where to buy HDTV
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From: Connecticut
Originally Posted by thatguyjosh,Apr 8 2008, 08:21 PM
How close are you sitting to this 42" TV?
It's kinda pointless to buy a 42" 1080p set if you're gonna be 9-10 feet away, your eyes won't notice the difference. All the magazines, reviews, etc. that I've read have said to skip the 1080p unless you're going 50" or bigger, or sitting 6-7 feet away.
It's kinda pointless to buy a 42" 1080p set if you're gonna be 9-10 feet away, your eyes won't notice the difference. All the magazines, reviews, etc. that I've read have said to skip the 1080p unless you're going 50" or bigger, or sitting 6-7 feet away.
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From: Cherry Hill, NJ
Originally Posted by vtec9,Apr 9 2008, 10:00 AM
^^ what he said. There is an exact relationship between screen size, viewing distance, and your eye's ability to resolve 1080p vs 720p. You will need to sit 7 ft or closer to a 42" television to be physically able to tell the difference between 1080p and 720p. Any further back and they will look identical unless you have better than 20/20 vision. And 7ft is just the point where the difference becomes barely noticeable.. you won't see the full benefit from 1080 until sitting around 5ft from the set.
I have a five-year-old Samsung 50" 720p DLP downstairs and the picture looks fine.
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From: Virginia Beach
I recently bought an LG from TigerDirect.com. Shipping is rediculous on a 47" LCD but the total price still beat Best Buy by $450.
The first one came in and was cracked (small crack in frame that I didn't notice till it was on the wall and I started peeling the scratch protectant off). They had great customer service and arranged for its pick up with no questions asked. The new one arrived shortly after the other was picked up.
The first one came in and was cracked (small crack in frame that I didn't notice till it was on the wall and I started peeling the scratch protectant off). They had great customer service and arranged for its pick up with no questions asked. The new one arrived shortly after the other was picked up.
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From: San Diego
keep your eyes peeled, deals are to be had if you look hard enough. i got my sony 1080p for a grand at circuit, they were for going for 1700 on amazon, 1550 at frys, then all of a sudden one day i punch it into froogle and it comes up at circuit city for 1050. score.
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From: OC, CA
i bought my tv at circuit city with a defect and needed to return it. i'm not sure it how i would have resolved that issue if i had bought it online. i have a samsung 50" 1080p. i love it! great quality and reasonable price.
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From: Connecticut
Originally Posted by flitcroft,Apr 16 2008, 01:36 AM
I don't know who came up with this nonsense but it is simply not true with current TVs (they are much better quality than panels from two years ago and much bigger too since the prices have dropped so dramatically). The only time you are too close is a) when you can see the grid structure of the screen, the actual pixels not a smooth image (on my high end 52" LCD that's about 3-4 ft away) or b) when you have to move your head uncomfortably to see the whole picture. All of this regurgitated stuff about screen size and resolution simply does not apply to current flat panel screens. That said, it's all personal preference...I like my TVs sharp as hell and as big as a house as you may imagine. Right now I'm sitting 6ft away from my screen and could be closer with no problem.
On 1080p vs 720p you've got to be blind as a bat to not see the difference with a good TV and true uncompressed sources, from any distance you'd be watching TV or movies. On my screen DVDs (720p) look like old VHS tapes--you just can't stretch 720 x 480 pixels of data to 52" across even with 1080p upsampling from a video processor. 1080p signals are 1920x1080 of data, a full six times the data of 720p, plus 1080p HD signals are 60 frames per second, double that of 720p. The way to get true signals is to play a DVD (uncompressed 720p) or Blu-Ray (uncompressed 1080p). There is no broadcast 1080p signal and to my knowledge no uncompressed 1080i signal (cable and satellite use MPEG compression to deliver more channels and ads). On a good TV the difference between 1080i and 1080p is pretty noticeable at close distances but not far (the 5ft range is about the right ballpark), however the difference between compressed 1080i and uncompressed 1080p (Blu-Ray) is drastic. 1080i looks pretty good but the best Blu-Ray, like Ratatouille, look three dimensional. There's far more to picture than just sharpness.
I bought my TV online and would do it again. Buying online saved me a little under $1,000 from buying from the cheapest place in Los Angeles. Try Amazon, onecall, abe's of maine, and buydig as a starting point.
On 1080p vs 720p you've got to be blind as a bat to not see the difference with a good TV and true uncompressed sources, from any distance you'd be watching TV or movies. On my screen DVDs (720p) look like old VHS tapes--you just can't stretch 720 x 480 pixels of data to 52" across even with 1080p upsampling from a video processor. 1080p signals are 1920x1080 of data, a full six times the data of 720p, plus 1080p HD signals are 60 frames per second, double that of 720p. The way to get true signals is to play a DVD (uncompressed 720p) or Blu-Ray (uncompressed 1080p). There is no broadcast 1080p signal and to my knowledge no uncompressed 1080i signal (cable and satellite use MPEG compression to deliver more channels and ads). On a good TV the difference between 1080i and 1080p is pretty noticeable at close distances but not far (the 5ft range is about the right ballpark), however the difference between compressed 1080i and uncompressed 1080p (Blu-Ray) is drastic. 1080i looks pretty good but the best Blu-Ray, like Ratatouille, look three dimensional. There's far more to picture than just sharpness.
