Why Not 720p?
 

I am thinking it might be time to upgrade from my old 32" tube TV. :rolleyes:

After some 'searching' I think I should buy a 720p plasma.

Why?

- Cheap cheap cheap, at least $200 cheaper than a 1080 (probably $300 less than a 120Hz LCD TV)

- My satellite service is only 720, and I won't be getting 1080 any time soon (at least five years)

- I don't watch many movies, I don't have a HD DVD player, I doubt I will buy one.

Am I missing something?

Just my opinion, but if you're not watching 1080 sports or Blu-Ray movies 720 is just fine.

Save the money.

Heck, HD looks good on my 720 50" Plasma Samsung. Movies are good too.

One thing about plasma, they do have a burn-in problem, if you watch a particular show each day, and it has a logo in a permanent position, you will get a ghosted image of that logo.

It's not a deal breaker, there are workarounds that have various degrees of success.

720p is fine for any tv smaller than 55" when viewing distance is about 10ft

u really don't get benefit of 1080p unless you're sitting really close or your tv's bigger than 70"

http://s3.carltonbale.com/resolution_chart.png

I won't have that problem.

The graph makes me lean to 720 even more... 12' x 42" TV.

720 and 1080 are different enough where you can tell but not different enough where you can care. I actually PREFER 720 because 1080 can be TOO REAL!

I'm in the "save the money" camp too... I have a 37" 720p, and I've never wished for a better picture.

When Manny Paquiao is fighting, I want 1080. I watched Avatar on 1080 Blu-Ray. It was pretty amazing.

Likely your set top box is not transmitting 1080p even on most "HD" channles so 720p is fine for most TV watching. At least for now. For watching Blu Ray, 1080p is a must, and you can tell the difference.

Why Not 720p?

HA! ... I thought this was a thread on cell phones! (read: time to get with the times)

Funny. Years ago, nobody ever looked at their 20" CRT TV and wished they had better resolution or Deep Color support. Until they started seeing it, and then they realize what they're missing.

My company sells equipment for HD video transmission, and we're starting to see demand in the security camera space. One customer told us, their security guards are complaining that the screens don't look right. Too blurry compared to the HDTV they are watching at home!

Question should be more like why plasma why not LCD?

Plasma does not do well in direct sunlight or in rooms with bright light. The colours will fade much faster than LCD. Unless, of course, there have been some major changes in the past year. LCD should be cheaper than plasma, again unless there have been some major changes.

We have a Sharp AQUOS (36") and bought one (46 or 48"?) for the in-laws and we all love it! We bought a Phillips 7XXXXX (36") for my mom and it looks GREAT! I also like the Toshiba.

Remember, higher end stores will likely have higher end sets. Don't compare just prices. Compare model numbers and make sure you are really looking model to model. It does make a difference!

Let me fix it: My Iphone records video in 720p ;-)

Ditto on the advice above... And plasmas have a higher failure rate than LCDs, I work for a big hotel chain that has tons of plasma/LCD screens all over the world, plasmas are killing us. Go LCD !!!

Go LED LCD - much more energy efficient! At least that’s the excuse I used but its true!

I only watch at night,at least 90%.

There seems to be very few 720p LCD, lots of plasma. Not sure why.

I think Greg has the best reasons for LCD: Total cost of ownership.

The issue is not when you watch, the issue is the sunlight interacting with the TV set. Plasma fades. If the room where the tv will sit during the day is bathed in light then the set will not last as long, significantly shorter lifespan on the picture quality. I believe the life of the screen on Plasma is shorter than the LCD as well for total hours watched. My in-laws keep their set on almost 24/7. Even when no one is home. No issues in over two years and still a lovely picture without fading (wife checked it against her Apple just a couple of weeks ago). Their living room is bathed in light all day long with windows on both the east and west.

I have not been looking for over a year. At that time there were several 720p LCD available. Could this just be an issue in your area? What is the price difference between 720p Plasma and 1080p LCD?

I just never understood the trade-offs between the two and why Plasma would be a better way to go for someone who keeps the equipment for long term. Like you, I kept a picture tube for years after the newer style sets came out. It wasn't until about 2007 that we bought an LCD and that was only because the picture tube went out on our 15 year old Hitachi. Same reason we replaced my moms 15+ year old Sony and in-laws ~7 year old Samsung.

All three of the sets we bought were previous year models that were on deep discounts.

I have 1080P LCD's and older nice CRT's both fed with OTA HD signals.

The pic quality on the CRT is beautiful. I see no reason to get rid of the old sets other than the fact that they are 2' thick.

I believe I need to go to 1080p 120 Hz LCD to get a sports image comparable to plasma. everyone says that 60 Hz LCD is choppy.

I think 1080p 120 Hz is a 50% premium over 720 plasma. Roughly. $600 vs. $900.

I would hold for a 1080p. True, that most sources are no higher the 720p or 1080i, but blue-ray and PS3 uses the 1080p and my kids (spoiled I know) complain that the 65"DLP is no 1080p for the PS3 and the blue-ray movies it plays. It wasn't available when I got the set. The price is pretty close anymore, I would keep 1080p as a minimum needed option.

