Choosing a new HDTV (which, in most cases, is also the first one) can always prove to be a pretty tricky process, given the fact that, for most people, those long lists of specs are utter gibberish, and the only things they rely on are the quality of the image, the size and the salesperson's indications. However, most salespersons generally try to convince the customer to purchase a more expensive product, and they often succeed due to the lack of technical knowledge on the part of the would-be customer.
Now, there are quite a lot of aspects and issues that must be taken into account when purchasing a new TV, whether we're talking about the display technology (LCD or PDP), the diagonal size, the brand, the backligthing system, etc. All of these issues will be tackled separately in some of our future articles, but what we'll talk about as follows is the difference between 1080p and 720p and which is the best solution for your needs.
1080p (Full HD) vs. 720p (HD Ready)
1080p and 720p (or Full HD and HD-ready, as they're generally presented by the manufacturers) are related to the number of horizontal lines displayed by a TV set (720 or 1080, respectively), as well as the way they are displayed (progressive, which means that all of the lines that form a certain frame are drawn in sequence).
Of course, these are just technical details, but they are very important, as they are related to the next chapter of this short guide.
What kind of video signal source will you be using? This is perhaps the most important question anyone should ask himself/herself before going out and purchasing a new HDTV, because there are quite a lot of cases when people buy 1080p TVs without ever purchasing a Full HD signal source (such as a Blu-ray player). So, as follows, we've listed some of the most common video signal sources, as well as what the recommended signal sources are.
Just cable
OK, so, if you only use TV for watching programs transmitted via your cable network (even your digital cable network), then a 720p TV set will be quite enough, simply because most network operators transmit in this format.
Some also transmit in 1080i, but the differences between 1080i and 720p are not exactly very visible, unless we're talking about some pretty high diagonal sizes.
Cable and a DVD player Most people who purchase a widescreen TV do so either in order to watch TV (as mentioned in the paragraph above) or movies stored on DVDs (which is still the most popular content distribution solution). However, all DVDs are standard-definition, so it's actually no difference whether you choose a Full HD or a HD-ready TV.
Nevertheless, if you happen to own a DVD player with upscaling capabilities or the TV you intend to purchase provides such up-conversion features, then you really should go ahead and opt for 1080p. Upscaling really does a lot for the quality of the movies stored on normal DVDs, but the end result is still far from Blu-ray.
Video gaming consoles
Since there are only three major gaming consoles sold on the market as we speak, we'll refer to each of them as follows.
- Wii – 720p is enough;
- Xbox 360 – it's a 50/50 decision here; although most games provide 720p resolution, the future might also bring some 1080p titles;
- PlayStation 3 – 1080p, without a doubt (especially since it also packs a Blu-ray player).
Blu-ray and high-definition devices
So, if you've got any type of HD-capable device (camcorder, Blu-ray player, Blu-ray recorder, notebook, etc.), then, without a doubt, 1080p is the way to go. After all, your collection of HD-enabled devices will most likely get bigger in the future.
The diagonal size
The diagonal size of a TV is also an extremely important factor when deciding to go either Full HD or HD-ready. Hence, if your TV is somewhere below 42 inches, then again, you shouldn't really bother about the 1080p vs. 720p issue because the differences in image quality and detail level are not that visible. However, if you're planning to go really widescreen, then 1080p is a much better solution, simply due to the fact that, on such a large display, the lack of details from the 720p format will be a lot more visible.
The right price Of course, regardless of all technical specs and image quality, the price is ultimately one of the most important factors to be taken into account when purchasing a new HD-enabled display. If you've got the money and you're thinking ahead, you should go out and purchase the latest 1080p TV set. This decision will most likely affect your future habits as well, since once you've gone HD, you'll most likely never go back to SD.
However, given the fact that, right now, the state of the economy is a very poor one, you should be quite careful with your choice. After all, what's the point of throwing a couple of hundred (or thousand) bucks when you really don't need to?
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