DO HDMI AND PROGRESSIVE SCAN BOTH UPCONVERT TO 720dpi?

Question

as the sales guy told me when I asked him if I should upgrade my xmas gift home theater in a box w/o HDMI to a system with it. My HDTV has a DVI input and from what I've read I thought HDMI was an upgrade, not just a new cable connection. What gives? Do DVD players with HDMI ouputs have better definition than progressive scan or not?

Answer 1

TV Guy is right--HDMI doesn't necessarily mean improved resolution; what you really want to look out for are DVD players that specifically say they *upconvert* to HD resolutions. Typically those players do have HDMI outputs, but HDMI doesn't automatically entail upconversion.

While "progressive scan" is a term generally applied to an image where the entire frame is displayed at once (as opposed to interlaced), usually when you see the words "progressive scan" associated with a DVD player, you're talking about one that will output in 480p (480 lines of resolution, progressive). The average DVD player nowadays has progressive scan. An upconverting DVD player will output at 720p, 1080i, or in some cases 1080p, but considering that DVD's have 480 lines for them to work with, what you get on your HDTV is largely dependent on how good your upconverting DVD player is.

So, yeah, while the terms are NOT necessarily tied into each other, in *common use* and in terms of what's out on the market, HDMI will typically be found on upconverting players, and upconverting players are supposed to be better than DVD players with progressive scan. So the answer to your first question would be: "No, 'progressive scan' usually means 480p, not 720p," and the answer to your last question would be: "usually, yes, a DVD player with an HDMI output--which is likely to be an upconverting player--has better definition than one that simply claims 'progressive scan.'"

Answer 2

HDMI is just a digital interface. It combines video and audio signals through a single cable. (DVI carries only video).

Connecting via DVI or HDMI has nothing to do with progressive scan. Since both are digital interfaces they bypass digital to analog converters (used in component cables) so the quality is better than component.

Blu-Ray and HD-DVD players now use HDMI, so any new equipment you buy make sure it supports HDMI.
Just because a DVD player has HDMI does not mean that it can do better progressive out.

Answer 3

i have hdmi and it does have better definition than dvi since i use to have dvi