Anyone else feel like a 1080p TV isnt necessary?

Okay my father recently purchased a new 56'' Samsung 1080p DLP TV...I personally own a 42'' Phillips Plasma native 720p...And I have noticed that when playing games on my brothers PS3 the games that have a native resolution of 720p doesnt look so great...maybe its just my Eyes...but they really dont look as nice on a native 1080p TV...

Of course this is expected seeing that the Samsung is downscaling from its Native resolution...but really I guess the big question is...Is 1080p really worth it?..with the exception of Blu-Ray...

The reason I ask is because I am finding the 42'' really isnt well..big enough...bascialliy I would like to get something in the 50 - 55'' range but I dont know if going 1080p would be worth it...

If you wait a while you won't really have a choice.  1080p sets have really gone down in price recently.  I picked up a 56" Samsung 1080p for $1,699 and that was with shipping and no sales tax.ramey70

Yeah I am really tempted to pick up a 50" Samsung 1080p DLP...I saw it this past weekend for only $1500....the 56" was $1899..I wasnt sold on the idea that $300 more was worth the 6 extra inches...but I still am not complete sold on DLP yet...and with LED TVs coming out in April..well its looking like I will have to buy a 1080p TV....because I am stuck waiting... 

Okay my father recently purchased a new 56'' Samsung 1080p DLP TV...I personally own a 42'' Phillips Plasma native 720p...And I have noticed that when playing games on my brothers PS3 the games that have a native resolution of 720p doesnt look so great...maybe its just my Eyes...but they really dont look as nice (as they do?) on a native 720p TV...

jwat4

I think you're trying to say that 720p native games don't look as good on your 1080p set as they do on your 720p. If that -is- what you are trying to say, you might want to edit your post because you said the exact opposite.

Of course this is expected seeing that the Samsung is downscaling from its Native resolution...but really I guess the big question is...Is 1080p really worth it?..with the exception of Blu-Ray...

jwat4

No, that is upscaling. If you play a 720p signal on a 1080p native set (meaning it's a set that has a fixed resolution of 1080p) then it is upscaling the 720p signal to match the native resolution of your display.

The reason I ask is because I am finding the 42'' really isnt well..big enough...bascialliy I would like to get something in the 50 - 55'' range but I dont know if going 1080p would be worth it...

jwat4

Yes, I think 1080p is well worth it. Generally speaking, any time you run a fixed resolution display outside of it's native resolution, it won't look as good as a display actually running at it's native resolution. However, as time marches on you're going to find more and more 1080p sources. I would not recommend buying a 720p set when 1080p is so cheap.

-Byshop

Yeah I am really tempted to pick up a 50" Samsung 1080p DLP...I saw it this past weekend for only $1500....the 56" was $1899..I wasnt sold on the idea that $300 more was worth the 6 extra inches...but I still am not complete sold on DLP yet...and with LED TVs coming out in April..well its looking like I will have to buy a 1080p TV....because I am stuck waiting... 

jwat4

LED TVs have been available from Samsung for quite a while now.

http://www.nextag.com/samsung-led-tv/search-html

-Byshop

i have one of the original rear projection HDTVs. you know, the ones that came out 4 or 5 years ago and dont do 720p. its 46" and does 1080i. when i watch HD cable, 1080i looks really really nice. i dont like the fact that i bought into this whole HD thing early, and now the industry is pushing 1080p as if its such a big difference. my tv doesnt have HDM either.

not even half of america has HDTVs yet. why the industry feels they should push these new standards is beyond me. especially when 1080p is only used for next gen dvd formats and barely any games. 1080i is amazing and it's all we need right now!
SDog624

Problem is there are really no solutions for 1080i. It's old technology that is being phased out. 1080p was designed to replace 1080i. All digital TV's are progressive scan only. 1080p is very important when you consider the convergence of TV's with computers. That is the direction home theaters are going in. People keep saying that downloadable media will replace the new video formats, well your going to want 1080p to use with the CPU that you will be hooking up to that new TV. Let's face it, Digital media is the wave of the future. People will jump on the bandwagon when they see the benefits. Right now their isn't enough even 720p content out there for people to justify the purchase of HDTV. In 5-10 years though, when everything will be switching to a digital format and SDTV's and their broadcasts become harder and harder to come by, people will demand the highest quality, highest resolution displays! 1080i is not the solution. It was designed for use with old technology. Remember, new displays are fixed pixel meaning that, unlike old CRT's that were capable of switching resolutions, you are stuck with the Resolution that the display was designed for. You really don't want to be stuck with 720p in the future. Right now it's ok but computers are becoming so much more capable that ultra Hi-Res displays will become very necessary. Nobody is shoving anything down anyones throat. People just need to realize that the days of analog displays and signals is coming to an end. An analog signals take up way to much bandwidth and lacks the quality that HDTV offers. You can't create new frequencies all you can do is change the way you use them. HDTV frees up bandwidth and makes content look soooo much better. It's a win/win situation.

 
cspiffo

[QUOTE="cspiffo"] 
Problem is their are really no solutions for 1080i. It's old technology that is being phased out. 1080p was designed to replace 1080i. monoamine

