1080p vs 720p TVs

[sparky216]

Go with the lowest cost system that you think looks the best. Technical specs are irrelevant at that size.

yep, was exactly what I was going to say....too bad you didn't get in on my friends and family discount during christmas

[Tanner]

Also keep in mind that more than likely you'll probably spend 98% of the time watching cable/sat. on that TV.

Since right now, cable/sat is only broadcasted in 1080i, you won't gain anything going to 1080p. There are the few cable companies doing the PSEUDO 1080p.... but the HD channels are still 1080i. True 1080p broadcasts won't be seen anytime soon, due to the cost of the infrastructure. If the majority of the use were watching DVD's in your bedroom, I'd say to go w/ the 1080p. But for something that's not used as a main screen for watching DVD's/Blue Ray's, there's no point.

[dogbert]

Also keep in mind that more than likely you'll probably spend 98% of the time watching cable/sat. on that TV.

Since right now, cable/sat is only broadcasted in 1080i, you won't gain anything going to 1080p. There are the few cable companies doing the PSEUDO 1080p.... but the HD channels are still 1080i. True 1080p broadcasts won't be seen anytime soon, due to the cost of the infrastructure. If the majority of the use were watching DVD's in your bedroom, I'd say to go w/ the 1080p. But for something that's not used as a main screen for watching DVD's/Blue Ray's, there's no point.

My provider has 1080p, but most shows are recorded in 720p. There are a few channels like ESPN and Discovery that are 1080i.

[zad0030]

My provider has 1080p, but most shows are recorded in 720p. There are a few channels like ESPN and Discovery that are 1080i.

I thought that all Discovery shows were 1080p.

[ImaPigDog]

With all due respect to some of the prior posters, there are two things that I would advise against just buying the least expensive or off-brand, a.k.a. not-Tigé

1. Consider how you are going to mount it. Select a mount and make sure that the TV will accommodate. There are some quasi-standards that exist and not all TVs and mounts are compatible.

2. Not all the low cost LCDs are near the same quality. I have a Panasonic and an off-brand (extremely low-cost) and the Panasonic is much better. Sometimes, you get what you pay for.

Happy shopping!

[Tanner]

My provider has 1080p, but most shows are recorded in 720p. There are a few channels like ESPN and Discovery that are 1080i.

I'm counting 1080i and 720p as the same.

So you either have dish or directv? Isn't 1080p only available on pay-per-views?

[jwsatdlr]

We install LCD/Plasma TV's everyday and for a bedroom or bathroom TV a 720p/1080i is fine. The 720p will usually display 1080i depending on the source or channel selected. Cable seems to display all formats 480i/p, 720p and 1080i. Dish or DirecTV 480i/1080i. The Vizio at Costco online is your best price for size. My dealer wholesale pricing cannot beat the Vizio price/size comparison.

The Samsung line will be the next choice and better built than Vizio in both picture and mounting applications on the wall.

[MoneyPity]

Samsung has such a wide variance of LCD quality depending on model you can get a reasonably price 72oP or a 1080P from them and be more than happy.

If your eyes are young and not blurred due to too many computer hours you will see a slight difference in broadcast 1080I vs 720P.

Where the biggest difference comes to play is Blueray movies. You Will notice the difference in clarity.

Our main Set in Family room is 1080P Regza series from Toshiba. Although it gets a superb pic its warranty coverage stinks unless you get from best buy who I don't even think sells them any more. Our first Regza lost its power supply and Toshiba factory where it was sent for warranty repair could not fix. I had to take a replacement set which had slightly better resolution but less features.

We bought mid range and upper midrange Samsung 720P's for temp replacements and now use in bedrooms and upstairs loft and are more than happy because of reduced room sizes.

[ragboy]

You won't notice the difference in clarity from 720p to 1080p on even 50" unless you are just a couple of feet away. 40" or below, 2 feet away or closer. I have a Panasonic 1080P projector, and a 9 ft screen. I have a high quality blu-ray player and an apple tv. I can take a movie, and I rip it to a 720P quicktime movie so that I can load it on my server and serve to my apple tv. I have had the same movie, and same scenes running, and switching through my denon AVR 3808CI from apple tv to blu-ray. This is as apples to apples as you can get. Same movie, and the apple tv was ripped from the blu-ray version. It is almost impossible to tell the difference, it is VERY minimal. The main difference is that on the blu-ray, I can have up to uncompressed 24bit/96khz 7.1 sound, and on the apple tv, I am limited to 5.1 AC3 640kbps sound.

That is why the 720p 50" plasmas, from like panasonic are such STEALS at less than 1k. Go for the better quality set, in other words, a 720p panasonic plasma @ 50" will blow the doors off of a vizio or lower quality LCD or plasma @ 50", even if it is 1080p. Color reproduction and contrast, the blackest blacks are what make the best viewing experience. Also, I would also say 720p is better than 1080i.

One more thing, a 720p will play a 1080i or 1080p signal just fine, it will just downgrade to 720p/i.

[da.bell]

Interesting article on Cnet.com about 720p and 1080p..

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-18438_7...CarouselArea.2

[Tequilasun]

Interesting article on Cnet.com about 720p and 1080p..

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-18438_7...CarouselArea.2

This is what I have been saying for a long time (720 vs 1080 points made in the article) The only time I have really been able to tell a great deal if difference is when I watch a buddies 72" 1080p. But it swamps his living room so viewing distance is often less than 10 feet. If I watch it from further away, the differences drop fairly substantially.

Side note: Does every article written on any topic have to mention "with the way the economy is these days" I'm tired of it... /rant

[ragboy]

Even on my 9ft screen, the difference is so minute, that I rather watch my bluray movies on 720p through my apple tv, then use the blu-ray player. The convenience is worth not going to pull out the movie.

[zad0030]

The convenience is worth not going to pull out the movie.

Thats what you have kids for

[Fit to be Tige]

I still think the best value on the market right now is 720p. Having done a bunch of online research, and having just purchased a 720p Panasonic plasma just before Christmas, 720 is the way to go. I am putting a theater room in my basement and have found that a 720 projector is a steal at under $1k. Especially given that I have absolutely no intention of upgrading to blue-ray. For on-demand movies from comcast, sports through cable HD, even a large image (100") will look awesome on a 720p projector.

[ragboy]

Thats what you have kids for

That was just easier and less embarrassing to admit what a complete geek I am to go through the several applications and virtual machines I have to use to rip all of my Blu-rays to my servers and watch on ATV. ;-)

I still think the best value on the market right now is 720p. Having done a bunch of online research, and having just purchased a 720p Panasonic plasma just before Christmas, 720 is the way to go. I am putting a theater room in my basement and have found that a 720 projector is a steal at under $1k. Especially given that I have absolutely no intention of upgrading to blue-ray. For on-demand movies from comcast, sports through cable HD, even a large image (100") will look awesome on a 720p projector.

I agree on the 720p, especially on the plasma, but I would go for 1080p on the projector, and def try bluray. Blu-ray is worth it on some movies JUST for the sound. Anyway, taken from a comparison of apple tv HD, and blu-ray. Cable and Dish on demand sucks in HD. I would prefer a DVD to on demand HD. It is 1080i, and is such a low bit rate, so heavily compressed it looks horrible. Especially on action sequences. Netflix HD also looks very bad, but better than on demand. Blu-ray is best, and apple tv is just one step down, but barely noticeable. Apple TV is shows movies in 24 FPS 720p which is outstanding.