Home audio & video forum: 1024 X 768 vs. 1366 X 768--what's the diff?

thanks for the response. there must be a reason for 42" plasmas all having 1024 X 768 resolution. is there a technical reason? you are right, plasmas typically don't have 1366 X 768 until they hit 50", though i found a philips 37"(50pf9956/37) plasma at 1366. 42" and lower lcd tv's typically have 1366. does 1366 necessarily make it a sharper picture? where do the brightness and contrast ratios factor in?
if espn broadcasts in 720p, is that the number of horizontal lines i receive on my set?

if your sony is 1024 X 1024, does the set get a better picture than a 1024 X 768 set if the broadcasts are 720p or 1080i? that's part of my confusion.

Since the native resolution on my plasma is 720p, that is where it should look best. But, my Dish receiver can bet set to output at 720p or 1080i and it looks much sharper at 1080i. Until they start broadcasting in 1080p, you will never receive anything that is sharper than your set can display.

720p is 1280X720, 1080i&p is 1920X1080.
The TV is rescaling the video to fit it's display area.
A 1024X768 will have to discard some pixels, a 1366x768 will show the full 720x1280, it will have to rescale and disard pixels to show 1080i.
To show all the pixials at TV will have to be able to do 1080i. This is life in the digital world. John

A previous poster stated "BTW, I don't believe I've seen any 42" plasmas which go beyond 1024x768 - you have to go to 50" models for that. " My 23" Sony is rated at 1366 X 768. I understand that sets that are rated at 1080p can only be as small as 50" due to the space needed for the millions of pixels.

How does one really know what the native resolution is of their TV? My Sony says it displays 480i, 480p, 720p and 1080i. Does this mean that all of these resolutions are "native"?

My HD cable box outputs everything at 1080i, regardless of what is being broadcast. I would think that part of the picture quality problem goes beyond our individual TVs and revolves around the actual cable or satellite box that converts the signal. Also, there are many factors that affect the picture quality in this very big jugsaw puzzle of High Def. Was the original material shot at 720p or 1080i, and was it shot at 24fps or 30fps? And, do we have our TV settings adjusted so it will do the "Cinema" mode translation to get the most out of material shot at 24fps? Also, a lot of broadcasters simply up-res the SD material to "high def", which isn't really high-def and why some "high-def" material doesn't look great. So far, from what I've seen, the Discovery HD channel and PBS have the best HD material, followed by the local channels that broadcast material that actually originates in HD. Some local stations orginate material in 720p while others use 1080i. They both look good.

I suspect the slight difference in pixels between 720 and 768 will not make a difference. The picture will either be scaled to fit or the 24 pixels at the top and bottom will not be used. My 37 LCD has a native resolution of 1080 x 1920 and if the program material is being broadcast in true 1080i the picture is significantly better. If the program is broadcast in 720 it will be scaled to fit regardless of my cable box settings. Is 1080i better? In some respects yes but the signal being sent is interlaced (i) meaning motion is not as smooth. Plasma has better color than LCD in my opinion. I would say over all plasma is easier to watch but the resolution of true 1080i is very impressive. 1080p will be very impressive someday as long as there isn't too many compression artifacts but the only difference will be in the way it handles motion because the resolution will be exactly the same 1080i. At this point it takes twice as much information to make a 1080p picture which is the reason for interlacing in the first place. Don't let anyone tell you that the higher 1080 resolution makes no difference. The difference might not be significant enough for you to pay more money but there is a definite difference if the programming is broadcast in 1080i (HDnet is all 1080i). I would not consider a new display without 1080p at this point. (run a search "interlaced vs. progressive scan" for more detailed information.)

i've appreciated everyone's responses. i'm not nearly as confused, but i still have some questions that i wish you all might take time to answer either singularly or altogether.
1. How many pixels does a 42" plasma 1024 X 768 really display with a 720p or 1080i broadcast? How many horizontal lines would there be? I assume there are 1024 vertical lines stretched to resemble 1366 vertical lines but i might be incorrect.
2. Is there a relationship between brightness and contrast ratios and number of native resolution or number of pixels? Are the brightness and contrast ratios of lcd's comparable to plasmas.
3. Why do 42" plasmas typically have resolutions of 1024 X 768? Is it technical, picture quality, or what?
4. Is a 1024 X 1024 42" plasma going to inherently be capable of a better picture than a 1024 X 768 42" plasma?
5. is there an internet site that has info on rescaling high def for a particular tv? see reply from jcrobso.

does this mean if my tv is 1024 x 768 and the signal is 720p, that i get scaled back from 768 to 720 horizontal lines in one pass? and that 1366 vertical lines(or pixels) are scaled(stretched) to 1024?

thanks for hanging in there on this thread and finishing it off. i'm very appreciative.
i guess my only question for clarification is if my screen is 1024 x 768 and 16:9 ratio, with a 720p or 1080i broadcast, do i have 720 or 768 pixels high?
thanks again.

you said in the good questions reply that you were listing four resources at bottom. i only got markertek. if there were any others they were cut off.