The big question: 720p or 1080p?

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Uncle Humjaba

Limp Gawd
Joined
May 6, 2006
Messages
437
Hey all

So I'm moving out of the dorm and into an apartment with a few buddies of mine this coming semester, and none of us have a TV.

We don't watch TV all that much, but we do watch movies alot and one of us has an XBOX 360. We don't have a blu-ray player, and will be getting basic cable. I will be using my old computer as an HTPC for DVR, Hulu and DVD functions. I also have HD (720 and 1080) content an external hard drive, but it's either compressed or shot by my FlipHD camera.

Our budget will be $600 tops, but the cheaper the better. So far I've seen, for that price, we can pick up a no-name 42" 1080P LCD set, or up to 50" 720p plasma set from a manufacturer I've at least heard of. So, 42" 1080p or 50" 720p?

We will be using the set for at least 2 years.
 
Without manufacture names and models, it'd be pretty hard to debate the two. But when it comes to TV and monitor, I prefer checking it out in person to see what looks good to me rather than having someone else tell me what it looks like.
 
Alright, for example:

Vizio 42" Class 1080p/120Hz LCD HDTV, E420VL for $598 + Tax w/ Free Shipping to Home at Walmart
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Vizio-E42...=19768691393270654773&wmlspartner=lw9MynSeamY

VS.

LG 50" 720p Plasma HDTV with 3 HDMI™ Inputs for $644-$50 coupon
Model No: 50PJ350
http://www.hhgregg.com/ProductDetail.asp?SID=n&ProductID=24536

I'm not buying until about this time next month, so any deals that are going now will likely be gone by then. To me, as long as the viewing angles are good I'm not terribly concerned about color accuracy or fancy features. I guess I need to go look at a 720p set next to a 1080p set and see if I can tell the difference from 10ft away.
 
Considering that you aren't going to be watching much 1080p native content, I would go with the larger 720p set. Especially since you plan on replacing it in two years.

At 42", you probably couldn't tell the difference between 1080p and 720p, especially if your source is DVDs.

And it's hard to go see it in person when the source content at most B&M stores sucks
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You can still compare the differences between TVs. Ask for the remote and play with the settings. They usually leave them at default or someone has screwed with it.

I know the deals over, but it might be around next month. I picked up a 46" 1080p Dynex for $600. It's a pretty decent TV, especially for that price range.
 
In general, 1080p will be preferred. If nothing else, it will actually be 1920x1080. 720p will actually be 1366x768 (except in very rare cases), but will take a 720p signal and rescale it, and usually with heavy overscan.

For example, my secondary HTPC has a 32" 720p screen - I have my desktop at a custom resolution of something like 1236x708 to fit the viewable area of the TV with no overscan. Thus I have 2 resizes when watching - one high-quality resize to desktop, then one by the TV. With my seating position, I don't notice any imperfections with this when watching shows (including subtitles), but can definitely notice it on the desktop or MediaPortal menus. Alternatively, I could send it a 1080p signal, but that actually looks worse scaled down (not to mention that subtitles end up too small due to the TV downscaling).

Also, check the size of your viewing room. In most cases, a 50" will appear to be too large - especially at 720p. If you're sitting too close to it, with 720p you will definitely start seeing imperfections (pixelation in explosions, etc). You'll see this anyway with lower-resolution source material, but possibly not as much on a 1080p screen depending on the quality of the scaler.

Also, check the actual resolution of the 720p - if could in fact be 1024x768 ... which would be very very bad on such a large TV.

My main HTPC has a 40" 1080p. I sit around 3m (~10 feet) away and find it to be nearly the perfect size.
 
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OP it's all about viewing distance, if it's a closer distance then go for a 42" 1080P, if it's a farther distance then get the 50" 720P.

Supposedly the biggest regret TV purchasers have is that they didn't purchase a larger size.

You can always compromise and find a deal on a 46" or 47" 1080P.

Edit: you'll be viewing from 10ft away? That's considered a far distance, technically you should get the larger TV and 720P. It all depends, will you often be viewing/gaming from the floor and close up?

Oh yea, if you go for a 720P plasma, check the descriptions closely to see what native resolution it actually has. There are 720P plasmas that have an oddball 1024x768 resolution with rectangular pixels. Then you have other 720P plasmas that have 1366x768 square pixels <--- this is what you want since it has more pixels and is more PC friendly because those pixels are square shaped. That LG you linked has 1366x768 so it's one of the better ones. 1920x1080P is the most PC friendly of all.
 
Overscan is a problem with 1080p too. in fact, in my experience a 1080p TV is more prone to have overscan than a 720p with 1366x768.

On some 1080p tvs you can't disable overscan at all, so you'll need to set your pc res at 1880x1050 or so.

As someone suggested if you are going for 720p plasma, check the native res, I've seen some cheap/old models go as low as 800x600.
 
