay person than to 720.
I choose my setting depending upon the programming. If it's originally in 1080 then I stick with 1080, if it's 720 I stick with 720, if it's standard def I also go with 1080.
I'm not sure if it's because I've spent the last 20 years in broadcasting and have a critical eye or if it's apparent to others, but I think 1080p looks cleaner than 1080i. Can't wait for that to become more widely available, the TV/monitors are still very expensive. The big difference is the interlacing is visible where progressive is more masked.
Sorry I tend to ramble on about technology.

Try and install a power conditioner on the power to the TV and the Tivo. U would be amazed at the junk that comes thru on top of AC voltage

you said to try a "power conditioner" to help get rid of wavy background ghost lines

i DID get this "monster power" thing from radio shack ($80), a "home theatre power center," which i now have the tivo and tv plugged into. it says on the pkg, "provides maximum current to high powered amps and tv for max. performance, and touts all its 24k gold contacts."

is this what you had in mind? it didn't help w/my HD channels horiz. ghost lines problem ; (