Looking at 32" LCD tv... should I go for 1080p? (1 Viewer)

[Dave Poehlman]

Okay.. I've been busy getting divorced and remodeling a foreclosed house so I've kind of been out of the whole HT loop for a while.

Anyway... I've decided to upgrade my livingroom TV to a 32" LCD (I've got an old 27" 4:3 CRT).

32" is the biggest size I can get that'll still fit in my entertainment center. My livingroom isn't that big.. I'm only about 5 or 6 feet away when I'm sitting on the couch.

I've got a Sony PS3 for my Blu-Ray player... and I do play games on it occasionally and the cable dude is plugging me into HD next week.

Soo... getting to the point: In my situation.. is 1080p noticeably worth the extra couple hundred bucks?

 

[Steve Schaffer]

The extra resolution probably won't be noticeable at all on that size set with your veiwing distance. If at all possible go to the stores and look for 32" 720 and 1080 sets from good mfgs. near each other to do your own comparison.

More important at this screen size are good black levels and low color shift when viewing off center--Panasonic 32" models excel at this, are 720, and look quite a bit better than some 1080 sets at the same screen size.

That being said, Sony's new S series 32" sets are 1080p and have really excellent pq. at a street price pushing $800.

 

[Stephen Tu]

I think at 5 feet, it's worth it, particularly if you ever envision hooking a computer up to it and occasionally viewing even closer. Having a ton of resolution available for computer windows is great for multi-tasking, I really like my 1900x1200 24" monitor at home.

At 8 feet it probably isn't worth it. 6 feet is probably a toss-up, measure distance carefully, go to store w/ a good 1080p Blu-ray feed to the sets & compare.

 

[Dan Driscoll]

IMO resolution is overly hyped. Yes, it is an important spec, but not the most important. Remember in the shootout of 50 inch displays last year that the Pioneer Kuro that won was 720p. It blew away a bunch of top-of the-line 1080p displays from Samsung, LG, etc. IIRC, the Panasonic that came in a close second was also 720p. They were judged better because they have superior black levels and better color accuracy, among other things.

So even at the larger sizes I don't necessarily think 1080p is automatically better than 720p and I definitely don't think it is at 32". IMO it should be weighed along with other, possibly more critical specs, such as black level, color accuracy, etc. Of course, all else being equal, yes, I would go with a 1080p display over a 720p display. But let your eyes make the decision, not a spec sheet.

 

[Stephen Tu]

I agree that black levels/contrast ratios are also important, likely more important, and that resolution often gets over-emphasized especially by sales people. But I wouldn't dismiss it merely because of 32", it depends on the size to viewing distance ratio. At 32" it would be wasted for the average home where viewing distance is like 9 feet, but the original poster is viewing at 5 feet where it's not all wasted.

 

[Albert101]

I would recommend you to go for Sony Bravia KDL-32S3000 32" I think it would be a good choice .My friend recently bought the same product from Buy LCD TV's Prices | Buy Cheap LCD TV's Online at CheckCost.co.uk and he is very satsified with the purchase. As you are a gamer and looking to use your PS3 on this, you will be pleased to know that games do output on this set at 1080p resolution.Mpeg2-noise reduction is also available, in case you would like to reduce the amount of noise on DVD output. I do believe that there are products that are far-superior.. but this TV is bang for the couple of extra bucks.