cg303

Im thinking about buying a Samsung 50" plasma and Ive been doing alot of reading online to see which is best. 1080p or 720p. All the reviews I have read seem to be split down the middle as to which one is better. Theres about a $150 difference between the 2 resolutions. I checked out a couple of stores that sell both tvs but the problem is they had 180p by one manufacturer and 720p by another. They didnt have both tvs by the same one so I could compare. Has anyone ever had both types and can give a really good opinion on which is better? This will be going in my main living room up on the wall, and it'll be about 6 feet away from the couch.

majik

if it's on the wall, you may see a difference side-by-side. If it's in your house, I doubt you'll be able to tell. Most of what you see on TV is broadcast in 720p



Unless you're dedicated PS3 player or you watch Blu-Ray and want the full effect, 1080p won't affect your life much.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1080p#Broadcasts

"In the United States, 1080p over-the-air broadcasts still do not exist as of 2010; all major networks use either 720p60 or 1080i60 encoded with MPEG-2. However, satellite services (e.g. DirecTV, XstreamHD, and Dish Network) utilize the 1080p/24-30 format with MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 encoding for PPV movies that are downloaded in advanced via satellite or on demand via broadband internet only. At this time, no pay service channel such as USA, HDNET, etc. nor premium movie channel such as HBO, etc., stream their services live to MVPD's using this format because many MVPD's, especially DBS and cable, do not have sufficient bandwidth to provide the format streaming live to its subscribers without negatively impacting their current services and because of the high "cost" of using more bandwidth for one 1080p/24 channel than what would be"



"Current generation video game consoles such as Sony's PlayStation 3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360 are able to display games and video content in 1080p. Both consoles do this through HDMI cable connections. Additionally, the Xbox 360 VGA connection, the PlayStation 3 HDMI 1.3a connection and on specific models of the Xbox 360 (manufactured after June 2007) HDMI 1.2a connection also provide 1080p output. On the PS3, developers must provide specific resolution support at the software level, whereas on the Xbox 360, games that are not rendered natively at 1080p are upscaled using a built in scaler (meaning that all X360 games can be displayed in 1080p via upscaling). On both systems, 1080p games are automatically downscaled to 480i/576i to work on SDTVs, or downscaled to 480p/576p to remain compatible with EDTV. Both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 provide 1080p video services. Sony provides both the PlayStation Store VOD service and Blu-ray Disc playback.[14][15] Microsoft provides the Zune Video Marketplace for "instant on" 1080p video content."

turbosocks

1080p is always better. how wouldnt it be? higher resolution. but in reality, on a 50" and smaller TV you wont really notice a difference from 720p to 1080p. on a smaller screen its not a big deal, but if you were looking at a 60-65" TV you might be able to notice a difference.



720p = 921,600 pixels

1080p = 2,073,600



1080p = 2.25X more pixels



on a bigger TV, like a 50", i would personally opt for 1080p for only 150$ more, but at normal viewing distance, you wont really be able to tell the difference from 720p.



if you plan on using the TV as a 'second' monitor for your computer at any point, id also opt for 1080p.



if you are mostly watching TV and not many blue rays, you could also be perfectly fine with a 720p tv as most HD channels are 720p and not 1080p (and probably wont for a while)



plasma TVs are a good choice in my opinion as they have MUCH higher contrast ratios and usually a 600hz or so refresh rate compared to 60-120 on LCDs.

majik

^ good points. Stay at the higher refresh rates.



And 6 ft. away from a 50"? Seems a little close to me. You may want to get 1080, since the 720 pixels will be larger and you may notice decreased quality if you're viewing it close up.



I Found this chart and suggested MINIMUM viewing distances

supercow

found this great chart last month when I was buying a new tv for the bedroom. should answer your question nicely.

krazytib

1080p is the way to go. I can see a difference between 720p and 1080p and since you are sitting closer to the tv you will want the higher resolution for a clearer looking image.



1 drawback to plasma tv's is the fact that they usually draw twice the amount of power compared to an LCD tv of the same size.

majik

I couldn't find exact size comparisons, but taken quickly from BB's website:

1080p Samsung 50" Plasma 600hz - Power Consumption 147w

1080p Samsung 52" LCD 60hz - Power Consumption 134w

1080p Samsung 55" LED LCD 120hz - Power Consumption 94w



I could feel a big difference in heat coming from a Plasma vs. LCD. I now have an LED and it's not much heat at all. I wouldn't let that determine your choice tho