Plasma?

[mhz40]

I have one of all three display technologies (DLP 61", LCD 32" & Plasma 42").  They'd have to pull the Pioneer plasma out of my house over my dead body.  I don't understand people who insist LCD is better than plasma...

IMO, the issue of 1080p is the last thing I would look for in a display.  Picture quality first!

[Matt Heebner]

So you are syaing that 1080p really isnt significantly better than 720p ? How about with Blu-Ray ?
The reason I ask is there some pretty good deals on larger than 50" plasmas, but are 720p. I kinda had dismissed it thinking I wanted 1080p, but I am hearing from people who have both that unless your screen is huge, 100" plus, or you are only sitting about 6 feet away, you wont tell the diifference.

So I am asking you out there who have both....is 1080p  hype ? Does 720 p look as good on a 50+" inch plasma at about 11 feet ?

[CrashCamomilli]

Viewing distance and TV size are the key issues when considering 720p vs 1080p.  Although I can see a difference close up, at 10-12 feet 1080p seems very unnecessary in most of the popular sizes

[gparris]

When consulting, I use the 1.5 x the screen diagonal size for 1080p to see the extra detail from that distance, but as the distance approaches 2 x the diagonal screen size, 720p is good.
Colour accuracy, shadow detail, among other factors, contribute to display quality and imaging, not just actual resolution.
I had a 720p 70" diagonal screen size set that died last year that we watched at 12-16 feet away without compromise because the other picture quality factors were dead-on. Now my 67" Samsung 1080p set is great from 11 feet (different seating setup now) and the 24Hz setting matches the Blu-ray output perfectly.

[ddeerrff]

Might want to look at the CarltonBale chart here:
http://s3.carltonbale.com/resolution_chart.html

[mhz40]

So you are syaing that 1080p really isnt significantly better than 720p ? How about with Blu-Ray ?
The reason I ask is there some pretty good deals on larger than 50" plasmas, but are 720p. I kinda had dismissed it thinking I wanted 1080p, but I am hearing from people who have both that unless your screen is huge, 100" plus, or you are only sitting about 6 feet away, you wont tell the diifference.

So I am asking you out there who have both....is 1080p  hype ? Does 720 p look as good on a 50+" inch plasma at about 11 feet ?

Can't speak to 1080p... don't have it.  BUT picture quality discussions solely around scan rates severely misrepresents overall value and quality.  It's like discussing street rods and stopping at the 4-barrel carb...  there is simply more to it than that.  There is MUCH more to a great picture than whether or not it's 1080p.  In my book, scan rate is at the bottom of my list.  The sun is a billion or so to one vs the dark of night... but would you want something that bright hanging in your living room?  Probably not.  Therefore there is some theoretical sweet spot when it comes to contrast ratios.

Overall picture quality wise, I personally rate my Pioneer Plasma 1st (I'm sure the native display isn't anywhere near 1080i), 61" Sammy DLP 2nd (yes, it's 720p blown-up to 61".  5' away is just fine IMO) and the Sanyo Aquos LCD is dead last (and rarely used).

Getting back to your questions, IMO yes,  1080p is hype.  Unless broadcasters switch to mpeg 4, they will never have the bandwidth needed for 1080p.  It is relegated to blue-ray for the near tearm.

To be honest, I seldom if ever notice the difference between 720p & 1080i either...
maybe some of the faster moving sports looks better in 720p, but broadcasters don't seem to switch between formats as the content they carry would dictate.  If airing an Indy car race in 1080i is good enough for ABC, it's likely good enough for all but the few of the masses.

Take your 1080p & 100,000:1 contrast ratios.  I'll keep great black levels and colorimetry, thank-you!

[Bebop]

So you are syaing that 1080p really isnt significantly better than 720p ? How about with Blu-Ray ?
The reason I ask is there some pretty good deals on larger than 50" plasmas, but are 720p. I kinda had dismissed it thinking I wanted 1080p, but I am hearing from people who have both that unless your screen is huge, 100" plus, or you are only sitting about 6 feet away, you wont tell the diifference.

So I am asking you out there who have both....is 1080p  hype ? Does 720 p look as good on a 50+" inch plasma at about 11 feet ?

I have  a 50" 765P and 42" 1080P. The 1080p looks much better (more details) within 10ft.  If your are getting a 50" or larger, definitely 1080P. Look for picture quality first, then price.

[Bebop]

Can't speak to 1080p... don't have it.  BUT picture quality discussions solely around scan rates severely misrepresents overall value and quality.  It's like discussing street rods and stopping at the 4-barrel carb...  there is simply more to it than that.  There is MUCH more to a great picture than whether or not it's 1080p.  In my book, scan rate is at the bottom of my list.  The sun is a billion or so to one vs the dark of night... but would you want something that bright hanging in your living room?  Probably not.  Therefore there is some theoretical sweet spot when it comes to contrast ratios.