Stoly said:
Overscan is a problem with 1080p too. in fact, in my experience a 1080p TV is more prone to have overscan than a 720p with 1366x768.

On some 1080p tvs you can't disable overscan at all, so you'll need to set your pc res at 1880x1050 or so.
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That's interesting - I've never seen a native 1080p TV have overscan problems - very bizarre. But at least then you'd be getting a real 1880x1050 displayed - it wouldn't be resizing again, right, unlike 720p on 1366x768?
 
magao said:
That's interesting - I've never seen a native 1080p TV have overscan problems - very bizarre. But at least then you'd be getting a real 1880x1050 displayed - it wouldn't be resizing again, right, unlike 720p on 1366x768?
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you mean displaying 1080p at 1880x1050? yes its resizing.
 
Stoly said:
you mean displaying 1080p at 1880x1050? yes its resizing.
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Actually, I meant resizing a second time by the TV. You're obviously resizing on the HTPC, but the signal being sent to the TV wouldn't be rescaled - the video card would send a 1920x1080 signal with black borders around the 1880x1050 portion since that's what you told it was needed for overscan compensation.

What I was talking about was the following:

Source -> 1236x708 (desktop resolution needed to compensate for overscan)
1236x708 -> 1280x720 (borders, no scaling, to produce signal for TV)
1280x720 -> 1366x768 (scaled by TV)
 
magao said:
Actually, I meant resizing a second time by the TV. You're obviously resizing on the HTPC, but the signal being sent to the TV wouldn't be rescaled - the video card would send a 1920x1080 signal with black borders around the 1880x1050 portion since that's what you told it was needed for overscan compensation.

What I was talking about was the following:

Source -> 1236x708 (desktop resolution needed to compensate for overscan)
1236x708 -> 1280x720 (borders, no scaling, to produce signal for TV)
1280x720 -> 1366x768 (scaled by TV)
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You don't need to compensate for overscan on most TVs with 1366x768. Well technically kind of. You need to set it up as 1360x768 so you do loose 3 pixels on each side.

My htpc is connected to an LG TV at 1360x768. So 720p content is upscaled and 1080p downscaled but the desktop is always 1360x768 and I can run games at that resolution too.

I have a customer who has a 1080p Sony Bravia. I've tried everything and I just can't set it up to 1080p without overscan. So when she watches Blurays its either downscale to 1880 or 1080p with overscan.
 
Can't you adjust for overscan compensation in the drivers? That's what I've done in the past

We will be gaming, but it will be an XBOX 360 (which only does 720p anyway). Bigger size would be nice for split screen though. There do seem to be some larger size LCD's on craigslist for the same change... May pick one of those up instead and get the best of both worlds.
 
Uncle Humjaba said:
Can't you adjust for overscan compensation in the drivers? That's what I've done in the past

We will be gaming, but it will be an XBOX 360 (which only does 720p anyway). Bigger size would be nice for split screen though. There do seem to be some larger size LCD's on craigslist for the same change... May pick one of those up instead and get the best of both worlds.
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For most TV's, Yes you can almost always adjust for overscan in the drivers, sometimes a TV setting needs to be enabled in conjunction as well (panasonics are like this). Once in a while you'll stumble upon a stubborn TV where you have to use a custom resolution to get 1:1 pixel mapping with no overscan (i have a 720P TV that required it). Or sometimes you have to use a special 59hz refresh rate to avoid overscan.

Personally i'd recommend you purchase a new TV that's on sale or clearance, and back it up with a Mack aftermarket warranty, which is #1 as far as aftermarket warranties are concerned, but i hear the BestBuy in-house warranty are pretty good + convenient + cheap.

Mack warranty purchasing info: http://www.mackcam.com/servicecontracts/find-a-dealer.php

Mack warranty discussion: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1074524
 
I would suggest going 1080P at this time. There is a lot more content for 1080P that is accessible than there was a few years ago.
 
Size > resolution in this size range, no question.

Get the 50" 720.
 
Hey if you have a Fry's Electronics around they have a 47" 1080p LG LCD for 599$-639$ in the weekly AD from time to time, not to bad of a deal. Also they have 42 - 55" 720p Plasma's from Samsung from $439- 600 in the DFW area. It might be good just to go look at them and see which ones you like better.
 
rhansen5_99 said:
Hey if you have a Fry's Electronics around they have a 47" 1080p LG LCD for 599$-639$ in the weekly AD from time to time, not to bad of a deal. Also they have 42 - 55" 720p Plasma's from Samsung from $439- 600 in the DFW area. It might be good just to go look at them and see which ones you like better.
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I'd bet the OP would love either one, the 47" 1080P LG is almost definitely an LG made IPS panel, and Samsung plasmas seem to be popular and review well at the AVS forums.

