Home audio & video forum: Poll: Can you see the difference in picture quality...

I cant see any diffrents between 720p and 1080i.

dont know about 1080p yet.

I am using an sony KD-34XBR960 and I set about 7 feet away, it maybe diffrent with a bigger TV set.

"You can't compare them on the same TV, you need a 720p TV, a 1080i TV (no LCD or Plasma TV is truly 1080i)..."

You are absolutely wrong. I just bought a Hitachi P42H401. It's a 42" plasma, and it's native resolution is 1080i. That is perfect since all the broadcast and cable HD in my area is 1080i. True you cannot compare them on the same TV, but you can side-by-side from the same source. As they say in the article, half that battle is whether your TV is any good at converting the source to it's native display mode whatever that may be.

Your TV's native resolution is 1280 x 1080 (Hitachi calls it HD1080), which is the vertical resolution of 1080p but the horizontal resolution of 720p. This allows it to display both 720p and 1080i/p content while only scaling in one direction. Get your facts straight before you call someone wrong.

Just 7 feet doesn't seem to be enough.

To answer the question; I wouldn't know because I don't have a HDTV.

blu-ray to hd dvd on 1080p. Like i said earlier, there is no difference between the quality on blu-ray and hd dvd. cable matters. hdmi will do better than component or rca. Try having a 720p tv and a blu-ray with HDMI. Try having a 1080p with blu-ray and component. !)80p still looks better.

You bet there is a diference and the 1080p wins hands down especially with BluRay and HD DVD. Buy the best for the best picture you can afford!!

1080p is currently 24 or 30 hertz. In the future it will be 60, but never 120.

I have the 1080p full hd Toshiba dlp and it is so incredibly clear that everyone that has witnessed this monster, stands in wow, fascination and disbelief. But the eyes tell the true story.
My cable provider shows 1080, 720 and 480, all as HD, but only in 1080 do you get absolute clarity. I have had mine for eight months and all I care to watch are shows in 1080hd. The sad thing is that only a few stations allow for 1080 or 720. Evidently 480 is cheaper to produce, so 99% of all HD is presented in 420i. This is what I have experienced in the world of HD,in Atlanta for the last eight months

Unless it's 720x or 1080x it's generally not considered HD, anything lower than 720i, such as 480p is standard definition (SD).

I work in a testing lab where we look at LCD and plasma HDTVs for picture quality and performance.

This is a huge can of worms to open with several variables.

If we are to assume that the panel is capable of a true 1080P resolution and not an upsampled 720P image, and the panel is 42" or larger, then the average user should be able to see a slight difference between the two resolutions. However, the individual who has little to no experience with HDTV will not see a noticeable improvement between the two resolutions, and will see both as "really sharp picture".

If the panel is under 42" and that same 7 foot distance, the image is too small to easily detect with the untrained eye the differences between 720P and 1080P.

Bottom line, look at the specifications of the panel and what the performance capabilities are. Also look at the same content on the screen from the distance your couch or chairs will be in your viewing area. 720P may be "good enough" for the distance you are sitting at and save you some money for that HD-DVD or Blu-Ray player to go with it.

Cnet just changed their assessment, giving higher marks to the
Panasonic over the Kuro in the 40/42 inch range (I can fit either). Any thoughts?

I was very interested to read your reply. I have a Samsung 320p 32 inch wide-screen LCD with 1080p capability and a Denon DVD 1910 player which has 720p and 1080i capability. My wife and I sit about 8 ft. away from the screen and most films look good particularly the full screen ones. I am considering buying a Blu-ray player which will use the 1080 p parameter. I am wondering if this would be wise and whether we shall be able to discern any difference. We have never had TV.
What do you think. I spent a lifetime working on visual display systems but these were CRTs in an MoD research establishment.
Alan

I agree that 1080p is far superior to 720p. However, I (and probably most respondents who agree on this point) are comparing their 50" plus, 1080p, primary HDTV's with much smaller 720p models used as secondary HDTVs (26" in my case). It would be most valuable to perform a controlled, double-blinded control study using a large group of participants under the same laboratory conditions.

Studies done by experts state that the human eye can not see the difference between 720 and 1080 on screen sizes 50" or less. So if you are planning on buying a 50" or smaller save your money and find a 720P because you won't see a difference.
It really bothers me that the manufacturers only bring out one feature at a time when they could have brought it out all at once 1st 720 now 1080, it's to keep the public spending their money. Joe public should start boycotting consumer electronics because whatever you buy will come out next week with better features.

Assuming all other specs on the TVs are the same, and assuming each has an appropriate video source (with native resolution matching the TV, or at least high quality scaling), it will depend on the following factors:
1. Screen size
2. Viewing distance
3. Your vision acuity (e.g. 20/20)
4. Type of image (rendered text or 3D graphics will a show more noticeable difference than will captured video or photographs)
5. Motion in the scene (this only applies when comparing 1080i)

In fact without even having an HDTV you can use your LCD monitor and math to figure out at what screen size and/or viewing distance you could tell the difference between 720p and 1080p with the same type of image.