HDTV, Blu-ray, HD-DVD... The Horror...

[SalientKing]

All of these things are coming out soon, im thinking about buying a new tv so i can take advantage of it all. So let me get a few things straight

full hdtv is something like 1900X1200 pxs, but very few large screen displays support this and the ones that do i cant afford.

So my question is this, ive been looking at a plasma screen tv that has a res of 1024X768. Does this mean that later on my blu-ray movies are going to look like crap on this display?

Should i just wait a year before i buy a tv?

 

[Genx87]

I believe HD standards are 720p, 1080i, and 1080p.

1280X720
1900X1080

No idea how your plasma will look.

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: SalientKing
All of these things are coming out soon, im thinking about buying a new tv so i can take advantage of it all. So let me get a few things straight

full hdtv is something like 1900X1200 pxs, but very few large screen displays support this and the ones that do i cant afford.

So my question is this, ive been looking at a plasma screen tv that has a res of 1024X768. Does this mean that later on my blu-ray movies are going to look like crap on this display?

Should i just wait a year before i buy a tv?

I'd definitely try to get something that has at least 1280x720 pixels (so it can display 720p content natively). You'll still have to downsample 1080i/p, but it would look a lot better with 720p content. And, as you noticed, 1080p displays are generally still fairly pricey.

1024x768 is a very odd resolution for an HDTV, as all HD content is natively 16:9, and that's a 4:3 resolution. Either the display isn't 16:9, or it has nonsquare pixels, and neither of those situations are ideal.

 

[SalientKing]

so if 1280X720 is the std for 720p, what about all these panels that are 1366x768? how will that effect image quality of a 720p content?

 

[openwheelformula1]

lcd hdtvs generally have native resolution of 1366x768. You will have to do 1360x768 or 1368x768 with Nvidia/ATI graphic cards. Currently Nvidia's 6600 is the choice for HDTV if you don't game.

Unless you want to buy LCD TVs 37' or higher, then 1900x1080 will give you native 1080i or 1080p. I have a 32' which displays 1080i contents perfectly. You really should just buy the largest penal you can afford. Just make sure it's PC friendly (Sharp Aquos, Westinghouse.....), and your PC componenets are HD ready.

Should you wait a year to buy? Who knows, the supply will increase, but demand will dramatically increase as well. Do some research and read some reviews. Keep an eye on the models you want because there might be good deals with price drop/coupons. I got mine with $400 instant off, 12% off coupon, and a gift card.

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: SalientKing
so if 1280X720 is the std for 720p, what about all these panels that are 1366x768?

I don't know why they didn't just stick with 1280x720, but the higher resolution probably makes 1080i content look a little better (since you're not scaling it down quite as much).

how will that effect image quality of a 720p content?

It won't be quite as sharp as on a native 1280x720 display (unless the image is being displayed 1:1 with a black border around it, but I don't know if many HDTVs have this option). But it would still look pretty good even fullscreen.

 

[Sonikku]

1024x768 is not High Definition no matter how you look at it.

 

[GhostDoggy]

The concept 'HDTV', or High-Definition TeleVision is a CEA, or Consumer Electronics Association, adoption of the NAB, National Association of Broadcasters (Off/Over-The Air) election of 2 of the 18 ATSC defined, and FCC adopted, formats/resolutions for presenting better than NTSC content. The two two NAB adopted resolutions are 1280x720 progressive, and 1920x1080 interlaced. Both of these are the same 'aspect' format of 16 units wide by 9 units high. In comparison, NTSC is an aspect format of 4 by 3 and NAB commonly adopted the 480 lines of interlaced resolution. The ATSC is for digital television (DTV, often confused with DirecTV's stock ticker label) that if off or over the air, and free to those with an ATSC tuner, integrated or externalized in set-to- box (STB) form. NTSC is pure analog in North America.