Plus with a 47" at 1080P the OP would get to have his cake, and eat it too, whereas with the 50" plasma he'd have to go with 1366 x 768.
 
So I went to a bestbuy yesterday and had a look around. I think 42" would be too small. They had two Panasonic Viera 50" plasmas right on top of each other; one was 1080p, the other 720p. I could tell a difference in edge aliasing (things like text and shapes looked smoother on the 1080 set) from the 6ft or so I was standing, but I dont think I'd notice if I wasn't looking for it.

Another thing the guy there brought up (seemed to actually know what he was talking about... a bestbuy rep who wasn't pushy AND he was knowledgeable? I thought that was a myth... like unicorns. Or North Dakota.) was that plasmas still burn in. I plan on playing XBOX on it, and don't trust my roommates to be smart - is burn in still a problem with Plasma's?

A 46" 1080P LCD at $600 seems doable if I keep my eye out...
 
Uncle Humjaba said:
Another thing the guy there brought up (seemed to actually know what he was talking about... a bestbuy rep who wasn't pushy AND he was knowledgeable? I thought that was a myth... like unicorns. Or North Dakota.) was that plasmas still burn in. I plan on playing XBOX on it, and don't trust my roommates to be smart - is burn in still a problem with Plasma's?
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I get image retention quite easily on my Panasonic Viera plasma TV. In my experience, it takes about an hour with a still picture for any noticeable image retention.

I've accidentally left my TV on with a movie on pause for about 8 hours one time. The image retention was highly visible, but the image did not burn-in. After finishing the movie, the image retention was gone.

Just don't be foolish like me and leave your TV on for hours straight with a still picture and I think you'll be fine; there's no need to worry about burn-in.
 
Hope you and your 2 buds are best friends because huge problems can arise from you guys splitting a large purchase. Who gets to use it and when, who takes it when you're done, who takes it when someone gets pissed, so on and so forth.
 
mdameron said:
Hope you and your 2 buds are best friends because huge problems can arise from you guys splitting a large purchase. Who gets to use it and when, who takes it when you're done, who takes it when someone gets pissed, so on and so forth.
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We've got that worked out already. 3 are pitching in to cover about half, and I'm covering the rest (I get to keep it). It's going to be in the living room, and none of us are particularly addicted to TV or XB360, so I think it will be okay. We all have our own smaller TV's that will be in our rooms.

After tgx's comment I think I'll go for an LCD. Not that I dont trust them, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.
 
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Sn1PeR's link is worth a thousand words, it spells out the size/res ratio which is based on the acuity of the human eye quite nicely. If your situation allows 720p and you're watching primarily reg-def content then the lower native res might help it not look as 'blown up' when it's scaled. Cheaper sets have cheaper scalers. I have 2 - 26" LCD's mounted on either side of my 60" plasma for NFL Sunday Ticket action (no picture-in picture for me!) and I don't have enough Hi-def Sat-receivers to feed 'em both and the reg-def picture looks better on the 720p set than it did on the 1080p set upstairs before I upgraded it to Hi-def to satisfy WAF requirements.

Oh yeah, WAF = Wife Acceptance Factor, an evil by-product requiring extreme subterfuge to avoid. Couldn't figure out how to disguise a 60" plasma tho, heh heh :D
 
So, does a 46" 1080p 120hz LCD sound doable for around $600? Walmart has a 47" screen that fits the requirements for under $600 but it's from Element... Has anyone ever heard of them?
 
Uncle Humjaba said:
So, does a 46" 1080p 120hz LCD sound doable for around $600? Walmart has a 47" screen that fits the requirements for under $600 but it's from Element... Has anyone ever heard of them?
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Walmart had a 46" 1080P "Curtis" brand last month hovering between $488-$500, but have since sold out.

If you were to purchase a no-name Element or Curtis brand then i'd recommend backing it up with an inexpensive Mack warranty, that way you'd be covered for at least 4 years total.

SJetski71 said:
Mack warranty purchasing info: http://www.mackcam.com/servicecontracts/find-a-dealer.php

Mack warranty discussion: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1074524
Click to expand...

Don't forget that BestBuy has their in-house brands on sale sometimes, Dynex and Insignia, but i would probably recommend an extended warranty for those as well.

You can also browse Slickdeals daily to try and catch the better deals.
 
If you're going to be surfing the net and doing stuff on the desktop then 1080p. If you're just watching movies then the larger 720p...unless you're going to sit with your face right in front of the tv.
 
Uncle Humjaba said:
Why Mack over, say, SquareTrade for the warranty?
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The second Mack warranty discussion link i posted describes it way better than i ever could.

Basicaly they have better service, don't play warranty denial shenanigans, they are financially structured the way a warranty company should be (bonded or something like that) and consistently rated as the best after market warranty service and have been around a LONG time.

#1 = Mack

#2 = CPS warranties

#3 = Squaretrade i believe
 
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