I have just ordered a TX and was wondering how good the machine is a displaying hi def movie content, if at all !!

define hi-def for yourself.

480i
480p
720i
720p
1080i
1080p

at 1080i you will have 3-5mb/sec compresed and the built in card will not be able to handle it, even if the drive can.

a S series laptop with an ati radeon 9700 might be able to play 1080i while in performance mode (if you are in adaptive mode, you will drop frames due to the nature of the playback), although the 1080p will be a problem.

Thanks,

A lot of the content seems to be available in both 720p and 1080p. Will the tx be able to handle 720p ??

[quote author=“spellbound”]Thanks,

A lot of the content seems to be available in both 720p and 1080p. Will the tx be able to handle 720p ??

very unlikely

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/content_provider/film/ContentShowcase.aspx#sysreq

Given that WMV HD requires a Pentium 4 2.4 GHz, a 1.2GHz processor will barely cut it.

Some content may play but your may experience some stuttering.

I’ve found that on my Dell X1 (1.1 ghz newer chipset) and Sony T250 (1.2 ghz older chipset) that the 720p videos work fine, at least the ones in grOOvyOne’s link.  Both plugged in and on battery power (though on battery power I believe I had to use a more performance-oriented setting—I can check again later if you like).

1080p vidoes, however, do not run smoothly.

[quote author=“Prolepsis”]I’ve found that on my Dell X1 (1.1 ghz newer chipset) and Sony T250 (1.2 ghz older chipset) that the 720p videos work fine, at least the ones in grOOvyOne’s link.  Both plugged in and on battery power (though on battery power I believe I had to use a more performance-oriented setting—I can check again later if you like).

1080p vidoes, however, do not run smoothly.

720i and 1080i are dropping frames on my T while in performance mode, imagine what is it like, while on adaptive.

Of course they run… and you see 1/3 of what it is…

[quote author=“Gilbert”]define hi-def for yourself.

480i
480p
720i
720p
1080i
1080p

at 1080i you will have 3-5mb/sec compresed and the built in card will not be able to handle it, even if the drive can.

a S series laptop with an ati radeon 9700 might be able to play 1080i while in performance mode (if you are in adaptive mode, you will drop frames due to the nature of the playback), although the 1080p will be a problem.

By the way, HD content is officially only 720p and 1080i. 1080p is not a standard although MS is pushing it as one of the standards for their WMV-HD specification (720p and 1080p). 480 stuff is considered SD (Standard Definition)...it’s high definition relative to good ‘ole analog 352x240 but not true HD.

It’s a big mess nonetheless. When they were coming up with HD they never should have introduced 1080i. It should have just been 720p and/or 1080p. The slightly higher pixel count of 1080i over 720p is lost since most broadcasters compress the heck out of 1080i to keep bandwidth rates down. The problem is that they compress it so much more than 720p that 720p content ends up looking better.

That said…true 1080p stuff does look somewhat better than 720p. Those nature documentaries in WMV-HD are jaw dropping amazing on a LCD TV. Step into Liquid is worth getting if you want to see the difference between DVD and WMV-HD. It makes DVDs look crappy.

[quote author=“gr00vy0ne”][quote author=“Gilbert”]define hi-def for yourself.

480i
480p
720i
720p
1080i
1080p

at 1080i you will have 3-5mb/sec compresed and the built in card will not be able to handle it, even if the drive can.

a S series laptop with an ati radeon 9700 might be able to play 1080i while in performance mode (if you are in adaptive mode, you will drop frames due to the nature of the playback), although the 1080p will be a problem.

By the way, HD content is officially only 720p and 1080i. 1080p is not a standard although MS is pushing it as one of the standards for their WMV-HD specification (720p and 1080p). 480 stuff is considered SD (Standard Definition)...it’s high definition relative to good ‘ole analog 352x240 but not true HD.

It’s a big mess nonetheless. When they were coming up with HD they never should have introduced 1080i. It should have just been 720p and/or 1080p. The slightly higher pixel count of 1080i over 720p is lost since most broadcasters compress the heck out of 1080i to keep bandwidth rates down. The problem is that they compress it so much more than 720p that 720p content ends up looking better.

That said…true 1080p stuff does look somewhat better than 720p. Those nature documentaries in WMV-HD are jaw dropping amazing on a LCD TV. Step into Liquid is worth getting if you want to see the difference between DVD and WMV-HD. It makes DVDs look crappy.

