So I'm in the market for a new TV. I'm thinking about a 32'' HDTV. Now I've been reading about how the best quality is 1080p. My question would be, is the difference really that much better or is it negligible on this size TV, since it's not 50'' + between 1080 and 720? Any other input would be great. thanks!
720p is going to look great on a 32" TV, but 1080p is obviously going to look much better. You should be thinking of it as dots per inch. At 720p, you get 1280 dots per 32" or 40 dots per inch. At 1080p, you get 60 dots per inch, and it truly is 50% better. Lazer printing is at least 300 dots per inch, for comparison. 32" is not exactly a tiny screen, but smaller than a 50" or whatever (obviously). The dots being the same number but over less inches will actually make a better picture on the smaller screen, but you have to sit closer to it for the same effect. The higher the dots per inch, the less jaggy straight (non horizontal or vertical) lines and curves will be.
I think there's a big difference, so go for the 1080p and if you're looking for a good brand go for Samsung, I have the 40 inch, cost around 2500 from Best Buy, but when you have HD channels on, no matter what they have you want to watch it. Clearer than real life. lol
Oh yeah, the 1080p version can be used as a very nice computer monitor if you have a good enough graphics card. 1920x1080 resolution. That may also give you an idea of how close you can sit to it.
just to follow up on my PM, my rear projection TV cost a LOT less than that--enough to buy a stand, surround sound stereo system and upscaling DVD player. First figure out the biggest TV you have room for and then figure out the details, such as the technical stuff and what format. You will ultimately be disappointed with a smallish TV. My TV sometimes seems too small!
I've been researching a bit online, and while I think it's obvious that a 1080p has more clarity than a 720p (duh), I'm not sure if it's worth it at a smaller TV size, such as 32''. Apparently they didn't even make 1080p for that size until recently, so I'm not sure how much of a difference it would really make, and if it'll be worth it. I think I'll need some field experience.
The size and dimensions of the room, distance to TV, and quality of your vision are other factors. Go check it out in Best Buy, position yourself from the distance you plan to use/watch the tv at home or wherever you are using it. If you have poor vision, and plan to position the TV 10+ feet from your couch, or bed, 720p and 1080p will not make any difference to you. -Petey
I thought I read somewhere that the best viewing distance should be double inches of the TV. So for a 32 you should be 64 inches back, or about 5 and a half feet.
32" is fine for a small room. I watched 20" TVs for most of the 1990s. Rear projection is not the way to go. You do get bang for your buck, but it's not going to be the best of the latest technology. I wouldn't worry about 1080p being new for 32".
I'm not worried about the technology per say. I'm saying that it looks like they didn't make the 1080p for 32'' because the difference inquality between that and 720p is minimal. I'm still gonna go check out a few and look at the pictures myself.
It's technically impossible for the difference to be minimal, unless you have vision problems. If you do go compare pictures, be sure you understand that the source format is 1080i or 1080p on both. You'll get 1080p from PS3 and XBox/HD DVD and from PPV on Dish Network; the best you get anywhere else (that I know of) is 1080i. That'll certainly change, and your 1080p TV won't be obsolete as soon.
Yea, but I'm talking from perspective's point of view. Obviously the difference is clear cut with the pixels (480 to 720 to 1080, it's mathematics there), but when you look at it, the picture obviously would have more of a difference in quality on a bigger television, compared to a smaller one. I just don't know how much, and if it's worth it. I don't understand what you're saying about the source format though? (I have cablevision, too, so Dish Network means nothing to me)
A 1080i source isn't as good as a 1080p source so a 1080p TV viewing a 1080i source won't demonstrate everything the tv can do
The same picture is going to look BETTER on the smaller screen; you have more dots per inch on the smaller screen. The number of dots is the same if the picture is the same. The only negative to a smaller screen is that you have to sit closer to it for it to fill up as much of your range of vision. This is true for HD, or analog SD (old style TV). The resolution does make a difference on the bigger screens because the dots are bigger. The more dots, the better the picture (no matter what size). Source format: if you compare a 720p picture on a 720p TV to a 720p picture on a 1080p TV, you're not going to see much of a difference. With a 1080p source (like Blu Ray or HD DVD), you will see the difference. The 720p picture has to reduce the picture on the fly from 1920x1080 pixels to 1280x768 pixels; it's still going to look good, but obviously you're losing resolution and other information. The DirecTV box can output pictures in any of the major formats, though it's upscaling 1080i to 1080p at best. Regular DVD is 480p resolution.
Not exactly what I meant, but a good point. I meant, make sure you're comparing a Blu Ray disk on the 720p TV with a Blu Ray disk on the 1080p TV, or you're fooling yourself about the picture quality.
heh, honestly KC the best advice given in this thread was by yourself. What's really being talked about is your eyesight and how you perceive the difference. Second to that is your own threshold in terms of finances. Even if you have determined that 1080 looks significantly better compared to a 780, this difference may not be as significant compared to the price difference between the two 32" ers. There are two scales at work. Go to Best Buy, or Circuit City, or wherever, and look at a 1080 32" and a 780 32". Just in case it matters, do some comparisons between companies.
thank you. all this technical mumbo jumbo is just confusing me. i just want to know if 1080p would really be that much better for an upkick in price compared to 720p on a 32'' tv. i'm guessing it wouldn't be THAT much because it's a smaller tv. i'm still gonna go test it out, was just seeking other's opinions who might know more or have tested this out.
In an attempt to summarize, KC has a hypothesis that on a 32 the visual difference between 720p and 1080p won't be worth the price difference. Denny and CK say the visual difference will be significant Petey says that room and positioning factors are too important to give an analysis. As a suggestion going forward, how about providing an opinion on the visual difference on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being extremely different and 1 being hardly noticeable.
I know there are some suggestions, but most don't go with them if they plan to buy a smaller TV. I noticed others made an important about viewing the technology with the proper source. It's a good point. People at Best Buy or Circuit City aren't always going to setup the units correctly for the optimal picture. Make sure to ask the sales person if "this tv is hooked up via an HDMI cable, putting out 1080p", and likewise for 720p. Other if they use an HDMI cable for the 720p unit, but not for the 1080p unit, the optimal difference will not be as great as it should be. -Petey
