720p vs 1080i/1080p (1 Viewer)

[John CW]

An interesting addition to the discussion:

720p vs. 1080p HDTV: The final word - Fully Equipped - CNET reviews


This is also consistent with what Sony said during a tech demonstration I attended two years ago.

 

[andrew markworthy]

Oh for ****'s sake! I have given you a simple empirical test to run for yourself that will demonstrate what I've said. John - in your world it appears that 'scientifically based testing' equals looking at what other people have written on the internet and choosing the opinion that best matches your preconceived ideas. But newsflash - the world has moved on from the medieval method of basing opinions on the most sacred text, and in the modern world, the preferred method of forming an opinion is testing something for yourself and basing your decision on empirical proof.

I can't be bothered to argue any further with obstinacy - I'm out of this thread.

 

[Doug MacGregor]

Well I certainly started something, didn't I?
But I got what I needed from the various opinions.
My main fear was that I was "locking myself" into a choice that I would regret later but now I know that is not the case.
I will be buying a 720p 32" LCD as soon as the price goes below $500.
Thank you all.

 

[Jack Gilvey]

Sorry if I missed it, but how far will you be from the TV? Since you're set on a size, that will be the deciding factor. I have a 30" CRT in the living room that supports 480p/720p/1080i natively and I'm hard-pressed to tell the difference among these three resolutions (as output over component from a Toshiba A2) from my couch ~10" away.

 

[Audioman321]

The 1080p is better than the 720p and 1080i.

 

[ratm]

you know its funny. I read most of these thread this morning and then needing something totally unrelated, I headed into Best Buy. There they had a Sony BD player (I dont know which one) attached to a 40 inch XBR TV which said full hd on it (i assume that meant 1080p). At any rate, they were playing Cars and it was far and away, the BEST picture of any TV that I have ever seen. I say this because CNET states that it dosent matter. Hard to say because I had nothing to compare it too. However, I have a standard DVD player attached to my Sammy 5084 plasma and I immediately noticed a far better quality of the BluRay. I cant wait to get one for my plasma. I think that if you can wait, get the 1080p. If nothing else, it might save you from having to ask the same question in a few years.

 

[Doug MacGregor]

My viewing distance is about 10-12 feet.

 

[Doug MacGregor]

I am aware of that.

The question was whether or not the increased clarity was worth the additional cost at this point in time and would I notice a difference.

Thanks anyway.

 

[Bob Graz]

I'm seriously considering the Panny 50PX80U which is a 50in 720p plasma. I'll be sitting 10-12 feet from it and for the price it's an incredible set. When I compared it to the 1080p version, I'm just not seeing $600 to $800 difference to be worth it for me.

 

[Patrick Sun]

I came to the same decision, but a year earlier (almost to the exact day), but went with the 50PX600U (got the 600U for the extras, like P-I-P).

 

[Tyoneon]

HI,

Actually seating distance has a lot to do with whether it makes sense to go for the extra dough for 1080p. However, at this point I would probably opt for the higher resolution to be future proof.

 

[Parker Clack]

I went with the Panasonic TH-50PX75U as the difference in price between it and the 1080p model was about $800. And I didn't see that big of a difference in overall picture from a 1080p source to justify the extra expense. Besides this was just to tide me over for a couple of years when I will be getting an OLED anyway.

 

[John CW]

You know, it's sad to see so many people giving poor advice here. Yes 1080p is better, but that doesn't mean you'll see the difference. No, buying 1080p will not "futureproof" your set (unless you're planning to move into a smaller apartment in the near future, forcing you to sit a lot closer than you currently are). Also, making a decision soley from what you're seeing in a store is generally a bad idea. For one thing, you're probably going to stand a lot closer to the TV in the store than you will sit watching it at home, but there's plenty of other reasons to do further research, too.

It's also good to see sensible advice based on real experience from the mods. Thanks for that.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Also, remember, there are good 1080p sets out there, and poorly implemented 1080p sets out there. Just because it's 1080p doesn't automatically mean it's going to look good, it's just going to have less of the screen-door effect depending on how close you stand/sit to the TV set. The more important factors, contrast level, color fidelity, sharpness, brightness all contribute to how good the actual picture looks on the TV set, and you have to do your own research and go stare at the different models and select one to buy based on what's most important to you.

Some folks automatically look only at 1080p models because they feel compelled to mate it to their new Blu-ray player, and that's not a bad strategy in terms of warding off possible buyer's remorse for going with a 720p model, just know that you'll most likely be paying a 25%-50% price premium for the 1080p models that look very good, while lesser 1080p models skimp on the video quality to hit that lower price point to lure prospective buyers looking at 1080p models, and those buyers are settling for less video quality for more resolution that may or may not even be appreciable depending on how close/far they sit to the TV set.

Also, unless you exclusively watch HD DVDs or Blu-rays on your TV set, 1080p isn't going to all that useful on HD content provided by Cable or Satellite or OTA reception, since it'll mostly be 1080i or 720p. Most of today's TVs have good enough de-interlacers to produce consistently good video playback of 1080i content. I tend to watch more programming from TV/Cable/OTA on my TV than HDM. Others will have different viewing habits (mainly DVDs and HDM), and that focus will more likely lead them to go for the 1080p models, and that's okay, too.

As a side-effect of getting older (vision-wise), I'm more into "seeing is believing", and try not to let the numbers solely guide a purchase decision. Given the same budget, I won't remove from consideration a 720p model with very good picture quality over a 1080p model with lesser picture quality, or smaller screen size.

 

[Jerome Grate]

This area is subjective. You can crunch the numbers over and over again and it comes down to one simple issue, what it looks like to you. 1080i, 1080p, 720i, 720p I think the difference between 1080i and 720i might be noticeable. But the same numbers between interlaced and progressive well that's a different story especially in HD. Now I just stepped in to real HD, (not scaled to 1080i) but if I had a choice between 1080i or 1080p, I would have to say let me see the comparison. I agree the the difference is probably so small, you may not see the difference. But you determine what looks best for you.
I'll tell you, here is probably one of the best sites to get information you need to help you make a sound decision, but sometimes number crunchers stick by their responses because of the simple saying "numbers don't lie". Yes we know progressive is better than interlaced but at the levels of 1080i, would you see the differerence and the only one who can answer that question is you. It will be hard for any one to do a side by side comparison because the stores are not set upt that way, but if something grabs you follow it.

 

[Mike Frezon]

As I have been recently asking/investigating the same question as the OP, I just wanted to weigh-in as to how much I appreciated the discussion in this thread.

I don't know if people's opinions or technology have changed much in the year+ since this discussion took place, but there are still some very good information, explanations and opinions within.

Thank you.

 

[Mike Frezon]

A full explanation on the TV purchase conundrum--including an extensive resolution of the 720p/1080i question. Click on the diagram once and then again for full resolution.

 

[John CW]

Excellent flow chart!