Which of these two free tv's should i take

OK my parents are upgrading their TVs. They currently have two 37"

http://reviews.cnet.com/flat-panel-tvs/sharp-lc-37d90u/4505-6482_7-31789766.html

and

http://reviews.cnet.com/flat-panel-tvs/panasonic-th-37px50u/4505-6482_7-31349717.html?tag=rnav

I get one TV and my sister gets the other (I have first pick). I have DirecTv (I watch sports mainly) and play xbox 360 (mainly first person shooters). I am thinking that the LCD would be better since it is 1080P but its only 60hz and 1200:1 contrast ratio. I dont have bluRay so the 1080p might not matter anyway. What do you guys think?

plasma man. panny's are good, plus you will get a clear picture with that plasma anyways. better contrast and color just over PQ

Thanks for the info. I figured the plasma would be better for sports but would it be better for gaming too? Would i ever miss the 1080p if i did get bluray?

ok im going with the plasma. thanks for you help

If not too late, go for the 1080p. Not only will you get more clarity, but Sharp generally make better sets than panasonic. Plus, there's lots of technical mumbo jumbo that people will go into, but just remember that, while plasmas might have the more natural motion and better contrast, they don't perform as well under "regular" lighting conditions--hence almost elimination the contrast issue. I'm on a 50 inch Panasonic 1080p plasma set, and im telling you that when the place is under daytime light conditions, it suffers a tad. I guess the best bet would be to test both the sets when your parents are out.

I think i am more confused now. I will probably sit about 5 feet away or more but i have a small apartment so I wont be really far away. I cant see them in person. My parents live in Southern California and I live in northern. I will pick the TV up when i go to their house for xmas.

My understanding is the plasma is better in every way except its not 1080p. And the more reflective screen is not as good as the lcd?

With 1080p, the detail is there. It is actually being produced on the screen. With 720p, it is NOT. No matter how far or close you are viewing from, the eye will pick up the artifacts produced from the lower resolution image.

Actually 5 feet is not an unreasonable distance to sit for a small room. I'm assuming he is not gonna be using this set in a grand ballroom with a butler and a pony in the stable. By the way the distance for a 37" is actually closer to 6-7 feet away. 32" is 5 feet. It's always subjective depending on a person's vision. A person with 20/20 vision can see the difference much more vividly. . If my choice is between a 37'" 720p and a 37" 1080p, I will aways choose the 1080p. Even if I have to sit 6 feet away from the TV to see the fine grains of my cinema. The choice is up to the viewer. Honestly you couldn't give me a 720p set, it's just such outdated technology in my view. pimperjones

With 1080p, the detail is there. It is actually being produced on the screen. With 720p, it is NOT. No matter how far or close you are viewing from, the eye will pick up the artifacts produced from the lower resolution image.

Heirren

You mean to tell me that, at the correct "viewing distance," you yourself wouldn't beable to tell the difference between any given tv and a real life human being? Charts shmarts, i've read and researched plenty when looking into tvs, probably too much, and i'm sorry to say, but a 1080p set just looks sharper and more natural. Plus, while I'm aware the bulk of the games aren't native 1080p, or some 720p(halo3), the scaling-4xaa/whatever the case may be-is done in the hardware of the console and then output as a 1080p image, no? I know there are settings to pick your sets resolution, but you don't think developers are stressed to provide an image that is favourable to 1080p? Part of the reality is that it's about money.

Are you going to give the same argument on 1080p(1920x1080) vs Super Hi-Vision(7680x4320), in X odd number of years?

Final verdict if you're sitting in a small room, and you are watching from 5-6 feet away. Then 37" 1080p is more favourable to 37" 720p. Even according to the charts at 5 feet away 1080p is better. According to what I'm gathering he will be sitting between 5-6 feet away, so YES he will be able to see the difference according the charts. So, get the 1080p dude.

I mean to say that in order to see the difference between 1080p and 720p you need to sit within a certain distance to see the difference. Humans are not flat objects. If they were, at some distance a TV version of a human and the "flat human" would look the same. Just look at an inkjet produced image. If you look close, you can see the individual pixels. Move away and you will not. Go to Times Square and see a smooth advertisement from far away. Get closer and you will see the smooth advertisement is made up of very visible bulbs. Look at Earth from space and you will see no humans. Get right up close on Earth and you see humans, plants, etc. Pretty simple concept that any simple mind should be able to grasp.

As for higher resolutions, yes it will be the same argument. You would need an even bigger picture to see the difference from a set distance as the limitation is the human eye. Again, see simple solution above.

Lastly, resolution is only one factor in picture quality. You can have a very good 720p TV look BETTER than a 1080p TV if contrast, color reproduction, scaling, and motion specs are better on the 720p.

So how should i choose?

I mean to say that in order to see the difference between 1080p and 720p you need to sit within a certain distance to see the difference. Humans are not flat objects. If they were, at some distance a TV version of a human and the "flat human" would look the same. Just look at an inkjet produced image. If you look close, you can see the individual pixels. Move away and you will not. Go to Times Square and see a smooth advertisement from far away. Get closer and you will see the smooth advertisement is made up of very visible bulbs. Look at Earth from space and you will see no humans. Get right up close on Earth and you see humans, plants, etc. Pretty simple concept that any simple mind should be able to grasp.

As for higher resolutions, yes it will be the same argument. You would need an even bigger picture to see the difference from a set distance as the limitation is the human eye. Again, see simple solution above.

Lastly, resolution is only one factor in picture quality. You can have a very good 720p TV look BETTER than a 1080p TV if contrast, color reproduction, scaling, and motion specs are better on the 720p.

rastan

Again, I understand where all the statements you make come from. What I am saying is that, from experience, a 37 inch 1080p set is going to produce a better looking image. Plus, if he's using a 37 inch set primarily for games, he's obviously going to be sitting a tad closer, anyways.

37" inch is a good size for an 1080p TV especially for people with small apartments.
Now 32" 1080p is a bit of an overkill as you would almost need to be using it as an PC monitor to notice the difference, but then again many people do use 32" 1080p sets for PC displays. A 32" 1080p set is good for editors and colorists, since they would be sitting very close anyways.

And no a very good 720p doesn't look better than an equally good 1080p TV, that's utter nonsense. Contrast, color gamut, motion artifacting, motion blur, viewing angle have nothing to do with resolution. These are all factors that are derived from the display itself, resolution is resolution, just that and nothing more. Yes it's true that a poor 1080p TV is no better than a great 720p set, but that doesn't mean you should discount 1080 all together.

In fact I will go as far to that 1080p isn't even enough. Most displays used for advanced color timing, and post production are now hovering in the 2-4K range, in fact most studios are now digitalling mastering their old film catalogues at 8K resolution. They are now seeing things that they have never seen before on some of those old 35mm and 70mm films.

In the world of resolution, higher is always better. Because the human eye is an biological receptor, it doesn't see in digital threshholds. When you open your window and look into the real world, I can assure it is far higher than 1080p, even 8K digital imaging cannot capture all that the human eye can see.

Would it be possible for you to hook up your Xbox to both and see which looks better to you? That would be the best way to decide I figure.