1080i vs 1080p in HomeTheaters?

Question

I own a 1080p LG tv.

I want to get a home theater system for it.

I have 2 choices:

One is a 5 dvd changer with the ability to convert normal dvds to 1080i, and the other one is a 1 dvd player with the ability to convert normal dvds to 1080p.

What is the difference between 1080p and 1080i conversion for a normal dvd?

Will I FEEL the difference?

Which of these two is more worth it?

Answer 1

Hardly can tell the different on the screen especially the source is not HD but an up-converted from DVD resolution.

Go for 5 disc changer if you need it. Don't worry about 1080i or 1080p.

Answer 2

Realistically, neither, up conversion is a gimmick, it is done through the use of a dither filter to smooth out the nearly microscopic granulation of 480p/i content seen on a large high definition T.V.. One of the first things you would learn about video processing is that it is impossible to improve a source video beyond the resolution is was recorded as so a DVD will NEVER look as good as a Blu-Ray or the now dead HD-DVD.  If you spent the money to get this 1080p TV (almost definately more then 1000 dollars) then now is probably not the time to start considering saving money by trying to cheat nature now would be the time to actually by a player that supports 1080p natively.

As for the difference between 1080i and 1080p, well this can be huge because technically the total resolution of 1080i is inferior to even 720p, 1080p is the best it gets right now, in progressive scan the screen is drawn as one complete image in every single pass, during slow moving shots this wouldn't be very noticeable but during fast action you would start to see image blending and possibly even minor blur.

Answer 3

Ok here is the secret, their is no difference since technically its 1080i for both anyways no such thing as an actual 1080p converter and trust me on this I have a degree in this field.Buy a Blue ray player if you actually want to enjoy your 1080P TV and buy  blue  raydiscs recorded in High definition.

Answer 4

It all really depends on how technical and how picky you want to get. For the extreme picky viewers then it's well worth the money to just buy a blu-ray player. Like posted above (no time to get cheap now) for the majority of people who aren't severly picky an upconverter looks just fine for them. To notice a real difference between 1080i and 1080p you have to get precise and picky about background quality, and all sorts of technical stuff. A standard DVD will never be able to truly be upconverted to a 1080 but they do a pretty good job of at least making them look decent on an HDTV. Even to the point where most people wont notice. But as far as the choice between 1 dvd changer and 5 - do you really have a need to store 5 dvd's at once? Do you watch the same 5 movies over and over again to the point when you need one?

   The best thing that has worked for me is the Sony PS3 - it does a good job at upconverting, does a good job with surround sound, and an absolutely excellent job with Blu-Ray!

But to answer you question - unless your a HDTV Guru savvy picky viewer I don't think you will "FEEL" the difference between 1080i or 1080 p upconversion. Hope I could help.