Is 1080p really worth the extra dough?

[kishzilla]

Sumsung is the best brand available. It just depends on the model. You might have been looking at a "top shelf" panasonic and a "low end" samsung. All i know is that the more you spend the better TV you get. My Samsung was $1800 and IMO it is worth every penny.

For what you paid for your TV, even if mine blows up every year for the next 4 years I could buy another one every year and still have paid less than you

You don't have to rip on my new TV and say I'm cheap because you paid 4 times as much. The concept of the more you pay the better you get is antiquated and cliche. I would happily put my Viera Plasma up to yours with HD programming running through it and laugh at you because the 720p/1080i coming into your set is upconverted and blown out and pixelated while my $500 set kicks yours in the ass. Not to mention standard def, which the majority of channels still are, will look 10 times worse on your set compared to mine. By the way, is your Samsung an LCD? Because if so, my $500 tv probably has a better refresh rate and higher contrast ratio too. Blacker blacks, faster, smother action sequences and sports, and extremely vivid rich colors. All of which cannot be rivaled by an LCD tv unless in the $2000 and above category.

Yes, pop in a bluray and yours will have a better resolution, but this is one of the few sources of 1080p content you have access to. 720p is not just a native res to just me, it's the native resolution to every person receiving a TV signal from sat TV or Cable. I don't know about you, but the main thing I do with my television is watch TV shows/ Football games. Since this is the main thing I will be doing with it, I wanted to have a good viewing experience, not just spend unnecessary amounts of money on a 1080p set that might be utilized sometime in the future and until then will have a sub par picture quality due to the upconversion.

[kishzilla]

I highly suggest anyone that wants to have a better understanding of HDTV resolutions, go and read this CNET article on the topic. It helped me, along with many of you in this thread, tremendously.

Here are a couple of pertinent things from the article.

Although resolution separates HDTV from standard-definition TV, it's not as important to overall picture quality as other factors. According to the Imaging Science Foundation, a group that consults for home-theater manufacturers and trains professional video calibrators, the most important aspect of picture quality is contrast ratio the second most important is color saturation, and the third is color accuracy. Resolution comes in fourth, despite being the most-cited HDTV specification.

That's why I went Plasma. LCD's under $2-3k cannot begin to compare in these regards.

1080p is restricted to Blu-ray, some video-on-demand sources and the latest video games, however, and none of the major networks has announced 1080p broadcasts.

1080i has more lines and pixels than 720p, but 720p is a progressive-scan format that should deliver a smoother image that stays sharper during motion.

Despite the obvious difference in pixel count, 720p and 1080i both look great. In fact, unless you have a very large television and excellent source material, you'll have a hard time telling the difference between any of the HDTV resolutions. It's especially difficult to tell the difference between 1080i and 1080p sources.

The truth about 1080p
In the last couple of years, HDTVs with 1080p native resolution have taken over the market at nearly every price and size point. But as we've been saying all along, once you get to high-definition, the difference between resolutions becomes much more difficult to appreciate. We've done numerous side-by-side tests between two same-size HDTVs, one with 1080p resolution and another with lower resolution, and every time it's been almost impossible to see the difference with regular program material, especially when that material is moving....

...for movies, games, and other standard video material, the benefits of 1080p are negligible unless you're sitting quite close.

[Sparky The Sun Devil]

what do you guys think of Insignia brand TVs?

this weekend, im prolly getting a 42 inch plasma from insignia thats 720p and 600Hz. Dynamic contrast ratio (1,000,000:1) and native contrast ratio (30,000:1)..what do you guys think?

its 399 with a 2year warranty

[Frenchy180]

what do you guys think of Insignia brand TVs?

this weekend, im prolly getting a 42 inch plasma from insignia thats 720p and 600Hz. Dynamic contrast ratio (1,000,000:1) and native contrast ratio (30,000:1)..what do you guys think?

its 399 with a 2year warranty

I'm pretty sure that's a name brand tv, with a Best Buy brand name on it... Similar to Dynex (what I've got) I think that's a pretty good deal.

