? with 720p vs 1080p (1 Viewer)

[Bry_DD]

ok, i've been out of the loop for about ht for quite sometime. last equipment i bought was my dvd-a/sacd player. i'm eying on the 50 inch 1080p panasonic and the 58 inch 720p panasonic and both from costco and both are plasma. question is, is there a big difference when playing hd-dvd toshiba (from costco too)? i have no clue what i need to know. which is better blu-ray or hd-dvd but that's another thread.

thanks

 

[THXTheSounds]

Invest in either an LG SuperBlu, or in my honest opinion (having done a research paper on DVD technology) BluRay is the way to go, broken down the technologies are similar, use the same wavelength diode to read the disc, and are close enough to the same price. The biggest difference between the two as a technology is data storage, that is a single layer BluRay disc is 25gb of space and a single layer HD-DVD is 15gb of space. These days it all boils down to what you can stick into the smallest amount of space and unlike tapes discs are used for both tv AND computer uses so BluRay is just my opinion of what is going to be the future. Also if you hear that the porn industry will decide what will win, I disagree. The internet is such an archive of pornography that it's very unlikely it will tip the scales in either sides favor.

Breakdown of what I just ranted about: BluRay, SuperBlu, or bust.

 

[Cees Alons]

Generally speaking, the quality on HD DVD and Blu-ray of the same film are utterly comparable, if not totally equal. Most people think that both formats are here to stay a very long time.

If you look at costs, currently several HD DVD players (of extremely good quality) are available at bargain prices. If you have some more time (and a bit of a higher budget), you could wait for the combo players (playing both formats), which are expected in Q1 and Q2 2008.

For differences between the two formats (and how important they are) go to the HD subforums, and try to get an impression about the current state of the format war.

About your question here: 720 is to 480 as 1080 is to 720. So in principle, yes 1080i or -p is better. In practice it is also dependent of factors like the program material (if you only watch HD cable it doesn't matter that much) and how far you will be sitting from your TV (if > 2.5 x screenwidth, the difference between 1080 and 720 starts to get invisible to the eye).

If you plan to get the Toshiba HD-player, choose a 1920 x 1080 TV, I'd say: you'll be all set for the future. TV sets generally are in the house for more years, so personally I use this argument to buy a somewhat advanced model when I need to upgrade.

BTW: the Toshiba player will help to preserve your current DVD library (so you won't have to double-dip on HD unless you really want the release), by offering a superb upconversion of SD DVD.


Cees