Note to Admins: I realize there is an older 1080 vs 720 thread. I wanted to make this thread because regardless of what format has more "data" per second you still have to consider a few things before buying a HDTV. 1) what format are TV stations broadcasting in. 2) What looks best with old source material (DVDs). 3) what HDTV format will be best with either Blu-ray or HD-DVD. 4) what TV looks best for console systems, xbox360,ps3 etc.... I want to just start by recomending to read this article: http://editorials.teamxbox.com/xbox/1544/The-Facts-and-Fiction-of-1080p/p1/ It gave me a new understanding about HDTV but at the same time raised new questions. One thing is clear: 1080x1920 @ 60 FRAMES per second is better than 720x1280 @ 60 FRAMES per second. AND Interlaced video sucks but - 1080x1920 @ 60 FRAMES per second will NEVER be broadcasted on TV stations. the amount of compression needed to fit this type of format through the broadcast channel is to high to make any sense. http://www.alvyray.com/DigitalTV/default.htm - 1080x1920 @ 60 FRAMES per second IS AVAILABLE on HD-dvd and Blu-ray. Put this requires "newer" TV sets. " There are already a large number of 1080p HDTV sets on the market, which upconvert all incoming signals, including standard-definition TVs, DVDs, HDTVs and PCs, to their panels’ native resolution of 1920x1080 pixels. Ironically, these 1080p televisions can not accept a 1080p signal. Yes, you read that correctly" April 17th, 2006 maybe by now this is a moot point..... - 1080x1920 @ 60 FRAMES per second IS AVAILABLE when playing PS3 GAMES I THINK. This is something I would like to see confirmed. - If you have a 1080P HDTV it will convert 1080i broadcasts (60 FIELDS/sec into 60 FRAMES/sec) using a 2:3 pulldown or deinterlacer SO what looks better? 1080i broadcast on a 1080i TV? 1080i broadcast on a 1080P TV using a 2:3 pulldown? 1080i broadcast on a 720P TV which would modify the resolution as well as do a 2:3 pull down. a 720P broadcast looks better on a 720P set of course but what about if the majority of channels are in 1080i? And what about the future? meaning the best way to display a blu-ray or hd-dvd disc. It will of course look better on a 1080P TV than a 720p TV. as more channels go HD (and soon all) how many will be broadcasted in 1080i vs 720p? so whats left? Old DVD's and standard TV broadcasts 720P HDTV would have to change the resolution as well as run a 2:3 pulldown right? but the switch from standard tv to 720 is less conversion than standard tv to 1080 and same deal with old dvd, or are dvd's in progressive already? regardless if they are or not its less of a stretch to go from dvd to 720 than dvd to 1080. So what looks best: standard dvd/TV on 1080i hdtv standard dvd/TV on 1080P hdtv standard dvd/TV on 720P hdtv looking to the future, standard TV and dvd's will go the way of vhs. I think that if you want to watch mostly standard TV channels and regular dvd's and have a xbox360 then 720P hDTv is the way to go. and its cheaper. if you want to get a bluray/hddvd and get a lot of HD channels and have a PS3 then a 1080P HDTV is the way to go. these sets would have a better PC input resolution as well. thoughts?
My thoughts: don't buy into any of it until all of the money hungry corporations get their act together and standardise with a single accepted format. Which should have been 720p, but of course that wasn't enough, when stupid people always want bigger thinking it equates to better. End result: DVD is good enough for me, playing on my SD TV. Some other suckers can spend all their hard earned being their pawns until one format or other comes out being the dominant broadcast standard and disc format.
That is actually a great way of looking at it. I mostly watch standard TV /dvd and play xbox360. they have a saying in my company K.I.S.S. Keep it simple stupid....
I spent $500 for a 720p/1080i TV. It looks good when playing regular DVD's, but the wide screen format for non ws games looks stretched.
Here's a chart that can give you an idea when increased resolution becomes an advantage: http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.engadgethd.com/media/2006/12/resolution_chart.jpg For example, I have a 1080p projector (Sony VPL-VW50) and a 110 inch screen. I'm able to see an advantage over a 720p projector at 20 feet away or closer. (I have my seats about 12 1/2 feet away.) Another example: a 50 inch display will benefit from 1080p when you have your seats at 10 feet or closer.
@ Paddawan, I'm all for stirring up the hornets nest but be warned it can get ugly when you refuse to fully understand an argument. That thread is a little different than this one as you don't really understand how of this works. Personally I don't believe any enlightened conversation about 720p vs. 1080i can be had without understand the role Video Processing plays in all the stages of content. When you understand video processing you will understand that 720p vs. 1080i as a topic doesn't really make since at all. You have to take any comparisons in context. Simple context: 1) Source 2) Display Native Resolution Expanded context: 1) Source 1a) Quality of source Master (Film, Video, ect...) 1b) Quality of source after compression (MPEG-2, MPEG-4, What bit-rate, ect...) 1c) Source delivery format (Air-Broadcast, DVD, Cable, Satellite, ect...) 2) Connections 2a) Technology type (RCA, HDMI, Y-Cb-Cr, ect...) 2b) Connection technology 3) Display 3a) Supported formats (720p@60Hz, 1080p@24Hz, 1080i@30Hz, ect...) 3b) Quality of video processing for various resolutions (ABT, HQV, Gennum, ect...) 3c) Native Resolution 3d) Screen type/quality 3e) Calibration of TV screen 3f) ??? 4) Room 4a) Room Contrast ratio 4b) Distance from Display 4c) Room lighting 4d) ??? Ced
Man, honestly I just want to know wheather to get a 720P HDTV or a 1080P TV -i have an xbox 360 and i want the games to look there best (standard TVs suck, Some games the letters are so fuzzy i cant read it) -I would be watching standard def TV as well as DVDs and I want it to look its best(i guess this where standard TV win) -I want to hook up a PC to the TV and have it look awsome (not svideo) then I assume that most of the HD broadcasted content I would watch would be the free channels offered By my cable company. I want to go to a store choose a brand name and the size of the screen, why cant it be that easy.
Bit of a complex one, especially for video games. For an equal frame rate, there are over 2x the pixels to render, so if you consider that the console is running flat out producing a decent frame rate for 720p (which the 360 is), it can only put in half the processing time per pixel in 1080p. End result, it can potentially look worse as it will probably either be dropping frames, or rendering less accurately just to get each frame done in time. If processing power weren't an issue, you'd naturally choose 1080, but in reality, we're not quite there yet. In the interim, I think 720p is plenty enough. It is not only cheaper, but I think over the next 5-10 years we are going to see a lot of changes in TV types, standards etc. And of course, anything you buy will be obsolete in a couple years anyway. For the same price as something top of the line now, you can probably get 2-3 mid-range units progressively over a few years, and see a net benefit. At least that is my reasoning, and it does work that way with computers, a $2000 computer today is a $700 or so computer in a couple of years. After 4 years, you have 3 computers for the cost of an expensive one 4 years ago, and the newest one is probably 2x as powerful as that top of the line one 4 years ago to boot.
Paddawan, read the graph eatsushi posted. It tells you exactly what you need to buy in context with you distance from the screen and screen size (which are the most important factors to consider). Ced