[theMileHighGuy]

what do you guys think of Insignia brand TVs?

this weekend, im prolly getting a 42 inch plasma from insignia thats 720p and 600Hz. Dynamic contrast ratio (1,000,000:1) and native contrast ratio (30,000:1)..what do you guys think?

its 399 with a 2year warranty

I looked into Insignia televisions a while back when I was looking for TVs. The TVs specifically are third-party manufactured by whatever company best buy is subcontracting to at the time and then best-buy puts their name on it. I had read somewhere that all of Insignias parts come from LG, so they're not junk.

I don't think you'll be disappointed with that, Best-buy is pretty good with warranties if something happens to it.

[kishzilla]

I looked at some insignia brands before I bought the Panasonic Viera. I decided against it because of their problems with Image Retention or burn in. This can pose a problem for Plasma TV's, more so the more "off brand" varieties or older plasma tv's. The problem is that while the TV is essentially made by a name brand but with best buy logos, they use extremely outdated technology, as the name brand companies use the latest and greatest for their stuff but sell the older stuff to make the insignias and westinghouse brands etc. Newer plasma TVs made by Panasonic and other companies, have worked out this issue and it is not really a problem anymore. For instance, my tv has a Pixel Orbiting feature that moves the signal sent to the pixels to help stop image retention, whereas older sets don't have this function. Keep in mind, burn in or image retention is NOT a warrantied item in most cases. Image retention can be reversed somewhat by using special DVD's that flash different colors etc to the screen, but burn in is a permanent thing and cannot be reversed.

If you think that you would have a situation that would cause image retention (watching a lot of movies with a letter box, tv channels that leave the logo in the corner all of the time, video games with H.U.D.'s that stay on etc.) then you are going to want to go with either an LCD or a modern technology Plasma, i.e. the last 2 years.

[Sparky The Sun Devil]

Image retention can be reversed somewhat by using special DVD's that flash different colors etc to the screen, but burn in is a permanent thing and cannot be reversed.

If you think that you would have a situation that would cause image retention (watching a lot of movies with a letter box, tv channels that leave the logo in the corner all of the time, video games with H.U.D.'s that stay on etc.) then you are going to want to go with either an LCD or a modern technology Plasma, i.e. the last 2 years.

I actually bought it today. 20% with a free 2yr warranty. I couldnt afford any other set of similar size.

I NEED to find some dvd's like that i guess...

edit: it does have antiburn tchnology, it refreshes the screen err 2 mins i think it said

[garzjoe]

I mostly agree with your post but wanted to clarify a few things.

TV is broadcast ed in 720p or 1080i (usually 720p) so you won't really be able to tell a difference unless you are playing a Blu-Ray or PS3.

It's been a while since I checked but most TV broadcast were mainly in 1080i...I think Fox was one of the few that did 720p.

1080p is more of an investment at this point than practical as the 720 is. If you want to be set for when broadcasts become upgraded (who knows when), 1080p might be right for you.

I doubt OTA broadcast will ever have full 1080p in the foreseeable future. If recall most HD OTA tuners in the field are MPEG2 and the max bit rate is 19.5Mbps. That is a big pipe but not big enough for 1080p...

Thx,
Joe

[kishzilla]

I actually bought it today. 20% with a free 2yr warranty. I couldnt afford any other set of similar size.

I NEED to find some dvd's like that i guess...

edit: it does have antiburn tchnology, it refreshes the screen err 2 mins i think it said

You should be good to go then man:thumb: Congrats on your new set!

[kishzilla]

I mostly agree with your post but wanted to clarify a few things.



It's been a while since I checked but most TV broadcast were mainly in 1080i...I think Fox was one of the few that did 720p.

1080p ~ Blu-ray players; PlayStation 3 and the newer Xbox 360; some video-on-demand sources like Vudu

1080i ~ CBS, NBC, PBS, DiscoveryHD Theater

720p ~ ABC, Fox, ESPNHD

480p ~ Progressive-scan DVD players

480i ~ All standard-definition TV broadcasts

I doubt OTA broadcast will ever have full 1080p in the foreseeable future. If recall most HD OTA tuners in the field are MPEG2 and the max bit rate is 19.5Mbps. That is a big pipe but not big enough for 1080p...

Agreed.