HDTV recommendations for 1080i HDV content
 

Hello,

I am going to eat my own recent(ish) words and cross over to the dark side of hi-def(!)

I have just purchased a Sony HDR-HC1 (considered the HVR-A1 carefully and decided the money saved would allow me to get an underwater housing instead). As you will surely know, it records in 1080i. I like to think of myself as a reasonably smart cookie but the whole HDTV thing has left me with a headache.

I want to replace my current 27" CRT 4:3 television with something that will do justice to my new camcorder material. I sit about 10' away from it. Due to size restrictions, I am looking at a 32" LCD display. Most seem to be pegged at $900 to $1000 (US) for 720p. 1080p are about 50% more.

In principle, I realize that for the small size and viewing distance, the human eye cannot distinguish the two. But what concerns me about 720p (really 768p) is the inherent down-conversion and deinterlacing. Is there a resource to consult that describes the deinterlacing method used by specific models (e.g., bob, bob + weave etc)? Also, how does 1080i material fare on a 1080p display?

(Aside of the camcorder footage, I won't be viewing any other HD material for a long time.)

Can anyone share their real-world experiences re viewing of 1080i HDV footage?

Many thanks,

John.

Magnovox 32" 720 HDTV for my second monitor. I bought it a year ago for about $700.00 at Best Buy. I watch regular over the air HDTV broadcast, and use it as a second monitor for my editing system, and run direct component and or HDMI from my HDV camera. Image is quite amazing for such a cheap HDTV in all modes.... except SD from Satellite of over air is terrible I have heard that about a lot of HDTVs...

If you're only watching 1080i footage why would you want a 1080p TV? An LCD HDTV that does 720p can also do 1080i, so that's what you need. I got a Sharp 32 inch for $699 from best buy, but I actually bargained with them as it's supposed to be $899. My other choices were Samsung (good contrast ratio) and Sony.
I got the sharp because it was 6ms, and the others were 8ms. So the sharp handles motions better, but the contrast ratio is noticably not so great.
Get one of these TVs NOW, you'll be glad you did!

John, to answer your question HDV footage shown on an HD monitor is gorgeous. Let's put it this way, it's a higher data rate than what cable delivers, so less compression. HDV looks expecially good if you are viewing it via HD-SDI. I'm really blown away by the footage from my Z1U as compared to my XDCAM HD on a documentary project that I'm working on. It's hard if not impossible to tell them apart on a JVC HD broadcast monitor.

Thanks everyone. I'm considering an S-series Sony Bravia at the moment.

From reading others threads in this forum I was lead to believe that it's a no-no to use a consumer HDTV to monitor?

I'm looking for an HDTV to watch my HDV recordings rather than monitor them. But I do agree!

An HC1 may record 1080i, but realistically the camera resolves closer to 700 lines, so there isn't a whole lot of benefit, resolution wise, to viewing on a 1080 line LCD as opposed to a 720 line LCD.