Here's the deal. Right now we are using an old compression algorithm; MPEG2. As HD technology matures the media sources will switch over to MPEG4 or better compression which is waaaaay more efficient than MPEG2. In fact, Europe and Asia are starting to build their HD infrastructure based on MPEG 4. 1080P is extremely relevent. Most people don't grab their HDTV from an OFF-Air Source. They use Satallite or Digital cable. Switching to 1080P with MPEG4 compression for say, a channel like HBO would allow it to directly compete with other new home video formats. TV is changing fast and we are just beginning to tap the power of Digital signal broadcasting. I don't think it will take very long at all for 1080i to be replaced; 5 - 10 yrs. Another thing about 1080P sets is that they can actually convert 1080i to a deinterlaced 1080P format. While not quite as good as true 1080P due to motion artifacting, even after deinterlacing. It is still better than 720P. Also, if the only reason for switching to a 1080P set was to watch newly formated movies that would be enough for most to switch. It will just take a little time for people to replace there SD sets because those damn things run so friggin' loooooooooooooong! Like I said, give it 5-10 yrs. HDTV's have already surpassed SDTV's in sales.  Joe six pack won't have to know the difference because, THE ONLY DISPLAYS THAT CAN RUN 1080I ARE CRT's!  Nobody want's those anymore.

[QUOTE="monoamine"][QUOTE="cspiffo"] 
Problem is their are really no solutions for 1080i. It's old technology that is being phased out. 1080p was designed to replace 1080i. cspiffo

Here's the deal. Right now we are using an old compression algorithm; MPEG2. As HD technology matures the media sources will switch over to MPEG4 or better compression which is waaaaay more efficient than MPEG2. In fact, Europe and Asia are starting to build their HD infrastructure based on MPEG 4. 1080P is extremely relevent. Most people don't grab their HDTV from an OFF-Air Source. They use Satallite or Digital cable. Switching to 1080P with MPEG4 compression for say, a channel like HBO would allow it to directly compete with other new home video formats. TV is changing fast and we are just beginning to tap the power of Digital signal broadcasting. I don't think it will take very long at all for 1080i to be replaced; 5 - 10 yrs. Another thing about 1080P sets is that they can actually convert 1080i to a deinterlaced 1080P format. While not quite as good as true 1080P due to motion artifacting, even after deinterlacing. It is still better than 720P. Also, if the only reason for switching to a 1080P set was to watch newly formated movies that would be enough for most to switch. It will just take a little time for people to replace there SD sets because those damn things run so friggin' loooooooooooooong! Like I said, give it 5-10 yrs. HDTV's have already surpassed SDTV's in sales. Joe six pack won't have to know the difference because, THE ONLY DISPLAYS THAT CAN RUN 1080I ARE CRT's! Nobody want's those anymore.

[QUOTE="cspiffo"]

[QUOTE="monoamine"][QUOTE="cspiffo"] 
Problem is their are really no solutions for 1080i. It's old technology that is being phased out. 1080p was designed to replace 1080i. dmanrevived

Here's the deal. Right now we are using an old compression algorithm; MPEG2. As HD technology matures the media sources will switch over to MPEG4 or better compression which is waaaaay more efficient than MPEG2. In fact, Europe and Asia are starting to build their HD infrastructure based on MPEG 4. 1080P is extremely relevent. Most people don't grab their HDTV from an OFF-Air Source. They use Satallite or Digital cable. Switching to 1080P with MPEG4 compression for say, a channel like HBO would allow it to directly compete with other new home video formats. TV is changing fast and we are just beginning to tap the power of Digital signal broadcasting. I don't think it will take very long at all for 1080i to be replaced; 5 - 10 yrs. Another thing about 1080P sets is that they can actually convert 1080i to a deinterlaced 1080P format. While not quite as good as true 1080P due to motion artifacting, even after deinterlacing. It is still better than 720P. Also, if the only reason for switching to a 1080P set was to watch newly formated movies that would be enough for most to switch. It will just take a little time for people to replace there SD sets because those damn things run so friggin' loooooooooooooong! Like I said, give it 5-10 yrs. HDTV's have already surpassed SDTV's in sales. Joe six pack won't have to know the difference because, THE ONLY DISPLAYS THAT CAN RUN 1080I ARE CRT's! Nobody want's those anymore.

I agree, but I think at the rate people are going through computers every 2-5 years, they won't mind buying a new tv every 10 years. It's only going to get cheaper, right?dmanrevived

You're preaching to the choir ;) *hugs tv*dmanrevived

http://www.samsung.com/Products/TV/DLPTV/HLT5075SXXAA.asp?page=Specifications

Thats what I am waiting for...I would like to see the newer Samsung TVs coming out this spring...and I have yet to see a Samsung or any brand for that matter...LED DLP TV...The newer TVs Samsung is producing are 720p native TVs...which makes me question the need for 1080p even more...

I dont know all of the posts have valid arguments as to why 1080p makes sense and is the way to go...I just dont see the current benefit...

Here you go.  Samsung LED DLP TV.  Been available since last summer.

http://www.onecall.com/ProductDetails.aspx?id=31427
ramey70

I think the thing you gotta look out for aside from 1080p is the HDMI 1.3. Supposedly it's better, I just don't know the technical details.dmanrevived

I think the thing you gotta look out for aside from 1080p is the HDMI 1.3. Supposedly it's better, I just don't know the technical details.dmanrevived

Here's an interesting article on HDMI 1.3. It has all you need to know about it. Just remember the slant of the article though. The important info is the specs.

http://www.hdmi.org/press/pr/pr_20060622.asp