Pricegrabber

Check out this site. It's showing all LCD TV's 40" and larger sorted by lowest price first.

Better television, same crap programming.

I haven't bothered "upgrading" and still have a CRT that I watch maybe an hour every week or two on when I'm really bored.

When the programming stops sucking, I'll worry about upgrading.

I am thinking of a 42" LED to use as a computer monitor though. That'd be cool.

Plus they are so thin! :eek:

$750 at BJs for a 47 in 1080 120hz Vizio

IMHO, 720P is plenty

I will admit that I haven't shopped displays in a few years, but when I was looking I found the picture on a good plasma to be more "filmic" than on a good LCD. Since I mostly watch DVDs (uprezzed) my goal is to get as close to film as possible. Plasmas (at least a few years ago) tended to have blacker blacks, which has been one of the gold standards for display quality. The Pioneer Kuros used to be the "must-have" display if you wanted to watch movies.

Likely because the jutter/flicker on the plasmas is so much more prominent (and film is 24 fps) . . .whereas the good LCD's not only refresh 1000% faster (240hz) they also interpolate the frames between.

It is weird how movies loses a certain 'movie' quality w/o the flicker. ...w/ a good 240hz LCD, it's a bit like you are watching the filming of a movie.

A 720p plasma will get you great picture quality for everything can put on it for a great price.

After doing the research for myself it will be the plasma until they come up with something better. 58" Panasonic THX plasma in the house with fantastic picture and very black blacks. Check out the comparison of LCD/plasma TV's on the link below.

Here is a link for a comparison of lcd vs plasma from LCD TV Buying Guide. The 240hz LCD sets introduce their own set of issues with picture quality an excerpt from the article found here. LCD TV vs Plasma TV Which is Best? from LCD TV Buying Guide

"LCD TV manufaacturers have worked hard to overcome the motion lag issue. Last years models saw the introduction of 120Hz refresh rate (up from 60). This year many models were introduced with 240Hz refresh rate. This refresh rate has drastically improved the response time. However, it also introduces unwanted video information by sharpening the picture background information and taking out necessary blur. This may seem like a positive, but with 90% of your viewing material, it is not. Depending upon the manufacturer, we advise turning off the 120Hz or 240Hz feature with all but live sports programming."

Prices (where I live)

42" 720p Plasma (name brand) $580-$700

40" 1080 p 60 Hz (name brand) $700

42" 1080 p 120 Hz (none name brand, Insignia) $800

42" 1080 p 120 Hz (name brand, LG) $1,400

I am humming and hawing up to the $800 mark. I don't want to miss out on a significantly better TV for $150.

Usual caveat. . . Unless something has changed: The only devises pushing 1080P are Xboxes, PS2, and HD DVD players when playing HD movies. Standard movies played on a DVD player are 480P that get upgraded by the player to 720P or 1080i. Broadcast TV in the USA is either 720P or 1080i. I am not sure what DirecTV is pushing these days.

Like Nostatic said, plasma generally has a richer color set and much better blacks. Burn in is a thing of early generation sets. LCD's are better in very bright rooms and sometimes with action sports.

720P or 1080I are still viable resolutions.

do not be swayed by 1080i. it is not better than 720p. it's entirely a marketing gimmick. 1080i shows u two alternating sets of 720p pictures.

Further evidence that 720p isn't a bad idea:

AppleInsider | Next Apple TV to be renamed iTV, drop 1080p, gain apps - rumor

I just picked up this tv today since I have been shopping around for a few weeks:

Sam's Club-*$797 after $100 Instant Savings* 40" Sony LCD 1080p 240Hz HDTV

For less then $800, it has a boatload of option, the most of which was having a wifi or ethernet connection to my home network. 1080p and 240hz refresh isn't to shabby for this price also. I understand the reason some have for staying away from 1080p. This is my 4th current hd set and 2 of them aren't 1080p since they are for mostly TV watching. What I don't get is that some think that 1080p resolution is a fad or something. The basics are that you are buying a TV with superior resolution, just like a computer monitor. It is true the 720p and 1080i's are cheaper, but its mostly because they aren't as good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-JXfyvlPh0

Also found this to fuel the 720p vs 1080i topic

I'll get rid of my current tv when it dies, and the same for the next one w/o a compelling tech shift (vr, etc).

When I want to cheat (usually over winter break) and have big movies in my living room, I bring home a 4000 lumen projector from work. Have the perfect wall for it, works like a champ.

ahhh. . . what!?

My local Costco now has 46" Sony Bravia's 1080p 120 Hz for $799 after rebate.

I think I know what I'm getting...it's only a $200 premium.

Just got a 55' Samsung LED LCD with the 1080p and 120 hz and it is stunning. My jaw hurts from it dropping on the floor after watching an HD broadcast.

whoops. typed wrong letter. "1080i is two sets of 720p pictures" not 1080p

1080p = awesome

Still wrong. If you can, watch the youtube clip on my last post. It is two sets of 540 scans compared to one of 720p. The clips makes the arguement for 720p being superior and I tend to agree.