I bought my TV online and would do it again. Buying online saved me a little under $1,000 from buying from the cheapest place in Los Angeles. Try Amazon, onecall, abe's of maine, and buydig as a starting point.
And I'll just say it flat out, your post is wrong on many levels.
It's true new panels are better than those from several years ago.. but companies are still making 720p panels today with the newer technology, and they cost less, so your argument about that goes out the window.
Who said anything about being too close? I said simply that your eye has limits. If there are two 42" tvs identical in every way (contrast, brightness, etc, etc) except one has 720p resolution and is playing 720p content and the other has 1080p resolution and is playing 1080p content.. you will not be able to see a difference if you stand 10" away unless you have much better than 20/20 vision. It is physically impossible.
And I don't know where you're getting this FPS info from, but it's wrong. 720p broadcasts are filmed at 60 fps.. thats 720 lines every 60th of a second. 1080i is 60fps as well, but since it's interlaced, you're really getting only 540 lines every 60th of a second, and 1080 lines every 30th of a second. There is no broadcast 1080p sources, only from a PC or Blu-Ray/HD-DVD. All HD movies on disc are filmed at 24fps. It doesn't matter what your player outputs (24fps, 60fps), the content is 24fps, not 60 as you mentioned.
And on a good TV, you really can't see a difference between 1080i and 1080p. You cannot compare compressed 1080i to uncompressed 1080p. There are high def dvd players that only output the 1080p source as 1080i, and if you have a quality TV that can deinterlace pretty well, you will not see a difference.
And DVDs are not 720p.. they are 480.. 720x480 is 480, not 720.
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From: Land of Cincinnati Chili
Thank you vtec9 for clearing all that up. You post is DEAD ON accurate. While 1080P 24fps is standard for movies on disc, this is related to the frame rate for film. I am pretty sure there is a 1080 30 fps standard for video based sources.
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From: Dallas, TX
Originally Posted by vtec9,Apr 16 2008, 08:17 AM
Who came up with it? Oh, I don't know.. God? Or whomever you believe created the physical structure of our eyes.
And I'll just say it flat out, your post is wrong on many levels.
It's true new panels are better than those from several years ago.. but companies are still making 720p panels today with the newer technology, and they cost less, so your argument about that goes out the window.
Who said anything about being too close? I said simply that your eye has limits. If there are two 42" tvs identical in every way (contrast, brightness, etc, etc) except one has 720p resolution and is playing 720p content and the other has 1080p resolution and is playing 1080p content.. you will not be able to see a difference if you stand 10" away unless you have much better than 20/20 vision. It is physically impossible.
And I don't know where you're getting this FPS info from, but it's wrong. 720p broadcasts are filmed at 60 fps.. thats 720 lines every 60th of a second. 1080i is 60fps as well, but since it's interlaced, you're really getting only 540 lines every 60th of a second, and 1080 lines every 30th of a second. There is no broadcast 1080p sources, only from a PC or Blu-Ray/HD-DVD. All HD movies on disc are filmed at 24fps. It doesn't matter what your player outputs (24fps, 60fps), the content is 24fps, not 60 as you mentioned.
And on a good TV, you really can't see a difference between 1080i and 1080p. You cannot compare compressed 1080i to uncompressed 1080p. There are high def dvd players that only output the 1080p source as 1080i, and if you have a quality TV that can deinterlace pretty well, you will not see a difference.
And DVDs are not 720p.. they are 480.. 720x480 is 480, not 720.
And I'll just say it flat out, your post is wrong on many levels.
It's true new panels are better than those from several years ago.. but companies are still making 720p panels today with the newer technology, and they cost less, so your argument about that goes out the window.
Who said anything about being too close? I said simply that your eye has limits. If there are two 42" tvs identical in every way (contrast, brightness, etc, etc) except one has 720p resolution and is playing 720p content and the other has 1080p resolution and is playing 1080p content.. you will not be able to see a difference if you stand 10" away unless you have much better than 20/20 vision. It is physically impossible.
And I don't know where you're getting this FPS info from, but it's wrong. 720p broadcasts are filmed at 60 fps.. thats 720 lines every 60th of a second. 1080i is 60fps as well, but since it's interlaced, you're really getting only 540 lines every 60th of a second, and 1080 lines every 30th of a second. There is no broadcast 1080p sources, only from a PC or Blu-Ray/HD-DVD. All HD movies on disc are filmed at 24fps. It doesn't matter what your player outputs (24fps, 60fps), the content is 24fps, not 60 as you mentioned.
And on a good TV, you really can't see a difference between 1080i and 1080p. You cannot compare compressed 1080i to uncompressed 1080p. There are high def dvd players that only output the 1080p source as 1080i, and if you have a quality TV that can deinterlace pretty well, you will not see a difference.
And DVDs are not 720p.. they are 480.. 720x480 is 480, not 720.
The man knows his stuff.
