I think people got upset with Ryan's post on the $98 A2 because he seemed to downplay the deal by hinting that the A2 was a crappy player. Yes, the player outputs a max resolution of 1080i but that isn't really much of a flaw. If you have a high end HDTV then you simply don't need 1080p output on your player. For example, the new Pioneer Kuros supposedly detect 1080i signals with a 3:2 cadence attached, remove the cadence, then triple the frame rate to 72 Hz. That is, they display all film material input to the display at 1080i as 1080p24 with 3:3 pulldown. (Ben, maybe you can provide some insight into how well this feature works.) Although most displays don't have a 72 Hz mode, many can properly convert 1080i to 1080p.
Although this may seem counter-intuitive, a super high end television should match up nicely with a cheaper player like the A2. It's the lower end sets which benefit most from higher end 1080p players. So, Ryan's comment that the A2 is for "the last-gen TV you phased out to your rumpus room" sounds a bit misguided.
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I think people got upset with Ryan's post on the $98 A2 because he seemed to downplay the deal by hinting that the A2 was a crappy player. Yes, the player outputs a max resolution of 1080i but that isn't really much of a flaw. If you have a high end HDTV then you simply don't need 1080p output on your player. For example, the new Pioneer Kuros supposedly detect 1080i signals with a 3:2 cadence attached, remove the cadence, then triple the frame rate to 72 Hz. That is, they display all film material input to the display at 1080i as 1080p24 with 3:3 pulldown. (Ben, maybe you can provide some insight into how well this feature works.) Although most displays don't have a 72 Hz mode, many can properly convert 1080i to 1080p.
Although this may seem counter-intuitive, a super high end television should match up nicely with a cheaper player like the A2. It's the lower end sets which benefit most from higher end 1080p players. So, Ryan's comment that the A2 is for "the last-gen TV you phased out to your rumpus room" sounds a bit misguided.