Is 1080p worth the extra price for a 32'' Toshiba TV ?

[kneel]

1080 has twice as many pixels as 720p. I know the argument, but for $80, I would go 1080. Having said that...

The screen is not that large and you will probably not be sitting right up on the television (which you said). If you are on a tight budget, go with 720. If $80 won't make or break you, go with 1080.

Good luck!

Yeap..... You can always get bigger/better equipment to match that 1080. It's sooooo clear.....I have a 37" 1080 and playing xbox360 on it in HD, yea, you can tell.

 

[jimbo45]

Personally, even at 50 inches or more...the human eye really cannot differentiate the difference between 720p and 1080p...provided the display is accurate calibrated and is presenting source material at 1080p. The only time you really see a difference is when you are far too close to the display and pick out the pixel detail.

Another thing to consider is that if you watch a lot of SDTV...it's actually advantageous to have fewer pixels than more. Nothing makes a crappy signal worse then having more and more of it.

The only reason I would consider paying more for 1080p is if I planned to have the computer connected to the display on a regular basis.

Here is some corroborating information to back up my claims that you won't really see a difference
1080p-720p shoot-out in Athens! - AVS Forum
1080p and the Acuity of Human Vision — Reviews and News from Audioholics

Also, a TV with a better video processing unit running at 720p can often perform better than a 1080p set with less sophisticated circuitry.

Hi there
I disagree here -- when I'm watching SKY TV or other HDTV transmitted at 1080p I most definitely CAN tell the difference between 720p and 1080p even on a 32 inch TV.

If you play a Blu Ray DVD you will see the difference too.

The Source HD quality has to be true 1080p -- often stuff is transmitted at 720p which rather obfuscates the issue especially if the TV attempts to "upscale" to 1080p

For TV's smaller than 32 inch then the argument is valid.

(All this assumes decent TV Hardware quality -- LCD's these days are better than plasma sets -- the older plasma sets weren't the best at 1080p).

Cheers
jimbo

 

[bigmck]

Haven't they discontinued making 720p and are only selling what is in stock?

 

[Wishmaster]

I ran a test. Downsizing a 1080P BluRay to 720P. (At very high bit rates)

I have 2 TVs here.

1st is a 46" LCD Panasonic.
The Second is a 60" LG Plasma.
Both have 1080P resolutions.

On the 46", the difference between 720P and 1080P material is barely noticeable.

What difference there is can really only be seen if closer to it.
(And even then you really have to look hard to se it)

However, on the 60" Plasma, I could really tell a difference.
Although not a huge difference, and the 720P material still looked very good, it was certainly sharper @ its native 1080P.

At least to my eyes.


However, this could also be due to the way the TVs interpret the material & upscale to 1080P.

So that may just be the TV itself, and not so much the resolution rendering my little "test" pointless.
Aslo the fact, neither is a native 720P so .....
It was a project to pass the time anyway




I do not play games on either so I can not comment on that part.

 

[pparks1]

Personally, even at 50 inches or more...the human eye really cannot differentiate the difference between 720p and 1080p...provided the display is accurate calibrated and is presenting source material at 1080p. The only time you really see a difference is when you are far too close to the display and pick out the pixel detail.

Another thing to consider is that if you watch a lot of SDTV...it's actually advantageous to have fewer pixels than more. Nothing makes a crappy signal worse then having more and more of it.

The only reason I would consider paying more for 1080p is if I planned to have the computer connected to the display on a regular basis.

Here is some corroborating information to back up my claims that you won't really see a difference
1080p-720p shoot-out in Athens! - AVS Forum
1080p and the Acuity of Human Vision — Reviews and News from Audioholics

Also, a TV with a better video processing unit running at 720p can often perform better than a 1080p set with less sophisticated circuitry.

Hi there
I disagree here -- when I'm watching SKY TV or other HDTV transmitted at 1080p I most definitely CAN tell the difference between 720p and 1080p even on a 32 inch TV.

If you play a Blu Ray DVD you will see the difference too.

The Source HD quality has to be true 1080p -- often stuff is transmitted at 720p which rather obfuscates the issue especially if the TV attempts to "upscale" to 1080p

For TV's smaller than 32 inch then the argument is valid.

