720p v. 1080p - TV Upgrade

[Cajungaltx]

I've got a huge monstrosity of a rear projection t.v with the entertainment center that it fits into going on the chopping block next week.

I've been watching Newegg/Pricewatch/etc for good prices and got an email for a Toshiba 32" 1080p LCD for $399.

I can pick up a 37" 720p for the same price...

It's going to be the ONLY t.v. that is in my house...so I thought I'd ask if the 1080p v. 720p factor is a 'huge' deal. I understand the resolution... but considering I'm using it on a 37" t.v. versus a 'huge' t.v. in just the living room (viewing distance is +5 feet) how important is the 1080p factor?

I own a DVD player/VCR player combo (darned Disney VHS tapes!)...

[groovyone]

Many argue at any TV under 46" you will not see a difference. The benefit I guess would be easier decoding of full 1080 signals. Personally, I'd try to find the best total package in the size I want rather than get hung up on 720/1080 in that size range.

[Crashoran]

Most (if not all) major networks broadcast in 720p/1080i; so unless you plan on adding a blu-ray player you would want 1080p to get the most out of it, but at 32" you won't see a huge difference

[epoh]

I'd want to look at more info on the TVs. The hubby and I just got through looking at lots of TVs in Frys and Best buy to see the difference before we bought online. One thing we noticed with the LCDs is that the hertz (I think it was?) can really make a difference. Some of the tvs were at a particular hertz and the picture just looked funny to me.. almost like weird video-game type of delay or something happening. Hard to explain.

At any rate, I'd check out DealNews.com - that's how the hubby found our TV. Just a quick look and I found these:

LG 32" 1030p Widescreen LCD - $380 (free shipping) LG 32" 1080p Widescreen LCD HDTV $380 - dealnews.com
Proscan 40" 1080p Widescreen LCD - $488 (free shipping) Proscan 40" 1080p Widescreen HDTV $488 - dealnews.com

[janikphoto]

My 32", 42" and 50" are all 720p, and they look good enough to me!

[groovyone]

Originally Posted by epoh

I'd want to look at more info on the TVs. The hubby and I just got through looking at lots of TVs in Frys and Best buy to see the difference before we bought online. One thing we noticed with the LCDs is that the hertz (I think it was?) can really make a difference. Some of the tvs were at a particular hertz and the picture just looked funny to me.. almost like weird video-game type of delay or something happening. Hard to explain.

At any rate, I'd check out DealNews.com - that's how the hubby found our TV. Just a quick look and I found these:

LG 32" 1030p Widescreen LCD - $380 (free shipping) LG 32" 1080p Widescreen LCD HDTV $380 - dealnews.com
Proscan 40" 1080p Widescreen LCD - $488 (free shipping) Proscan 40" 1080p Widescreen HDTV $488 - dealnews.com

Many have a "motionFlow" feature, 120Hz, 240Hz, etc. You can turn it off. You should look for one that can do 24Hz and 60Hz. 60 is standard and many movies are 24.

[SJHester]

Donna,

Another factor, your cable or satellite company may only deliver 720P, so it might be a moot point. I have both a 37" 1080I and a 32" 720P and frankly for my old eyes, i dont see much of a difference.

Actually the 32" 720P set does a better job of displaying standard def (not as many artifacts) IMHO.

Just my 2 cents

[Dobick]

I think more important than resolution will be number of inputs and the different devices you might plan on hooking into it.

Let's say you want to hook in a DVD player - one gone
Hook up satellite or cable box - two down
Game console - three down
laptop to display photos - fourth gone

All four could possibly use HDMI so you might want to look at one with 3 or 4 hdmi inputs

[mmuhlenkamp]

Unless you get a blu-ray player (PS3!) you won't see much difference, but blu-rays are awesome so it would be nice to have the resolution there if you decide to get one.

[texkam]

I also heard it's all about hertz. Maybe some of our more technical members will shed some lumens on this matter.

[Jake]

Bluray still looks great on 720p TV's BTW.

You will benefit more from a larger TV than from resolution. Of the 2, I would go for the larger set.
at 32" and 37" it's not an issue unless you use it as a computer monitor, then 1080p would be good.

Not sure how you feel about plasma's but you can find good deals on 42" 720p Plasma that often time look better than the cheaper LCD's.

[Jake]

Oh, and the only good thing about 120Hz over 60Hz is that it can play 24p content without doing a 3:2 pulldown. All the motion smoothing stuff is pure crap(imho).

[Jeff_Green]

You will not be able to notice any difference in picture between a 32" 1080 and a 37" 720... except in viewing size. The refresh rate can make a difference, but I would guess that those two you listed are probably the same.

[ggeen]

If you are not a die hard, must have the greatest TV, pixel peeping, movie watcher; then save yourself a little money and get the 720p.

If you are a must have it, pixel peeper, then get the 1080p.

120 Hz will have less blur than 60 Hz. 240 Hz should have less blur than 120 Hz but that is not always the case.

[jeffkohn]

Get the 37". 32" 16:9 Widescreen is pretty small.

But I wouldn't shop on _just_ screen size or resolution. Check things like contrast ratio and black level, supported frame-rates (I think the 120/240 stuff is overrated, but 24p is nice for blu-ray).

If the sets you're looking at do support 120/240hz, make sure that any future blu-ray player you get supports 24hz playback. From what I've seen the 120/240 sets look awful when fed a 60hz signal from blu-ray.