Video Asylum

Posted by DavidLD (A) on May 05, 2008 at 07:37:02

In Reply to: RE: Beginner questions on flat panel and DVD player posted by jackrandom on May 05, 2008 at 05:17:27

Sorry for the newbie questions, but I'm just dipping my feet into buying a flat panel TV.

Question 1: Would 720p be sufficient on a 46-50" flat panel or should I go to the 1080p? What I mean is, would I notice a significant difference in picture quality?

Esp on the plasma flat panel, if you sit really close to a 46-50 inch set in 720p you will see screen door efect, that is the boxes that make up the picture, but you have to be about 5 ft away or less. The boxes are still there on the 1080p sets, but smaller and less noticable.
LCD units seem less prone to this.


Question 2: Would buying 720p now be short sighted 3-5 years down the road (ie will programming all be in 1080p and I'll be missing out?)

No. First. Blu Ray is the only real 1080p signal source out there. The 1080p sets are mainly for people who want to make a big investment in Blu Ray player and movies.

Most of the HD channels are broadcast in 720p, and since 1080p takes more bandwidth I dont see the stations going to a still higher definition any time soon, because they can't broadcast as many different programs in the same space. A few channels like the Discovery channel brodcast in 1080i. An LCD 720p set will display this fine, as it de-interlaces the signals and displays them as 720p. If you want to get a debate going here simply ask whether a 1080p set will display a 1080i signal any better than a 720p set. The differences between the sharpness will be modest, if noticable at all.

Question 3: Can a blu-ray DVD player play normal DVDs? If so, would it provide a better image quality than an ordinary DVD player?

Some are set up to upconvert normal DVDS and send the normal DVD signal
out its HDMI ports but you can buy a non Blu Ray player thgat upconverts and sends out an HDMI signal from an ordinary DVD for far less money. Last I looked Wal-Mart had a "Philips" upconvert DVD player that did this--for $44. The big question is whether you want to make the expensive investment in $20-$30 Blu Ray disks--the price of the player is a smaller consideration.

Question 4: Plasma or LCD? I seem to like some of the pros I'm reading on plasma, but it seems like more Companies are no longer producing them, so I wonder if they will disappear in the near future.

Panasonic for one makes some great plasma sets in larger sizes at prices similar to other companies LCD offerings and will likely be doing so for a long time to come. Generally the LCD sets may be better all around TV sets for daily use esp if the room is well lit. Plasma, with blacker blacks and less brightness is the better choice for a movie theater type of experience in a darketed room. Both have comparable life so I'm told. BUT each generation of LCDs brings blacker blacks (higher contrast) and each new generation of plasma sets are brighter than the year-old model, so they are very close, even now. Plasmas weigh more than LCD sets of a similar size, and that is a factor esp if you want to do a wall mount.

Right now, if I wanted a 46-inch plasma I would be looking at a Panasonic Viera, but in the LCD of that size I would be looking at Toshiba Regza.

Yes guys, the Pioneer Plasmas are probably superior to the Panasonic offerings, but at substantially higher cost.

YOU should be able to get a 50 inch Panasonic plasma for aroud $1,500 in 720p or $2,000 in 1080p; the Toshiba LCD's are similarly priced. The Pioneers run double that.

David