Overall picture quality wise, I personally rate my Pioneer Plasma 1st (I'm sure the native display isn't anywhere near 1080i), 61" Sammy DLP 2nd (yes, it's 720p blown-up to 61".  5' away is just fine IMO) and the Sanyo Aquos LCD is dead last (and rarely used).

Getting back to your questions, IMO yes,  1080p is hype.  Unless broadcasters switch to mpeg 4, they will never have the bandwidth needed for 1080p.  It is relegated to blue-ray for the near tearm.

To be honest, I seldom if ever notice the difference between 720p & 1080i either...
maybe some of the faster moving sports looks better in 720p, but broadcasters don't seem to switch between formats as the content they carry would dictate.  If airing an Indy car race in 1080i is good enough for ABC, it's likely good enough for all but the few of the masses.

Take your 1080p & 100,000:1 contrast ratios.  I'll keep great black levels and colorimetry, thank-you!

1080P is not a hype. It takes full advantage of Blu-ray's full resolution. It's probably going take forever for OTA to switch to another format again. But some Sats are deliver contents in 1080P. If one plans to hook up a computer to it. It's another plus.

[tencom]

The reason HD looks best in Blu-Ray is because Blu-Ray takes full advantage of the Data tate that MPEG-4 AVC  or VC1 offers up to 40  million bits Per Second plus  that those two formats are more efficient compression wise  then MPEG- 2 used by broadcast Television.
The maximum data rate for ATSC Broadcast Television of 19.2 Megabits Per Second
is not quite good enough for good 1080I Picture Quality, and that many Broadcasters are adding Sub-Channels that take Bandwitdh, away from the HD stream further eroding 1080I Picture Quality. All this, is the most probable reason why when comparing 1080I ,to 720P their appears, to be little difference in PQ.
As I believe nothing beats Blu-Ray for 1080  Picture Quality.

[Matt Heebner]

Well the wife made me pull the trigger yesterday on this (bless her soul !) for Fathers Day, ended up going with   the Panasonic VIERA S1 Series TC-P50S1. After reading about a bazillion reviews and the discussion on AVS forum, it seems there is a feeling that you are getting all the benefits of the G10 panel for a few hundred dollars less.
Now I know the G10 owners out there probably dont feel that way mind you, but after reading many, many professinal reviews, and seeing the TV in the stores, etc, I think it's still a good choice.
I am giving up a fully calibrated Mits, which to me has the ABSOLUTE  best picture I have ever seen, and 5 inches of screen real estate. In return we get back a fully functional living room, a few more design choices, some square footage and     1080p. To be honest I am still not sure how I feel about it but the deed is done. Hopefully mybrother in law is coming this weekend to pick up the Mits, and we will be flat panel by this weekend.

Just need to get a few HDMI cables from monoprice, and blu-ray player and I should be all set.

[Matt Heebner]

Funny how things happen and change in a few weeks.
Went to Best Buy tonight to get an adjustment on the TV, price dropped $100, and lo and behold they have a Panny G10 for the exact price I paid for the S1 9 days ago. Came home, packed up the S1, returned to BB and even exchanged for a new G10 panel.
Wife thought I was crazy, and I spent about 30 min. deciding if it was worth the extra effort but I thought what the heck...why not.

I will say I am pretty damn impressed with both units.  Had I known plasma looked so good, probably would not have waited this long to get one.

[Bebop]

All I have are plasmas. There is no substitute for excited phosphors, until OLED is affordable.

[dfrench]

I appreciate the advice Bebop! I have been trying to determine whether 1080p was worth the extra cost or just hype. I will be sitting further than 10' away so I think I will go with the splurge. I mean, has anyone really ever reggreted spending more on a quality TV? Oh, speaking of which, I regret buying $80 monster cables at best buy, I just stumbled across http://www.optimization-world.com, to little to late but maybe it can save you some money!

[popegreg]

Oh, speaking of which, I regret buying $80 monster cables at best buy, I just stumbled across http://www.optimization-world.com, to little to late but maybe it can save you some money!

The prices there seem just ok.  I'm a huge fan of monoprice

and I go with the HDMI 1.3a Category 2 Certified Male to Male Cables w/ Ferrite Cores - $3.56 for a 6 foot cable vs. $7.99 for a "Ultra-High Speed HDMI Cable - 28 Gauge - Gold Plated 1.3b" at Optimized.

Shipping at monoprice is fast and reasonable too.

[LoadStar]

Blue Jeans Cable also makes some really high quality cable at decent prices. Not as good as Monoprice, but the quality makes up for it.