Question about HDTVs and image quality

[Dajinn]

okay, I've been constantly told/read that the 1080p resolution hardly makes a noticeable improvement on 32" class HDTVs and lower. so my question is, if you're playing a game that is native 720p on a 1080p 32 inch tv, wouldn't the upscale technically make it look worse than actually playing the game on it's intended resolution on a 720p tv? i realize most ps3 games are rendered in 720p so wouldnt a 720p tv actually be a better purchase for gaming on the ps3?

the main reason i am asking is because i can get a 720p 32 inch for 349, and a 1080p 32 inch for 379, and i wanted whichever one make more sense as a buy. i don't intend to play blurays on it because my dad already has a 1080p tv thats much larger than mine, so unless 1080p upscaling on 720p tvs actually makes the image look better, i might just buy the 720p if it provides the actual better image.

hope the question makes sense, thanks

 

[zerocool84]

TV size and resolution has all to do with how close you sit to the tv. There are distances where you wouldn't even notice the difference between 1080p and 720p. 32" is so small you'd have to sit fairly close to notice the difference. A 720p set can definitely look better than a 1080p set as the 720 might have better components in it than the 1080 set.

http://carltonbale.com/1080p-does-matter

 

[toyota]

you didnt really answer his question. he was asking would a game thats really in 720p look better on a native 720p monitor than it would being upscaled to 1080p on a native 1080p monitor.

 

[borisvodofsky]

Due to the fact that most Low budget tv panels use "post processing/overdrive" circuits to achieve the rated specs they put on the BOX, Your image will be 'fuked" with no matter what you do.

get the 1080p, since the Tvs in that price range won't be better/worse in terms of signal processing. "scaling included" if you could find the info, look for ones that don't "overscan"

I'd recommend saving for a 24" S-ips, H-ips, (NOT E-ips) computer monitors. Should be around 450-500 dollars. NOT LESS THAN 450.

399 (new) = garbage.

Dell wfp 2410 coming soon, wfp 2407 is also great.

DO NOT get wfp 2408. lag death

WHAT I DON"T UNDERSTAND IS WHY YOU DON"T JUST PLAY UR GAMES ON YOUR DAD's TV???

 

[ScottSwing]

You can get a 1080p 32" for $379. And all other things being equal, a 1080p set will look better than its 720p equivalent.

 

[gorcorps]

I've found that on the PS3 especially the 1080p resolution helps with the aliasing that consoles have. While it's just being upscaled, jagged edges looked a bit more smoothed out at the higher resolutions.

 

[Oyeve]

If you dont plan on watching BRs then get the one that looks best to you. See if you can do a comparision test on both. I say this because todays consoles really dont do 1080p, they just upscale to 1080p. IMO just pick the tv that looks the best to YOU. I personally have a 32" samsung HDTV and sit about 5' from it and my games on the ps3 and 360 look great as do BR movies. I could go for a 50" but I would still be 5' from it and I think that would be a little too overwhelming.

 

[kalrith]

OP, the answer is no. I'll elaborate on it. As seen in the chart above, you won't notice the difference between 720p and 1080p on the 32" TV from 6' or farther away. At that difference the two TVs would look basically the same as far as resolution goes. If one TV has a better contrast ratio (not the marketed contrast ratio, but the real contrast ratio that you'll only see in a professional review), then that TV would look better.

Sorry, I digress. The other issue with resolution is scaling. If you had a 1080p source such as Blu-ray, that source would look better on a 1080p TV than a 720p TV, because no scaling would be involved because the resolutions of the source and display match. If you had a 1280x720 source and displayed it on a 1280x720 display, then you would have the same situation. The 720p display would look better than the 1080p display because no scaling was done. However, "720p" displays are actually 1366x768 resolution. This means that they scale EVERYTHING even 720p sources.

With that being said, the only disadvantage of a 1080p TV is price. In every other way 1080p > 720p when considering the native resolution of a TV. Since your TVs are so close in price, I'd go with the 1080p TV if all other things are equal.

I put that in bold, because it's very important. If you were comparing a 42" 1080p Sanyo LCD to a 42" 720p Panasonic plasma at the exact same price, I'd recommend the plasma hands-down. The picture is so much better on that TV than on the other one even though the former is 1080p.

With that being said, please post the two TVs you're looking at.

Also, mods, please move this to the AV forum where I think it belongs.