choosing between 720p and 1080p LCD TV (1 Viewer)

[Matt26]

my parents are looking at buying a new HD TV and i'm trying to help them with their decision on what the best TV is for their living room set up. they are going with a 32" display because that's the biggest size that will fit in their entertainment center.

i have 2 questions on the topic:

1- which would be the best of the two choices: LCD or Plasma? they have a living room with a large window that gets plenty of natural light during the day and impacts the view ability of their current 27" CRT TV to a noticeable degree- even with the curtains drawn. they would also be sitting an average of 10-15 ft from the TV whenever they are watching it (sometimes 15-20 if they are watching from the dining room) and they will never be watching directly in front of the TV, always at an angle (around 45 degrees or less). i'm not sure if the factors (burn-in, light exposure, contrast ratio etc) that determined the use of these two technologies years ago still exist today.

2- they are looking at two different LCD TVs- one is a 720p and the other is a 1080p. if they are not viewing any HD programming then is there any need to consider a 1080p display? my understanding here (please correct me if i'm wrong) is that HD content from StarChoice (their satellite dish service provider, which they may decide to upgrade to HD service) is only 720p (or maybe only 480p?) and they are not going to be investing in any 1080p capable content like Blue-ray, so there wouldn't be any point in looking at a 1080p capable display if they will not be viewing any content available in 1080p.

is there any one high-end TV model that is better than the others right now- like the Sony Bravia, Sharp Aquos, Panasonic Viera etc?

any and all information provided on this topic would be greatly appreciated.

thanks.

 

[Stephen Tu]

Starchoice will provide both 720p and 1080i content. There is a resolution advantage for a 1080p set when displaying 1080i content, which is deinterlaced to 1080p by the set. But it is only noticeable if you are close enough given the size of the display. But if they are not viewing any HD programming, why bother getting a new TV at all? And certainly at their distance it won't be a big advantage, other than avoiding letterboxing/cropping of 16:9 content.

I would tell them to wait until they are ready to upgrade everything. Going to HD 32" at 12 feet isn't worth the trouble, not only is there no advantage for 1080p over 720p at that distance, there's not advantage for 720p over what they already have.

 

[Matt26]

well, this isn't an upgrade for them- they are replacing an old TV that has a terrible picture at this point, so upgrading furniture etc is not part of the equation for them.

and the distance they would be from the TV is actually closer to 8 ft (inaccurate guess on my part). so should they bother considering a flat panel or just replace with a new CRT, considering this distance from the TV plus the fact that they are not viewing HD content?

 

[Michael TLV]

Greetings

There are no new crt tvs. The technology is finished.

regards

 

[Matt26]

actually, the last time i checked the electronics department at Superstore they had CRT models, but that was many months ago...

so assuming they are still available today, should they look at buying another CRT model to replace the current one or look at the flat panel model?

 

[Dan Driscoll]

I am not aware of any 32" plasma's on the consumer market today. IIRC, 42" is the smallest plasma typically available now.

At 8 feet 720p on a 32" display is fine, IMO.

New CRT based televisions are still available, just hard to find. I believe Phillips still builds them and I heard a news report several weeks ago that Sony was considering building Trinitron displays again.

 

[Stephen Tu]

If the old TV is shot, get a flat panel, it can be repurposed as desktop computer monitor later. CRT models are hard to find in the U.S., don't know about Canada. Only small $200 sets are available, everything bigger is flat panel except for the RP DLP sets.

Whether they should get the 32" just because it fits depends on their budget and their goals. If they don't care much about TV or movies, just want to replace and keep it cheap as possible, just spend US$600, that's fine. If they enjoy movie & TV watching though, they'd get a much more immersive, movie theater like experience with a bigger set. It would cost more like $1600 though for a 46" + a new TV stand. This is a home theater enthusiasts forum, we are biased, it's hard for us to recommend small displays we would never get for ourselves or recommend to our family

. Or at least it is for me.

 

[Brian D H]

They absolutely do NOT need 1080P even if they only watch Bluray. With a 32" screen they could see 1080P only if they sit 6' from the screen, and that assumes 20/20 vision.

See this viewing distance chart:
Chart: 1080P Does Matter - CarltonBale.com

At the the 10'-20' distances you mention 720P won't even look any better than 480P! To see an benefit with 720P they would have to be about 9 feet away.

 

[genedjr]

I know this is a relitively old thread but - WOW - such passion from - sorry cant say it...

Brian - your are dead wrong. Viewing angles and distances change over time. If you can afford the higher resolution - get it.

Stephen - yep - the CRT model in the US is dead. Go with a flat panel - LCDs are a bit more expensice than the Plasma counterparts - but there are advantages and disadvantges to both - with no research - pick LCD.

Matt26 - Really go an measure the width of the entertainment center. What fit a 32" CRT probably will fit a 36" or even 40" flat panel. In my case my Sony 32" trinitron just barely fit in my entertainment center and now I have a 42" Vizio. Really - measure.

The bottom line is that the 720P flat panel will soooo out perform a crt TV that your parents will be amazed.

...gene

 

[Doug MacGregor]

I'm a little confused genedjr.
You said your Sony Trinitron CRT "just barely fit" in your entertainment center.
Was that height or width?
If you meant width, I am totally confused.
A 32" Sony would have an overall width of about 32". If you meant that "barely fits" means leaving about a couple of inches on either side, that would mean your entertainment center has a width of about 36".
A 42" Vizio has an overall width of about 41".
Even a Sammy 37" (LN37530) has a width of 36.1".
Can you elaborate?
Thanks.

 

[Allan Jayne]

Given the size constraints and in turn the constraints on high definition viewing, this may well turn into a matter of price and weight. THe 720p models cost less all other things being equal. CRT's weigh a lot compared with the newer technologies.

If use as a computer monitor is planned check to see that it has a VGA input jack and what computer resolutions are supported. A 720p model may or may not support the common computer resolution of 1024x768 (768p); if it does it might crop the top and bottom of the computer display slightly which may or may not be objectionable. Having to downgrade from 1024x768 on the old 17 inch CRT monitor to 800x600 on the new 32 inch flat panel is really quite disadvantageous.