(All this assumes decent TV Hardware quality -- LCD's these days are better than plasma sets -- the older plasma sets weren't the best at 1080p).

Cheers
jimbo

You have not followed what I said. The point that I make is that the source is what makes the huge difference....not the display that is outputting it. When you watch a bluray and when you watch SKY TV at 1080p...you are seeing a higher quality source image and thus it will look better.

The question becomes
1). If you had 2 TV's in your house, side by side, properly calibrated, and one of them was a 720p display and the other was a 1080p display....if they were both displaying the same bluray or SKY TV broadcast, and both displays were 50" displays....from a distance of 6ft....could you discern the difference between the two displays? This is where I say NO.

In the case above, the input signal containing all of the image in it's 1080p glory is present in the source. When displayed at 1920x1080, it's being displayed in it's native resolution and thus will look great. When that same image is fed into a 720p display, the scalers in that TV will take the 1920x1080 image and scale it down to a resolution like 1368x768....but it's still going to look great because the original source was great. It's just like reducing the size of a picture on a computer. When you get smaller....it still looks fantastic as you don't lose anything. It's when you try to make it bigger or stretch it out...that quality goes downhill.

So, what I maintain....and lots of people agree with.....is that with the same source material being presented, (lets' say a BluRay at 1080p)....if you see it on a 1080p TV or a 720p TV....from a few feet away.....it's pretty much impossible for 98% of humans to tell you with any certainty which is the 720p and which is the 1080p.

(All this assumes decent TV Hardware quality -- LCD's these days are better than plasma sets -- the older plasma sets weren't the best at 1080p).
Cheers
jimbo

I could not possibly disagree more with you here. LCD's are NOT better than plasma sets. However, LCD's certainly are more popular...even though more expensive than Plasma. I think people are still in fear of Plasma having burn-in still....and people fear the extra energy consumption...even though it's only about $20 per year.

Plasmas still have superior black levels, more accurate colors, better viewing angles and can handle fast motion better. Granted, if you compare a great LCD to a crappy Plasma...the LCD might come out on top....but comparing high quality LCD's and Plasma's....will almost always result in the Plasma coming out on top for contrast and color reproduction.

 

[A Guy]

When watching most broadcast sources (antenna, cable, satellite) you won't see a difference. Ob true 1080P sources (Blue Ray, PS3, X Box) you will. But beyond a certain distance from the set, the difference between 720P and 1080P would be hard to discern.

A Guy

 

[Wishmaster]

My LCD has what I consider a beautiful picture.

But when placed beside my Plasma, all of the sudden flesh tones seem to have a orange/reddish tint to them on the LCD .. when compared to the Plasma.

Hard to explain it, but I never noticed untill compared side by side.

Blacks are deeper and whites brighter on the Plasma as well.



Also, as far as the burn in issue, some (if not all now) Plasmas have features built in to prevent any chance of that.
They do so by slightly moving the image around. Although you can not tell it is.

You can disable this automated feature however if you so choose.
There are manual methods as well if you prefer.

 

[pparks1]

When watching most broadcast sources (antenna, cable, satellite) you won't see a difference. Ob true 1080P sources (Blue Ray, PS3, X Box) you will. But beyond a certain distance from the set, the difference between 720P and 1080P would be hard to discern.

A Guy

Like i said above, you are clearly demonstrating that there IS a difference based on the source. However, the same source in either a 720p set or a 1080p set will essentially be no different based on human vision.

My LCD has what I consider a beautiful picture.

But when placed beside my Plasma, all of the sudden flesh tones seem to have a orange/reddish tint to them on the LCD .. when compared to the Plasma.

Hard to explain it, but I never noticed untill compared side by side.

Blacks are deeper and whites brighter on the Plasma as well.

Thanks for providing a real life example. I'm not trying to say that LCD tv's are junk...I have one in my bedroom and it's just fine....but they aren't hands-down the best.

My Panasonic Plasma replaced a 50" rear projection Sony Grand Wega LCD. The difference between them is substantial. And the price as too with the Sony being about $3300 in 2003 and the Plasma being 999 in 2008.