# Tivo Central Resolution



## steve101 (Jan 4, 2005)

I have a Series3 and a TivoHD both on HDTvs - the Series3 via HDMI and
the other Component Video.

On both the Tivo Central comes up in 720p regardless of what the current
channel format is. If I am watching SD (480i) there is some delay while
the resolution changes and particularly on the Series3 there is some
screen garbling of the picture during that interval.

It seems to me that a user selectable option for resolution of TivoCentral
menus would be the ticket:
Always SD (480i)
Always HD (720p) {what it is now}
Follow current channel


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## megazone (Mar 3, 2002)

You can set your output resolution to one of the 'fixed' formats to resolve that, and let the TiVo do the scaling.

The flicker and garbling is from your TV, not the TiVo - it is resyncing with the new HDMI resolution.


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## phox_mulder (Feb 23, 2006)

megazone said:


> You can set your output resolution to one of the 'fixed' formats to resolve that, and let the TiVo do the scaling.
> 
> The flicker and garbling is from your TV, not the TiVo - it is resyncing with the new HDMI resolution.


I experimented with the different options, native, hybrid and fixed.

Finally stuck it on fixed 1080i and haven't looked back.

No more flicker, less delay changing channels, and everything looks pretty darn good.

I do only record HD content on my S3, which might make a difference.

phox


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## turbovr6 (Sep 1, 2004)

phox_mulder said:


> I experimented with the different options, native, hybrid and fixed.
> 
> Finally stuck it on fixed 1080i and haven't looked back.
> 
> ...


I am still experimenting with these settings with my Sharp Aquos 1080p monitor. I like using the fixed mode at 1080i because I can set my Aquos in the Dot-to-Dot aspcet setting. This works great for programming in 1080i because the tivo does not have to convert and my Aquos just converts the 1080i to the 1080p native resolution of the screen. The concern is 720p programming. Tivo will convert to 1080i then still leaving the Aquos to upscale to 1080p. It would be nice to have a hybrid mode that keeps 1080i until you have 720p programming. That way 720p does not have to be interlaced then back to progressive. What would be better if the tivo will have a 1080p fixed output. I hope future software can address this.


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## headroll (Jan 20, 2003)

phox_mulder said:


> I experimented with the different options, native, hybrid and fixed.
> 
> Finally stuck it on fixed 1080i and haven't looked back.
> 
> ...


The problem I found with any setting besides 'Native' was that my TV SONY KDL40XBR2 could would not distinguish between resolution and therefore I could not set a custom display mode (i.e stretch, full, etc) for each resolution.

-Roll


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## steve101 (Jan 4, 2005)

That worked great - I set it on 1080i fixed, thanks for the pointer.


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## phox_mulder (Feb 23, 2006)

headroll said:


> The problem I found with any setting besides 'Native' was that my TV SONY KDL40XBR2 could would not distinguish between resolution and therefore I could not set a custom display mode (i.e stretch, full, etc) for each resolution.
> 
> -Roll


Which is why I only record 16x9 Widescreen HD content on the S3.

My TV doesn't allow stretch or zoom on HDMI or Component inputs.

phox


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## Arcady (Oct 14, 2004)

The TiVo will stretch or zoom if you want. Push the aspect button.

I watch 4x3 content with black bars. I don't like distorted images.


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## tlc (May 30, 2002)

steve101 said:


> On both the Tivo Central comes up in 720p regardless of what the current
> channel format is. If I am watching SD (480i) there is some delay while
> the resolution changes and particularly on the Series3 there is some
> screen garbling of the picture during that interval.


Funny, on my new HD, Tivo Central always comes up as 420p if I'm in Native or Hybrid. And the couple of seconds of "garbling" during the switch is excessive.

I recently switched from a SA 8300 HD (Cablevision) to Tivo HD. There are a couple of things here that the 8300 HD does better. (And I'm a long time Tivo Lover with a S1 from 2000.)

First of all, I strongly prefer Native output, with Hybrid coming in second. My rational is 
1) The fewer conversions the better,
2) My (most) TVs do better scaling (if they have to) than Tivo.

Suggestion 1: Improve the transition from one resolution to another. Yes, the TV is part of this equation, but it was never this annoying on the 8300 HD.

Suggestion 2: Run the menus in whatever mode you were last in for video. That is if you're watching 1080i video and bring up the menus bring them up in 1080i, etc. This reduce the mode transitions by at least half for Native and Hybrid users. We know the Tivo can do menus at all these resolutions because of how it behaves when you make the resolution Fixed.

Thanks,
tlc


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