Difference between 1080 and 720=none?


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For those arguing about which looks better:

1080 - 720 = Zero Difference?

Less than three years ago, I bought a Fujitsu 50" plasma television monitor. At the time, I didn't think I was being an early adopter. Plasmas had been out for a while, after all. Sure, image quality had been going up. My unit was one of the first to integrate new technology that helped thwart the burn-in problems found in earlier years. At the time, the unit retailed for $10,000. I fancied myself quite lucky to bag the unit after substantial wrangling for $7,000. Today, I could buy a unit with the same specs for well under $3,000.

ram60_rmpg_Fuji_50.giftitle_arrow.gifblue_dot.gifBuyer's Remorse.

I could tell you how little my 50" Fujitsu costs now versus when I bought it. But the good news is that my buyer's remorse could have been a lot worse.

The price drop doesn't bother me. (Well, not very much.) As a PC reseller, I spent years advising people not to look over their shoulders at pricing changes, and I'm prepared to swallow the same bitter medicine. No, what really bugs me is that I was one to two years shy of the HDMI port adoption?my monitor only has DVI, component, and S-Video?and the change-up to 1080p HD resolution. This last point particularly irks Three years ago, 720p was considered HD and 1080 was some exorbitant spec on the distant horizon. Now, 1080p is the standard in HD. That's frickin' great. Seven grand sitting on my wall, an Xbox 360 and Comcast Digital pumping high-def content to the screen, some blue laser format inevitably headed for my home theater in the next 12 months, and I'm stuck with trailing-edge 72I imagine there are plenty of customers out there who look at this and swear off getting involved in the HD madness, which is bad news for the channel as convergence technologies continue to gain steam.

This is why I was immensely relieved to read that the Imaging Science Foundation, the industry's top name in digital video testing, qualification, and certification, recently proclaimed that the difference between 720p and 1080p is much less than one would suspeIn fact, resolution ranks fourth on an image quality priority list behind contrast ratio, color saturation, and color accuracy. Outside testing done at CNET similarly confirms that professional evaluators could fonly minor difference between the two resolutions and then only under certain circumstances. "Today's high-def broadcasts are done in either 1080i or 720p, and there's little or no chance they'll jump to 1080p any time soon because of bandwidth issues," notes one CNET page.

ram60_rmpg_720_vs_1080.jpgtitle_arrow.gifhttp://www.reselleradvocate.com/public/ram/builder_spotlight/synnex_june_emailer/images/blue_dot.gif[/Look Closely.

There are still times when you can see the difference between 720p and 1080p.

Here's one example of some screen grabs.

(Hint: The lizard on the left shows more pixelated edges.)

My temper is further soothed by ongoing visits to Costco and other electronics stores, in which I'm greetedphalanxes of 1080p flat panels, nearly all of which look inferior to my trusty Fujitsu 720p. The point is twofold: 1) Don't let customers get sucked into the whirlpool of spec concerns. The numbers people worry about most may not matter much in the end.You have an opportunity to help guide customers into the displays that will reward them the most for their investment. Clearly, people should not be focusing on resolution and price.

We're seeing ever-increasing ways to get PC-based multimedia into the living room, so your role as technology counselor, provider, and/or installer is going to become increasingly valuable. you're not going to want to recommend a 720p screen to anyone, especially not with blue laser on the verge of going mainstream. But if you can find one or two models that are available through distribution and deliver exceptional results with PC and disc-based HD content, then you'rea better position to be an authority during the HD transition and not an idle bystander.

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Once you get 60"+ then 1080p really does matter. On a 50" TV it is very hard to see the difference unless you are less than 9 feet away from the screen. Moral of the story, save some money and buy 720p on 50" and less as long as all other things are equal. If the 1080p model has better features, contrast, color, build quality, etc, then I would buy that instead. Hence the reason why a 50" Fujitsu or Pio 1140HD (both 768p) are better buys than the Pio FHD1 (1080p) at most viewing distances, while on the other hand a 50" sony sxrd (1080p) is a better buy than a sony 50" rp lcd (720p).

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I have a 57" and I've switched my Xbox from 720 to 1080 and I can't tell the difference :shrug:

That might be because you simply went from upscaling 720 to 1080 with the TV to simply doing the upscaling on the 360...or have you tried HD-DVD movies and get the same result?

Edit: Forgot to say that I'll probably finally get an HDTV within the next 6 months if the predictions on decent price drops come true. I think a good 37-40" 720p will do me fine for now. I'd don't think I'll miss the difference. A year or two later I'll probably get a bigger one with 1080p if I move.

