I have a Samsung 50" 1080i hdtv, and I've been getting mkv files that are specifically 720p. Will my tv play them just fine even though mine is 1080i, and is there any benefit from getting the 1080p versions since I don't have a 1080p hdtv? I'm just wondering if a 1080p will look better because they are bigger and they maybe haven't been compressed down more, but I didn't know if that was true. Most of the mkv files for 720p have been 4 gb and while they look all right, they don't look way better than regular dvd, as in "pop out" at all.
1080p mkvs will display as 1080i on your TV. I have a 46" 1080i/720p Sammy and they both look good. I usually go for the 1080p mkvs... I usually do my own BD rips nowadays.
What is your player (is it your PC?). I personally do not see the advantages of 1080i. The screen has a lower refresh which impacts image stability (the naked eye perception) and the screen native resoltuion is something close to 720 pixels in the veritcal measurement. Thus, playback at the native screen resolution is always an advantage. 1080i is only an advatnge on a 1080p display which will take the interlaced signal and display all 1080 lines for your viewing pleasure.
Yes my player is my PC. I download the mkv files usually in 720p and then watch them through using a dvi to hdmi cable. I usually use a resolution of 1440. But I can also have my tv use resolution of 1920 if I need. I think the videos look fine on the tv, they have clear color and not really any pixalation, they still don't really look the same as what I see at the stores and I was wondering if there was anything I was doing wrong. I just didnt know if 720p videos were usually like that, and only 1080p really pop out. Or if I got 1080p videos, if running them in 1080i would be better then 720p in 1080i.
It all comes down to the original source and bitrate used to encode. If the bitrate is low then the image will be poor. You mention that it doesn't look nearly as good as a DVD. I have a couple of comments on that. The newest PC DVD player software do very good upscaling. My PC doesl better upscaling for DVD then my PS3. Yikes!! Also, is there a chance that the 720p file is a DVD that has been upscaled to 720p? If so then this would explain why it doesn't look very good. If it is truely from a blu-ray, then I am very surprised to hear your comments as a 720p (downscaled from 1080p) blu-ray, reencoded at a high enough bit-rate, should look very good indeed. Notice the key word is 'high enough bit-rate' I am assuming that the encoding on the file is AVC (H.264) and not MPEG2. Many of the Disney Blu-Ray titles are still MPEG2. Regarding your screen resolution, on any 720p/1080i TV (or desktop display) you should alwasy set the resolution to the native resolution of the screen which in your case is somwhere close to 1280 by 720. If it's an LCD it might be slightly different. The point being, you want exact one-for-one pixel mapping from the PC to the TV and then your player software will compensate for any image stretching or squashing needed. I have the exact same setup that you have described DVI to HDMI to a 50" Samsung DLP.
If I were you, I'd go with the 720p. You won't even notice a difference because your TV only supports up to 1080i...which is unfortunate considering it's a 50"TV
Really? Would the higher the resolution, the better the picture would be, especially on 50"? I'm asking this because I have a blu-ray player hooked up to a 1080i rear projection, so I hope I didn't waste money and should have gone with a upconverter. Even though down the road I will get a 1080p tv. I also thought it would be better to downconvert then upconvert.
