Someone was asking once in one of the threads (been tryin to look for it) if there is really a difference in viewing 480p againts 1080i upscaled DVD.
Well to make things easier, I tooks some screen shots so those who are still getting into this whole HTPC thing can see the difference.
How the screenshots were taken:
720x480p desktop resolution - standard Capture using Sonic Cineplayer. Viewed at 800x600 full screen then desktop capture (using the PrintScrn key) for equal comparison.
1920x1080i desktop resolution - Capture using FFDshow grab, using Zoomplayer, Sonic codecs, FFDshow post processing, Gradual Denoise 30, unsharp mask 25, Resize 1920x1080, resize algorithm Area, chroma and luma sharpen at 2.0. Viewed at 800x600 full screen then desktop capture (using the PrintScrn key) for equal comparison.
480p - take a look at Frodo in the background (hahaha! kidding)
1080i - Notice Sam's hair is not as blurred as the 480p shot
480p - Compare Frodo's Hair with the 1080i version
1080i - Compare the texture of the fabric on Frodo's cloak and his Elven Pin
If you look at the screen shots, you might say that the 1080i version is just slightly sharper... well my answer to that is yes, but it makes a whole lot of difference when you watch it in motion. Another thing to consider is that I downsized 1080i to 800x600 to make an equal comparison.
Sharpening, and postprocessing settings are more of personal preference, so results will vary depending on how much you want to post process your image.
