Entertainment Center: TVs, Stereos, VCRs and DVDs - DVI to HDMI - Hitachi 57F500

I own a Hitachi 57F500 Rear Projection TV. I recently purchased a Blu Ray player. Since my TV is older it has a DVI input instead of HDMI. I purchased a generic DVI/HDMI cable. When on 720p the picture is excellent, however, when in 1080i the color resolution fluctuates. The generic cable is a Single Link DVI. What should I do to get full 1080i? Is it because the cable is cheap or because it is Single Link instead of Duel Link. Any suggestions on replacement cables/adapters? Thanks.

Welcome to the forums. It could be a low-quality cable. How long is it? Over 15 feet you'll start to have problems with cheap cables.

first of all, rick is correct saying that cheap cables when dealing with video can create nothing but problems. Secondly, do you happen to know the max resolution available on this display? If the max resolution is only 1080I, then I would actually drop the resolution of the blu-ray down to 720P. This is because 720P is actually a better quality than 1080I due to the fact that you are dealing with progressive versus interlaced. If this is the case, I would personally leave it at 720, and you probably will not notice the difference. It may also not be a bad idea to buy a higher quality DVI-HDMI cable as well. A GOOD quality cable could run somewhere in the $50 to $100 range, depending on the length, etc.

Thanks fellas. Yeah 1080i is the highest resolution on the TV and also where I see issues with the picture. My cheaper DVI/HDMI cable was 6 ft. but over the weekend I went out and bought at Wal-Mart a Philips DVI/HDMI adapter and Philips HDMI cable. All together cost me $50. However, with your info about how I need to stick with 720p I realize my little cheap cable for $10 was pushing a nice 720p picture. I thought it just wasn't up to par to handle 1080i. So I guess I can take them back and use that money on something more important. I was under the impression that 1080i and 1080p were very close. Once again I really appreciate the info. You guys have saved me a lot of money and headache. :)

for your future reference, the difference between interlaced and progressive is this. With interlaced, you maintain a particular resolution, such as 1080 for example, which dont quote me on this, but i belive its 1080x1920. For general video resolutions I think that the 1080 is the vertical, once again, dont quote me on this. But with interlaced, the horizontal lines are fresh data on EVERY OTHER line. Then the empty lines, is simply repeated to fill in the gaps, giving you your picture. With progressive scan, once again, it scans by horizontal lines, but with progressive scan, its fresh data on EVERY LINE. This yields a much crisper, clearer picture. This is why 720p is better than 1080i

not that I am big on this either but for a 1080 res, you should have a dual link but it won't you any good if the output is not a dual link connection.A dual will carry twice the bandwidth of a single link.

so, if your output is designed for a dual link, then get a DVI dual link to hdmi adapter and give that a shot.

for your future reference, the difference between interlaced and progressive is this. With interlaced, you maintain a particular resolution, such as 1080 for example, which dont quote me on this, but i belive its 1080x1920. For general video resolutions I think that the 1080 is the vertical, once again, dont quote me on this. But with interlaced, the horizontal lines are fresh data on EVERY OTHER line. Then the empty lines, is simply repeated to fill in the gaps, giving you your picture. With progressive scan, once again, it scans by horizontal lines, but with progressive scan, its fresh data on EVERY LINE. This yields a much crisper, clearer picture. This is why 720p is better than 1080i

That is pretty much the difference. Here's a link for more detail.

Interlaced vs. Progressive Signals (http://hubpages.com/hub/interlaced-vs-progressive)

That makes a lot of sense. When I changed the setting to 1080i I noticed on rapid changing scenes the issue with the picture. However, when dropping to 720p the picture looked great. Even when the 1080i was working correctly I really couldn't tell any difference between it and the 720p. In fact I think in many respects the 720p seemed to have a more crisp appearance. Also found out that my TV is set to push a Single Link DVI not Dual even though it will take a Dual Link DVI adapter. Thanks so much for the info. I know where to turn for all my HD questions now. And one last question and this pertains to my TV itself. It is about 6 years old and is a Rear Projection TV. What signs should I look for that indicate it is starting to go down hill? Thanks.

If the TV is native 720p the 1080i signal is converted to 720p. There is always some loss of quality in any conversion.

A 720p image is drawn on the screen in 1/30th of a second. (30 frames per second.)

A 1080i image is also drawn on the screen in 1/30th of a second, but its image contains two fields per frame. Each field contains 540 lines, or half of the complete picture. The odd field contains lines 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, etc., and the even field contains lines 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, etc.

Both p and i systems are synced to the 60Hz AC power frequency. Jutter and other artifacting due to high-speed movement on the screen is evident on a TV with a 60Hz refresh rate. The newer TVs are doubling and quadrupling that refresh rate to 120Hz and 240Hz to minimize those issues, but the original image is still delivered at a rate of 30 frames per second.

Also one correction....not that it matters but the TV I have is actually a Hitachi 57S500. I had said it was an F model. Not a lot of difference still has the 1080i setting but does have a few more options. Thanks everyone for the info.

I also have been looking on-line for the best setting for color, contrast, tint, and sharpness. My TV allows you to raise or lower these settings but other than maybe just using the old "eye test" haven't found a list of suggested settings. Thanks.

Those settings are personal preferences. Play around with them until you like the picture. You can always go back to the presets if you don't like what you see.

There are video people that will claim that there are "perfect" settings for video, and they even make calibration equipment to accomplish this as well, but even when I have fully calibrated a display and compared it to a non-calibrated display, it is very difficult to tell the difference. The average person will not even notice the difference.

Agreed, cheinemann. The same can be said about sound systems. ;)

Personal preference doesn't come into play, however, when a video monitor is in a TV production studio where critical adjustments are necessary to insure accuracy. None of the consumer TVs will benefit from calibration/test equipment.

But when you're transferring film to video or editing a TV show or movie on a $10,000 30-inch monitor, those adjustments are mission-critical.

This I can understand. I have calibrated some high end consumer displays, such as runco or pioneer elite, at the request of a client. I have also calibrated much more expensive items such as $100k+ projectors in homes as well, but like you said, on consumer stuff, it really does not matter. As for the sound side of things, the same applies. I have tuned theater rooms flat, etc, etc. But once again, the end user will probably not notice, but then where I do have experience, in a audio recording studio, again, the room does need to be tuned to ensure that the master recording does come out correct.