Well that was fast.

Alright, off to look at the cheaper TVs.

According to CNet, you won't notice any difference on screen sizes smaller than 50" at normal viewing distances.

http://reviews.cnet.com/720p-vs-1080p-hdtv/

Of course, the end decision is up to you.

I always noticed a difference on anything larger then 32" (LCD HDTV/Monitor). 32" it's near impossible for me to see the difference between 720 & 1080. Next size up (36?) I can SEE the difference. When I view a TV in the store I stand as far away as I would at home. That helps.

How about you just go to a store with both 720p and 1080p LCDs, and compare them side by side?

If you have good eyesight, that will make you immediately forget what the "experts" say.

One useful takeaway from the obsolete CNET article:

...the main real-world advantage of 1080p is not the extra sharpness you'll be seeing, but instead, the smaller, more densely packed pixels. In other words, you can sit closer to a 1080p television and not notice any pixel structure, such as stair-stepping along diagonal lines, or the screen door effect (where you can actually see the space between the pixels). This advantage applies regardless of the quality of the source.

Years ago, 1080 was in its infancy and "experts" were comparing direct-viewed CRTs and misc. front projectors with 720p LCDs.

May I suggest you become an "expert" on what's best for you?

When I saw 1080 side by side with 720 LCDs at normal viewing distances (and even beyond), I saw a very clear difference even with a medium cable or satellite signal, and the "screendoor effect" on 720 screens bothered me a great deal.

Of course I have 20/15 vision on a good day, but my wife doesn't, so she probably wouldn't see the difference.

On the other hand, she hollered in joy about the improved over-the-air TV picture quality after I switched to better antenna RF cabling without her knowledge, and that was with her viewing a 24" 1080P LCD from more than six feet away (eye ball to front of LCD). That's twenty-four inches, half of the minimum size where "it makes a difference" according to the "experts." [No wonder people are increasingly looking down on "experts" for their lack of true understanding, and they seek out "gurus" as people who are able to answer also questions that have not been asked before].

Note that even digital TV picture quality is dependent on the quality of the signal. It is NOT just that if you have a signal, it is perfect.

(There are simple, straightforward explanations for that, no voodoo involved. Think jitter in digital audio signals, that's similar to what's happening here.)

And OTA TV has jaw dropping quality (very significantly better than cable or satellite), if you're lucky enough to have the station transmitters within 50 miles or so depending on terrain).

Please trust your own eyes, or you may be living with regrets.

Especially when you have a choice of several say 37" 1080 LCDs for $500-$600 this week (Westinghouse and Polaroid for example).

Personally, I'd go for the 1080p regardless of screen size. Part of the beauty of HD is that you can sit much closer than one used to with standard def TVs. The reason that we traditionally sat so far away from SD TVs is that they looked like hell close up. I sit about 5 feet away from my 42" 1080p and it looks great!

Great topic! I've been exploring this a bit right now so here is my .02

720p and 1080p on the same size set look very similar, even side by side (in my opinion). The only somewhat noticeable difference I can find is in text. On a 1080p text or graphics look just a tiny bit sharper, but since i mostly watch movies I'm wondering how crucial this is. It seems the price difference for 1080p vs 720p is getting pretty small so I imagine shelling out the extra $50/100 bucks for peace of mind is worth something.

Also, at my office we have a home theater set up with a 12 by 7 foot screen, which is huge for the space. This thing is fed by a 720p projector and looks really amazing, even DVD's look amazing. I think it's just the size and "impact" of the image for lack of a better word. The pixels must be an 8th of an inch across but even 12 feet from the screen you don't really notice. You can see them if your looking, like when you focus the PJ, but as soon as the movie starts your brain just tunes em' out.

So...my point... GO BIG! Get the biggest screen you can get, I think size is a more important factor than resolution.

Also:

On these small screens (32ish) you can not tell the difference in the actual material/signal being 1080 or 720.

I have done a lot of test renders of the same original 1080i material to 1080i and 720P and you just cant tell the difference.

I totally understand about the LCD screen native resolution though.

IMO, I would't even hook a HD player to a 32" or smaller screen. Not worth it vs. how good most SD DVDs are. You certainly need HD cable or OTA though.

On a related note, the kids just destroyed the screen Sunday on my 4 year old 51" HDTV. They sprayed about a half of a bottle of 409 on the screen and it ran down to the bottom bezel and went inside and wiped out the bottom of the screen.

Im thinking of going with one of the 58" Plasmas, but we all know how SD programs look like garbage on bigger screens. It's an even bigger target for the kids too.

Things to consider. A 35mm print is only 700 lines resolution and most people hold 35mm as the gold standard. However no matter how much you enlarge 35mm by getting closer to the screen you'll never see pixels. The same cannot be said for a 720 resolution LCD.

Bob.

A 35mm print does not have lines of resolution though. There are no clear demarcations and that makes a big difference to the perceived resolution. I can always see the difference between 720 and 1080 screens and I have quite poor vision.

If you send zone plates through the TV, then you can absolutely and easily see the difference between 1080 and 720. Scaling a 1080 image to 720 will introduce artifacts (and vice versa, and also between SD, 720, and 1080).
http://www.glennchan.info/broadcast-monitors/scaling-artifacts/scaling-artifacts.htm

But zone plates are a bit of an extreme case...

The difference in PQ between Low end 720 and 1080 HDTVs is somewhat less apparent... but compare a high end (Sony XBR) and there is a major difference.

You get what you pay for!

On these small screens (32ish) you can not tell the difference in the actual material/signal being 1080 or 720. I have done a lot of test renders of the same original 1080i material to 1080i and 720P and you just cant tell the difference.

It's easy to make a [correct] statement about your own setup.

It takes a lot more work to make a general statement that covers also other classes of input signals and different types of displays.


A 35mm print is only 700 lines resolution.

In Hollywood, the best 35mm camera negatives are seen as having beyond 4K of information.

Of course that is very different from a poorly made projection print on cheaper film stock, projected through a $138.00 projection lens (the most common type in U.S. non-urban theaters).