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That might be because you simply went from upscaling 720 to 1080 with the TV to simply doing the upscaling on the 360...or have you tried HD-DVD movies and get the same result?

Edit: Forgot to say that I'll probably finally get an HDTV within the next 6 months if the predictions on decent price drops come true. I think a good 37-40" 720p will do me fine for now. I'd don't think I'll miss the difference. A year or two later I'll probably get a bigger one with 1080p if I move.

Well, I'm not going from 720p to 1080p. I can only do 1080i. I don't have any HD movies to watch. I don't know what HD TV transmits in but I've tried to switch that between 720p to 1080i and I don't see a difference. I have a 57" rear projection Hitachi, so it's not even an LCD or plasma. I'm sure I lose some clarity there too. :(

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the funniest thing of that article is how it uses two low res images - so low res that their resolution is inferior to SDTV - to compare 720p and 1080p

i totally dis considered the article...

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Well, I'm not going from 720p to 1080p. I can only do 1080i. I don't have any HD movies to watch. I don't know what HD TV transmits in but I've tried to switch that between 720p to 1080i and I don't see a difference. I have a 57" rear projection Hitachi, so it's not even an LCD or plasma. I'm sure I lose some clarity there too. :(

I think you need to understand, your TV needs to have a native resolution of 1080i/p in order to see a big difference between 720p and above.

If your TV set is 720p native, you won't see any difference with 1080i most likely. Simply because your set is only going to show a maximum of 1280x720 anyway.

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I think you need to understand, your TV needs to have a native resolution of 1080i/p in order to see a big difference between 720p and above.

If your TV set is 720p native, you won't see any difference with 1080i most likely. Simply because your set is only going to show a maximum of 1280x720 anyway.

OK, enough about my "early adoption" issues :p

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I don't think 720p is going away any time soon. Just relax.

I brought a 720p set today, I'm fed up of waiting for 1080p sets to go below ?1300/1400 here and playing my 360 on my SDTV is making me cry.

Its the same as PC tech, you could either buy now or be forever waiting for new tech

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I don't think 720p is going away any time soon. Just relax.

Nothing wrong with 720p. The games with the best visuals will always be in 720p native (simply because the resources are not the same with 1080p with either the 360 or PS3).

And just one note. A great quality 720p set will look better then some cheaper make/model with 1080p. It isn't just about resolution, there's other make or break elements to a display's quality that have nothing to do with 720p/1080p.

But if you do get a 50"+ screen.. At this point your best bet is a 1080p set, especially if you go for DLP (the 1080p DLP sets have improved versions of the DLP technology, and it makes a difference definitely). If you go for 1080p LCD I would stick to these makes: Samsung, Sharp, Sony, LG. My personal preference is Samsung because their LCD's were used as the "test" models for VGA output, and looks amazing (better then Component imho). Not to mention VGA is the only way for 1080p upscaled DVD's, or 1080p HD-DVD.

However, if you go for Plasma you will pay "a lot", and I do mean "a lot" for a good 1080p set. And you won't be going wrong getting a 720p (or 1360x768) set. But stay away from any plasma with a native resolution below 720p. Just because it says "720p/1080i support" does not mean it has true 720p.

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^How do you know a TV has true 720p?

Look for the native resolution. You should always be able to find it on the manufacturer's website. And usually the store that sells them has it listed.

Unless you have a plasma I wouldn't worry too much about having a tv with a native resolution below 720p.

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Haha... He didn't know that 1080 was HD? Where has he been? Read any history on HDTV and you will find it's always had a max spec of 1920x1080. Lots of articles here.

Who drops $7K and doesn't understand that??? LOL... This guy is just trying to justify spending SEVEN THOUSAND DOLLARS on a television.

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Haha... He didn't know that 1080 was HD? Where has he been? Read any history on HDTV and you will find it's always had a max spec of 1920x1080. Lots of articles here.

Who drops $7K and doesn't understand that??? LOL... This guy is just trying to justify spending SEVEN THOUSAND DOLLARS on a television.

720p/1080i was and still is considered HDTV. 1080p is a very recent addition to HDTV.
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720p/1080i was and still is considered HDTV. 1080p is a very recent addition to HDTV.

Anything beyond SDTV is considered HDTV. Still doesn't mean people years ago buying 720p televisions should have thought that TVs with higher resolution weren't just around the corner.

Read all about it. :)

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Anything beyond SDTV is considered HDTV. Still doesn't mean people years ago buying 720p televisions should have thought that TVs with higher resolution weren't just around the corner.

Read all about it. :)

Technically, that's wrong. 480p is above SDTV but is not HD.

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