I tend to disagree. Everything above 480i is considered hi-def no matter who calls is SD or ED or HD. I personally prefer the numerical relations, due to the fact that 1080p will be SD in several years and something else will be HD… Of course, there is always MS way, Sony’s way, my way your way… originally everything above the 352x240 was considered hi-def, now they even call it digital ... at least for the 480 part of it…

See, that’s part of the confusion though. I only call 720p and above HD because those are the official specs and when most people (i.e. hardware manufacturers) are talking about the equipment that’s coming out that’s what they’re referring to. You’ll want to make sure your next TV is at least 720p capable rather than 480p.

Consumers are constantly being confused by the “lower resolution higher definition” modes of 480. If your TV is 480p only you won’t be able to watch certain HD (720p/1080i/1080p) on your TV. That’s the danger of throwing them all together like that.

So, let’s say you were “tricked” into buying an allegedly HD-ready plasma screen that’s 852x480 (also known as EDTV) and you connect it to your home theater PC running Windows Media Center Edition 2005. I know for sure that WMV-HD video will fail to play on your setup since it cannot handle the higher resolution. So, it’s higher resolution per se but it doesn’t mean it can play high resolution material. The same setup may take a “HD” signal from a DirecTV box but it sure won’t look as it could be.

This problem should sort itself out eventually as all of the new displays coming out are all 720p+ or higher in resolution so it will be hard not to buy a non-HD (in my definition) display.  :wink:

[quote author=“Gilbert”][quote author=“Prolepsis”]I’ve found that on my Dell X1 (1.1 ghz newer chipset) and Sony T250 (1.2 ghz older chipset) that the 720p videos work fine, at least the ones in grOOvyOne’s link.  Both plugged in and on battery power (though on battery power I believe I had to use a more performance-oriented setting—I can check again later if you like).

1080p vidoes, however, do not run smoothly.

720i and 1080i are dropping frames on my T while in performance mode, imagine what is it like, while on adaptive.

Of course they run… and you see 1/3 of what it is…

Hi Gilbert,

I just picked up my TX—on battery (Vaio Optimized) the 720p WMV HD samples run fine.  I can’t tell if it’s dropping frames or not.  The 1080p does stutter though.

I don’t have anything else installed or running other than the typical Sony bits.

Before I sell my T250 I will try to test that one as well on battery.

[Edit] Tested my T250 on Adaptive and it runs the 720p fine as well.  Stutters on 1080p.  Running on battery power, with nothing else but the general Sony bloatware + AV running.

[quote author=“Prolepsis”][quote author=“Gilbert”][quote author=“Prolepsis”]I’ve found that on my Dell X1 (1.1 ghz newer chipset) and Sony T250 (1.2 ghz older chipset) that the 720p videos work fine, at least the ones in grOOvyOne’s link.  Both plugged in and on battery power (though on battery power I believe I had to use a more performance-oriented setting—I can check again later if you like).

1080p vidoes, however, do not run smoothly.

720i and 1080i are dropping frames on my T while in performance mode, imagine what is it like, while on adaptive.

Of course they run… and you see 1/3 of what it is…

Hi Gilbert,

I just picked up my TX—on battery (Vaio Optimized) the 720p WMV HD samples run fine.  I can’t tell if it’s dropping frames or not.  The 1080p does stutter though.

I don’t have anything else installed or running other than the typical Sony bits.

Before I sell my T250 I will try to test that one as well on battery.

[Edit] Tested my T250 on Adaptive and it runs the 720p fine as well.  Stutters on 1080p.  Running on battery power, with nothing else but the general Sony bloatware + AV running.

720p is playable, although is dropping frames on the my T (on battery). I’ve just downloaded some content from Microsoft and I can see edgy images, especially during action scenes. I guess the GMA900 on the TX handles it a little better.

that is another can of worms

http://www.atsc.org/standards/practices/a_54a.pdf

109 pages of standards for you!  :wink:

thanks for the replies, good to hear 720p is running fine, does it look great on the tx ?

720p runs fine without stutter on my T250 also. I may consider a TX if Apple’s next 12” models remain without a PC slot or wide screen. If such a thing appears though, it would be hard for me not to get an Apple laptop. My T250 laptop looks so yesterday sitting next to my 17” Powerbook.