Transcoding 1080i to 1080p - why?

Just wondering, why does the Tablo transcode 1080i TV signal to 1080p. (or rather, why is there not a 1080i option?)  To me it adds additional bandwidth and disk space with no resolution gain. Any rationale behind this? 

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Likely for compatibility with most players, some probably do not deinterlace 1080i content well. But hopefully you get a technical answer.

Thanks for the response. I thought of that as a reason too and if that is the case then maybe it could be considered to be added to the current list of choices with a note like they have for one of the 720p settings (i.e something along the line of - ‘not all not all players support this format’)  Maybe it is because the 1080i is @ 60 Hz where the 1080p is @ 30 Hz, then I don’t expect there to be much of a saving. 

@4WheelSpyder


You’re pretty much right on the money with your first guess. It’s for most clients/players. Roku, for example, won’t take interlaced content, so 1080i wouldn’t work too well there. I’ll pass along your feedback to the rest of the team!

@TabloSupport

When Tablo records OTA 1080i/720p/480i mpeg2 ts files, what format are they saved/transcoded into?   h.264?    Giving the end user the option for saving/recording at 1080i might resolve potential 1080i deinterlacing issues as the deinterlacing would be performed by the client and not by Tablo.    I understand this is not an option for Roku however depending upon the file format Tablo uses to record, other hardware such as PC, Fire TV or Android TV may (or may not) be able to process 1080i ->1080p better than Tablo and the recorded files would use less hard drive space.   Please consider adding “record as 1080i” as an option to the Tablo settings or at least in a beta build to test out.
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all problems like this would vanish is tablo added a pass through hdmi connection so at least the main TV in the living room could have unmolested hd.

all problems like this would vanish is tablo added a pass through hdmi connection so at least the main TV in the living room could have unmolested hd.

Tablo has made it pretty clear they have no plans for adding an HDMI output.