Nederland 1 testing 1080i instead of 720p after PQ complaints
By Richard Lawler 
posted Jul 15th 2008 4:22PM
posted Jul 15th 2008 4:22PM
Rekindling the 1080i vs. 720p HD debate, Dutch pubcaster NPO is offering an HD version of Nederland 1 HD in 1080i as opposed to 720p because of complaints about picture quality. Apparently many of the complaints stemmed from the Euro 2008 matches after the native feed was made to do the 1080i/720p switch by technical partner Technicolor, and resulted in many complaints. The 1080i feed is in testing now on several broadcasters, so any of our Dutch readers give it a shot and see if you notice the difference. As ignorant Americans we generally avoid such issues by simply ignoring sports outside our borders, but highlights of Euro 2008 looked pretty good on ESPN HD's 720p feed, so we're leaning more towards equipment or compression problems as being behind the gripes until proven otherwise.
I personally can't STAND when a sporting event is in 1080i. There is always artifacting with quick movement.
720p is where it is at when it comes to sports.
Uh oh, the 720p vs 1080i debate again.
If you sit close enough to the TV (as I do), you can tell the difference, easy. Football on NBC looks far better than football on FOX or ESPN.
1080i > 720p.
You have absolutely, got to be kidding me....NBC HD looks like ASS. CBS looks the best (1080i, but no subchannels), then FOX (720p), ESPN (720p), and it's hard to judge NFL network (1080i) they only show four games a year...but it still beats NBC.
In other words, 1080i may look better than 720...but not NBC's 1080i.
Do what???? NBC is the worst. CBS looks the best then followed by FOX...
The station you're watching 1080i on, is it doing any subchannels? Also your CBS affiliate can have inferior equipment like ours in SE VA...
Isn't it more likely some de-interlacing artifact? It's probably shot in either 1080i or 720i and then de-interlaced to 720p using some crappy algo.
I concur that NBC's sports programming looks terrible. And it's not just local provider: the UniversalHD rebroadcasts of stuff like the USOC Swimming and gymnastics trials had all the graininess and artifacting of their football games on pans across the crowd.
Personally, I think ABC/ESPN 720p looks best, especially on football and racing, then Fox, then CBS is a close third... with NBC a very distant 4th.