1080p vs 720p Shootout - They look the same! - Page 6

AVIDeditor3 · 11-16-2007, 09:35 PM

There is a difference and it can be seen.

Long Reef · 11-16-2007, 10:08 PM

Hey there Deathwish...

I just dropped a fair bit of money on a 42" Panasonic 1080p Plasma. I know you say that there is really no difference, is this a current thing (where technology will see a difference in the future), or something that will always be true.

I was told by a very good family friend (who is a guru in the industry) that, although the difference isn't clear, there will be some differences (through refresh rates and all that).

Can you shed some more light please? Very interested to hear

Minibob · 11-17-2007, 07:05 AM

Wow thanks for this post...very thought provoking and interesting

pparks1 · 11-17-2007, 11:39 AM

Long_reef,

It's not so much a matter of the technology improving, but rather human vision. The scenario is that when properly configured and showing the same content, people are unable to discern the difference between a 720p display and a 1080p display.

The key to 1080p is the input itself. There is a big difference between the input itself between 720p and 1080p. However, when the exact same content is played back on properly configured displays, it's hard (if not impossible) to actually tell which output is the 720p and which is the 1080p.

There does seem to be a lot of confusion on this topic. Some will say they see a difference...but I still question their testing methods. For example, some people walk into a retail store, look at a Sony and a Samsung sitting side by side and proclaim 1 to look better than the other. The problem is that they didn't properly calibrate EITHER of the 2 sets. It's quite possible that with a proper calibration, the other set would look superior to them. Unfortunately, people don't often make this decisions with the best information being presented. It's also not fair to say, I replaced my old 720p set with a new 1080p set and the new set looks better....Often, people purchase a hi-def format DVD player at the same time and are looking at higher quality input signals, or their old TV was never properly calibrated in the first place.

Oh well, either way this argument will likely continue into the future for some time.

If you are happy with your new purchase, that's all that matters. It certainly cannot hurt to have the extra resolution. The only time I am dismayed is when somebody excludes a 720p set in favor of a 1080p just because the one set is a 1080p. For example, a 720p plasma will have FAR BETTER black levels than a 1080p DLP....but many people will bypass even looking at that plasma because "it's only 720p". <--That's a shame...because they may not be truly getting the best picture that they could.

Long Reef · 11-17-2007, 11:08 PM

Fair enough.

I got the HD-DVD player attachment for the Xbox, do you think there would be a quality difference between the 1080p and 720p?

Deathwish238 · 11-19-2007, 07:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AVIDeditor3

There is a difference and it can be seen.

Convincing argument

Quote:

Originally Posted by long_reef

Fair enough.

I got the HD-DVD player attachment for the Xbox, do you think there would be a quality difference between the 1080p and 720p?

pparks pretty much summed it up. It's about human vision. Human eyes can't see much higher than 720p(Read the audioholics article if you haven't). That coupled with the fact that technology has improved so far that the video processor in a 720p display can downscale the 1080p signal so well that almost no information is lost and thus the resulting image looks as good as the source.

As for your HD-DVD question, there should be a difference between setting the 360 to 720p and 1080p, but there is no difference between watching it in 1080p on a 720p display or a 1080p display(give the TVs are similar other than resolution)

Almax9633 · 11-19-2007, 07:48 AM

I would say the main difference between a 1080p and a 720p apart from having twice the resolution is the distance you can watch it from.

Obviously on a 40" lcd screen 1920 x 1080p the picture will be more detailed and sharp as a pin if the source is true HD, when compaired to a 720p at close range. If you can afford it, I would say go for the higher 1080p especialy if its being also used as a tv.

At further distances the differences are much less obvious and at long distances impossible, but who wants to pay a fortune for a larger tv only to have to watch it from afar?

At close range, side by side the difference could be seen by anyone with good vision.

Deathwish238 · 11-20-2007, 08:13 AM

Almax, did you look at the comparison? 130" at 8' away is extremely close and no one could tell which pj was 1080p...

The advantage of 1080p resolution is being able to sit closer to a large image(80"+) without seeing SDE...that's it. There's no more detail or sharpness

Lanky0 · 12-21-2007, 10:36 AM

The 42" screen i use atm can go up to 720p, but the xbox allows me to select 1080p on the display settings... what should i set the display settings to on the xbox 1080p or 720p? would it make any difference which one as its being displayed as 720p...?

LilJayV10 · 12-22-2007, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pparks1

Long_reef,

It's not so much a matter of the technology improving, but rather human vision. The scenario is that when properly configured and showing the same content, people are unable to discern the difference between a 720p display and a 1080p display.

The key to 1080p is the input itself. There is a big difference between the input itself between 720p and 1080p. However, when the exact same content is played back on properly configured displays, it's hard (if not impossible) to actually tell which output is the 720p and which is the 1080p.

There does seem to be a lot of confusion on this topic. Some will say they see a difference...but I still question their testing methods. For example, some people walk into a retail store, look at a Sony and a Samsung sitting side by side and proclaim 1 to look better than the other. The problem is that they didn't properly calibrate EITHER of the 2 sets. It's quite possible that with a proper calibration, the other set would look superior to them. Unfortunately, people don't often make this decisions with the best information being presented. It's also not fair to say, I replaced my old 720p set with a new 1080p set and the new set looks better....Often, people purchase a hi-def format DVD player at the same time and are looking at higher quality input signals, or their old TV was never properly calibrated in the first place.

Oh well, either way this argument will likely continue into the future for some time.

If you are happy with your new purchase, that's all that matters. It certainly cannot hurt to have the extra resolution. The only time I am dismayed is when somebody excludes a 720p set in favor of a 1080p just because the one set is a 1080p. For example, a 720p plasma will have FAR BETTER black levels than a 1080p DLP....but many people will bypass even looking at that plasma because "it's only 720p". <--That's a shame...because they may not be truly getting the best picture that they could.

I think out of all the posts in this thread this was the one that actually had good "factual" reasons. Everyone else just says, Oh you can't tell. I don't have any idea. Thats why I read the thread and have to say there's not that many facts, just bickering back and forth.

I was at best buy today with my wife. I have seen HD tv's in the past and did not see what the big deal was about. They weren't that good. I took her to Best Buy to buy her a digital camera for xmas. I walked past this Sony TV, 40' 1080p TV hooked up to a Blu Ray disc player running a demo. My jaw literally dropped. I went and got her and said she had to see this. Every time I had mentioned getting a HD tv she would say, "We don't need one"

After she saw the Sony she said, "Yeah, yeah we need one of these." She loves Pirates of the Carribean and it was on the demo that was running. It was so clear it almost didn't look real. It was amazing. Actually it was better than amazing. I walked around and looked at the other TV's and none of them looked that good.

I did see a samsung 720p TV at best buy a while back that was amazing too. Next time I went in it was gone.

If I am going to get a TV and spend the money I want something really good. But at the same time I am not going to throw another grand at a TV on something I am not going to be able to tell a difference on.

So what makes a good HD TV? Resolution? pixels? the "i" or the "p"? She says in 6 months or so we should be able to buy a TV. Given that I stop buying car parts

Thanks for any info.