what does 1080i at 50hz look like?

hi there,

i am from europe and i am wondering if you guys can share some impressions on the following CRT TV: Samsung WS-32Z308P.

http://av.samsung.de/article.asp?artid=9E175B11-AEAE-46A8-BBA0-C2E45BC78A7D&show=specs

I am asking this here in this forum, since this one of the first HDTV CRTs on the european market and we people don't have much experience so far. :-)

my specific question: the TV can do no 720p, but 1080i at 50hz. Would you consider 50hz to be comparatively weak, or will that be still okay? all other resolutions are at 100hz.

thanks a lot,
woody

That is 1080i/25 if you count the frames, but it's interlaced... at 50 fields per second. Probably double scanned to 100 Hz...

CRT based TVs are almost all interlaced. Most progressive scan sets are DLP or LCD based. Personally, I'm a big proponent of progressive scan displays - especially for PC and Gamebox use.

You should look critically at the extreme sides of the image on those new shallow TVs, they MAY have issues with pixels getting too wide & smeary there because of scan angle of the electron beams.

Good article on the new slim CRTs in the May Scientific American... may be on the website don't know www.sciam.com

Wo komen Sie aus, Woody?

Thanks for your insights. the reason I am considering this type of slim tv is A. because it is actually the first and only CRT on the local market that can manage a HDTV resolution, and B. a regular size CRT just wouldn't fit in my living room.

I hear your arguments for progressive scan. I just think that affordable LCDs or Plasmas still lag behind in terms of image quality, and an projector is not an option for me as well (too inconvenient(-:)

I just looked at some HDTV CRTs on the US market and noticed that 60hz seems to be typical. so I guess 50hz would be okay. I think I'll try to find one of the slim samsungs in a store so I can take a look at it first hand.

Your German is not bad by the way. I am from Munich, Germany.

Danke, aber nur fumpf worden! Ahh Munchen... hubsche stadt, gute bier! hahaha

TV refresh rates are derived from the electrical mains frequency (or used to be, digital is different)... since the US & North America have 120 volt / 60 Hz we have 60 Hz refresh. Since Europe uses 240 volt / 50 Hz you have 50 Hz refresh. In both cases the number of pixels delivered per second are similar... Europe has higher spatial res (525 lines PAL) to balance the slower framerate. We only get 480 lines NTSC, but at a faster framerate. With digital TV standards, the world has finally adopted one set of resolutions... but are keeping the two sets of frame rates...

Rear projection sets aren't inconvienient, they're single piece units... DLP & LCD RPTV are examples. My DLP is a RPTV, 50" diagonal, 16" deep, 85 pounds... ahh, 125 cm diag, 40 cm deep, 40 Kg. Sizes start at 100 cm.