Why a progressive scanning dvd player over a standard one?

Question

whats the difference?

Answer 1

Another word for "progressive scanning" is "non-interlaced." This means when the screen refreshes, all the lines are redrawn. On standard TVs, however, each refresh only does every-other line. Odd numbered lines on one pass, even numbered on the next. This can result in a slight flicker that some people can detect.

Progressive or non-interlaced displays result in a more solid picture since all the horizontal lines are redrawn every time.

Of course, your TV has to support progressive scan in order for your DVD player to take advantage of it...

All HDTVs support progressive scan with at least 480 and 720 horizontal lines of resolution (this is where "720p" comes from.) Newer sets will also support 1080i (i=interlaced) and even 1080p.

Answer 2

Look at a standard def TV. See the horizontal lines? These are called 'scan lines' are are caused by the screen being painted with all the odd rows first, then the even rows are filled in with a second pass. The time delay causes the lines to fade a bit.

This is "interlace" and it is an artifact of standard def.

Look at your computer monitor. See scan lines? No.

Your computer image is drawn in a single pass and is called 'progressive'. If you set your computer to "480 lines", it would still look sharper and clearer than your standard def TV with 480 lines because of the way the screen is painted.

Note: you only want a progressive DVD player if you have a HDTV that can accept "480p" video. Otherwise there is no advantage of having a progressive scan player.