[zowie]

. . . for an LCD TV in the 37-40 inch range?

I have a new DVD player that upconverts to 1080p, but no plans for HD-DVD or Blu-Ray. I only get broadcast tv and don't watch that much. On a medium screen, will I really notice much of a difference to justify spending a couple hundred dollars more to get 1080p?

 

[Kirosia]

1080p Does Matter - Here's When (Screen Size vs. Viewing Distance vs. Resolution) » CarltonBale.com


If you can somehow demo, do that. See if you care for the difference or not. I personally notice, but only because I sit really close to my monitor. 720p looks great regardless.

 

[G-man]

are you sure it up converts to 1080p and not 1080i? Cos I didn't realise you can upconvert to 1080p. Anyway, i have got a 50inch 720p viera, and have compared it to the new 1080p version, and i couldn't really tell the difference in normal TV, and on my friends ps3. but then i wasn't really doing a fair comparison. Still, if you ever plan on going HD, and if you keep your TVs for a long time, keep that option open, go for the 1080p.

 

[MD1032]

IMO, yes, 720p is good enough, but 1080p LCD TV's are cheap enough at this point that it's no longer worth your time to save the minimal amount of money by buying 720p instead of 1080p.

Oh, and the 1080i thing is bogus. IME, it makes screens look worse. You need a screen with full 1080p.

 

[ronnielee54]

Go for the 1080. As stated earlier, they are cheap enough now and as far as the future goes, your plans for blu-ray may change. You never know.

 

[intoflatlines]

720p is great and is good for ~40" screens. Unless you go bigger you won't be able to tell that much of a difference.

 

[screwdriver]

it is good enough in the size you want them - but the 1080p is cheap enough too nowadays to pass up on it.

 

[MaZa]

If you only watch broadcast TV (and no HDTV channels), yes, 720p is enough. Actually 1080 will look worse because it shows all the artifacts and sawy edges of low 720p resolution broadcasts. If you ever consider getting HD capable source for movie watching, go for 1080.

When I watch HD material on my 22" monitor (working "only" on 1680x1050 resolution. Not full HD but very close) they look sooo much better than DVD versions. They look so sharp and full of detail that you forget to watch the movie and instead watch the details on the wall in background. But then again, because of the high resolution the monitor uses, DVD films look quite bleh and dull at the times because the low resolution is very visible. So, TV or monitor that is HD capable isnt always a bliss. (and LCDs always work in one native resolution, and lower ones are scaled up to fit the screen, which also affects negatively on picture quality.) Im not sure if the upscaler might help on this issue though, making better job of the upscaling than TVs own. But lowres material is always lowres material and it shows when you watch it on highres.

 

[zowie]

Kirosia -- Thanks for that link. Tons of useful information, especially in the comments to the main post.

Marantz DV7001, upconverts to 1080p (and also 1080i).

Sounds like mixed opinions on the pixels. 720 and 1080 are still a couple hundred bucks apart, I think. It won't break me and is nothing compared to what I've spent to audio gear, but I wouldn't want to spend extra if it wouldn't really matter. Maybe I shouldn't worry about it and pay more attention to contrast ratios and colors?

I can't really compare them well in store. The sets never seem to be set up well or consistently and some places the signal is lousy too.

 

[MaZa]

Quote:

Maybe I shouldn't worry about it and pay more attention to contrast ratios and colors?

Just dont be fooled with the uber high contrast ratio promises, they are gimmicks. In normal ambient light around 500:1 is max contrast ratio human eye can perceive and higher contrast ratio will look exactly same in those conditions, in pitch black room about twice or so higher. Colors are important, and black depth is quite important too in dark films watched in darkened room.

 

[dir_d]

To me any screen above 40" should be 1080p but that is just my preference. 1080i is a joke... the splitting of the frames are so noticeable in action scenes or sports. That's why ESPN only broadcasts in 720p.

 

[Kirosia]

Quote:

But then again, because of the high resolution the monitor uses, DVD films look quite bleh and dull at the times because the low resolution is very visible.

Which video codec and player are you using? DVD's looked really bad on my crt (1600x1200) until I tried a different codec, and the video improved noticeablty. (I'm using media player classic with the cyberlink mpeg2 decoder)

 

[vagarach]

I wouldn't at this stage even bother with 720p. Maybe 2 years ago you could really have argued the merits given the cost savings, but now I would just pay the extra amount and look at the additional pixels as an investment. You're getting 2.25x the number of pixels for far less than 2.25x the price, so you can't go wrong cost per pixel wise!

 

[MusicallySilent]

Any plans for HTPC, if so consider a 1080p screen instead, because 720p really doesnt give a lot of real estate

 

[Moocher]

You will never notice the difference. Do some reading at avsforum.com if you want to learn more. It is generally accepted that 1080 won't make a difference in smaller sizes, and it won't matter for larger sizes unless you are closer than many of us sit in actual environments.

Mooch