Will an EDTV look better then a HDTV ?

[CanadianShadow]

My apologies if this poor horse has been beaten.

I have an HDTV and got a Wii and we all know how the rest goes I'm not asking about the graphics looking better with component as I have those cables already.

What I notice is that alot of the pictures of Zelda I see they are considerably sharper and less jaggy then what mine is ..I assume it's because its running on a EDTV instead of HDTV ?

So my question is ..would it be worth going to a EDTV as it then will also work for all my ps2 games as they look washed out as well on my HDTV. Or will 480p look the exact same on a EDTV as a HDTV. I notice that my ps2 games look significantly better on a SDTV so I would assume the same for the Wii.
Thanks you in advance
CS

 

[MaXiMiUS]

I don't know about EDTV and HDTV making any major difference (it probably won't), but a smaller screen probably would.

My PS2 looks a hell of a lot better on my 20" screen in my room than a 30+" screen, so the same logic would probably apply to the Wii. For example, if you play your Wii on a 50" screen and it looks bad, it may look better on a 40" or 30" screen, because the image is stretched far less.

 

[jlspec]

I think it might also depend on what brand and model TV you got. I currently have a Samsung 32" LCD HDTV (LN-S3251D) as my gaming TV which makes my Wii & PS2 games look great. Other EDTV and HDTV my friends have does not compare to it.

 

[dedpoet777]

edtv(extended definition) is not as good as hdtv(high definition). i think edtvs only support 480p, maybe up to 720p, but no higher. pictures can always look different, depends on the camera too, and the tv. but hdtv is for sure better.

 

[CanadianShadow]

I know Enhanced only goes to 480p thats why I think it would be more suited for a Wii or PS2 as that is their perfered formats as it seems when I put them on my 50" HDTV they look far worse then my 27" SDTV :smilewinkgrin:

 

[Master Wii]

edtv(extended definition)

EDTV = Enhanced Definition not Extended

HDTV provides a much better picture when given an HD signal.

However if your looking to play your Wii on either an EDTV or HDTV, it probably won't make much difference since they both support 480p format (which is the highest the Wii will operate on)

If the Wii were High Def. I would say get an HDTV and run it at 1080p, but that's just not an option

Just adjust your settings on your HDTV when your playing your Wii / PS2 to run them on 480p and you'll have a decent picture. Running them at 720p or 1080i / 1080p will cause them to look "washed out"

 

[CoreyNJ]

Depending on the scaler in the TV or if you have an external video processor, an EDTV could look better with a 480p signal than a low cost HD-TV. The HDTV will have to "scale" the image to it's native resolution.

There are many ways it can do this from simple line doubling on a native 780p TV/panel to signal processing where it upconverts the picture to the native resolution of the screen. This can lead to an inaccurate picture or artifacts in the image. A good external processor can do a better job then the scalers built in to a TV but can cost many thousands of dollars. BTW, this is why the idea of the new high end LCD panels calling themselves "True-HD" is so important. They don't scale 1080p, they have an exact 1:1 ratio of image pixels to signal pixels for a 1080p image so they have a more accurate picture to the intended image with no processing artifacts. EDTV is that exact thing for 480p. No scaling involved, though EDTV typically include a line doubler that converts 480i to 480p. Go to an AV store and look at an HD unit and an EDTV unit next too each other, both playing the same progressive scan DVD (not an HD image). You find since there is no additional processing the EDTV looks better for the DVD. Then put on an HD source on both and the EDTV looks much worse than the HD unit.

In case you were wondering most people who have HD-resolution screens really don't unless they have a true HD LCD. They have HD compatible signal processors/scalers and screens with much higher resolution screens than EDTV. For example a 42inch ALiS technology plasma has 1024x1024 resolution. A 50 in HD Plasma has 1368x768 resolution typically. A 37" LCD has 1368x768 typically, though these numbers vary slightly by manufacturer.

 

[CoreyNJ]

EDTV = Enhanced Definition not Extended

Just adjust your settings on your HDTV when your playing your Wii / PS2 to run them on 480p and you'll have a decent picture. Running them at 720p or 1080i / 1080p will cause them to look "washed out"

This is the scaler/processor issue.... The screen will only really ever display it's native resolution, but some built-in scalers in TVs will do some intresting conversions. Doing 720p or 1080i may cause your screen's scaler to downconvert or upconvert to a common resolution then scale down to the native screen resolution, 480p just may mathematically work out cleaner to upconvert to the common resolution used by your TV's processor before it is scaled down to the native resolution in your screen.

 

[CanadianShadow]

Again thank you for all the input .. I have a much better idea now and do think a EDTV will look better for a Wii/PS2 as my tv's native resolution is 1280x720 so obviously its scaling it and causing the problems.

 

[Master Wii]

Again thank you for all the input .. I have a much better idea now and do think a EDTV will look better for a Wii/PS2 as my tv's native resolution is 1280x720 so obviously its scaling it and causing the problems.

I don't think it will look as much better as your thinking, enough to run out and buy a whole other TV. Save your money.

 

[CanadianShadow]

Meh I'm a dork and like having the best looking picture :smilewinkgrin: besides I get pretty wicked deals on tv where I work

 

[Master Wii]

Meh I'm a dork and like having the best looking picture :smilewinkgrin: besides I get pretty wicked deals on tv where I work

Maybe CoreyNJ can explain it in more technical terms than I can, but you would seriously be wasting your money for a picture that might look a hair better. We're not talking hardly a difference at all.

If you have the money to waste by all means, but it would be just like hanging a wad of cash out the window and driving 90 miles an hour, slightly releasing your grip slowly along to your destination ....

 

[CanadianShadow]

Good point ..all I know is my ps2 and wii look bad on a hdtv due to the HD as I can hook it with component cables to a SDTV and it looks signifcantly smoother my line of thought then is a EDTV who's resoltion is 480 would be a good fit

 

[CoreyNJ]

Master Wii is right, if you already own a higher resolution TV, don't bother with an EDTV. If image quality bothers you get a good quality external scaler that you can adjust the upconversion till you find one your TV's builtin scaler doesn't have too many artifacts with. Every TV has a "sweet spot". I'm using my Wii with a plasma, and it took a while to find the correct settings for upconversion on my Faroudja video processor for the Wii. For just the Wii an external Faroudja is overkill (I have it for my home theater) but their are some decent scalers/processors in the $300-400 US range that would be better than buying a whole new TV and would make everything else you watch look better.

 

[CanadianShadow]

Aight ..well thanks for giving me some new idea ..so with this external scaler I could run my ps2 at 480i and have it look just as good on a HDTV as my SDTV ?