HDTV Questions: Resolutions / SD Quality / Future

[lloydsj]

Hi,

I'm currently looking for a new LCD HDTV (~32'' - 40''), but I've got a few questions which I can't seem to find definitive answers to within the forums I browse. So here goes...

1) The latest resolution thats just come out (1080p)... Is this going to be the final resolution for HDTV screens... or is there another better resolution already planned for the near future? Is 1080p going to be 'the' HDTV resolution, and 720p and 1080i TV's will slowly stop being manufactured.

2) What HD resolution is best for displaying SD quality pictures on. I did a few quick calculations and the 1080p seems to be easier to upscale mathematically, than the 720p. Is this the case?

3) I'm not planning on getting SKY or Cable HDTV anytime soon, so SD picture quality is important to me. Does anyone know of a good review comparing lots of the current TV's, both 720p and 1080p in SD mode? I've seen lots of user reviews on forums, but they obviously only review 1 TV. I want comparison reviews.

4) The freeview boxes that are built into a lot of these TV's... they currently receive SD signals, is this the way they will stay, or will they at some point receive HD quality signals?

5) Money wise... is it better to get a 720p TV now... and then get a new 1080p TV in a couple/few years when the TV market has plataued at a cheaper level with everyone using the same resolution. Or is the 720p going to worthless by then, and i'd be better getting a 1080p now?

6) Fianlly, anyone want to recommend me a LCD HDTV (32'' - 40'' range). Its going to be used to display freeview TV, Xbox 360 and will have a media-centre PC connected to it too. Will pay upto 1500 but would much prefer to be under a grand. A friend just got a SAMSUNG LE40R72BX for £833 inc vat delivered, which seems like a very good deal.

Advice appreciated.

 

[Corasik]

Personally I prefer Plasma at the moment, it seems to handle rapid action better, and its colour definition, and contrast are both superior.

576 Pal upscaled to 720p looks great on my Panasonic, so I wouldnt worry too much about that. And unless you sit within a couple of feet, the difference at 42inch isnt so much really.

At 10 feet viewing distance 720p really is pretty good on a 42. But thats not surprising really, as it would be about the same apparent resolution as a 1080p 50 inch screen.

I believe neither 720, or 1080 are making full use of the maximum horizontal resolution yet, so both formats still have room for improvement as panels get increased resolution.

 

[lloydsj]

Personally I prefer Plasma at the moment, it seems to handle rapid action better, and its colour definition, and contrast are both superior.

...but Plasma is not as good for displaying a PC and Xbox? Cheers for the info on viewing distances etc.

Anyone seen any good comparison sites comparing SD picture quality on HDTV's?

 

[Rich JR]

1).
The latest sets @ 1080p, that can be misleading.
Some screens can accept a 1080p signal and display it therefor getting the "badge" 1080p, on the other hand a screen may be 1920 x 1080 pixels with all the advantages that comes with such a resolution

2).
The resolution is not as important as the way the screen processes the image. However for SD usually a lower pixel count will be preferable. LCDs with lots of pixels will tend to show up anomolies in poor broadcast material, and conversely look great with HD material. Some of the better plasmas such as the fujitsu 58 series have way superior image processing than many panels, if I was to offer an opinion that is the way I would go.

3).
They seem thin on the ground mate, and are subjective at best; best bet is get yourself down to good Hi-Fi dealers and book a demo.

4).
The freeview decoders, decode mpeg2 signals at quite low bitrates. I would not think they have the processing power to decode mpeg2 broadcast 1080i.

5).
It will allways be cheaper if you wait.

6).
Learn as much as you can and get to see some screens, I personnally am shocked by how bad lcds are still..... but for displaying a desktop rather than amovie its probably the way to go. Plasma still gets my vote though. It really is horses for courses stuff though , it really depends not som much on "which is the best" but what you need the screen for.

HTH

 

[chaparral]

...but Plasma is not as good for displaying a PC and Xbox? Cheers for the info on viewing distances etc.

Anyone seen any good comparison sites comparing SD picture quality on HDTV's?

A plasma is better for displaying an xbox360 then a LCD..

as Coraslk said "it seems to handle rapid action better, and its colour definition, and contrast are both superior) plus the plasma have better black levels and much better for SD picture quailty...

You hear most LCD owners screaming how there LCD's look good With high quailty HD signals....But in the real world HD signals are going be a lot rarer then SD signals for a long time to come...

 

[S@njay]

Here is a question i allways wanted to know...

If LCD and Plasma tv's cant process "blacks" as they look greyish, how can a HD TV produce a picture better than a CRT which can produce black perfectly?

 

[Syph]

Here is a question i allways wanted to know...

If LCD and Plasma tv's cant process "blacks" as they look greyish, how can a HD TV produce a picture better than a CRT which can produce black perfectly?

By being a CRT HDTV?

I've seen some fantastic blacks produced on plasmas, not so much on LCDs. I think as soon as you see a HD v SD broadcast side by side, you'll be skeptical.

 

[Goatboy]

If LCD and Plasma tv's cant process "blacks" as they look greyish, how can a HD TV produce a picture better than a CRT which can produce black perfectly?

HDTV is a standard not a type of display, any type of display can qualify as HDTV.

 

[ic1male]

So what about resolution? It seems like 1080i is here to stay as the broadcast resolution for quite some time yet as the bandwidth for 1080p transmission doesn't seem available, am I correct?

Obviously when they've got that sorted, 2010+ ?, 1080p will be the standard. Any ideas on how long this is likely to last? A good 20 to 30 years, I think whilst the rest of the planet implement it. Then the Japs will do something even better and the global upgrade will begin again.

 

[unknowndomain]

So what about resolution? It seems like 1080i is here to stay as the broadcast resolution for quite some time yet as the bandwidth for 1080p transmission doesn't seem available, am I correct?

Obviously when they've got that sorted, 2010+ ?, 1080p will be the standard. Any ideas on how long this is likely to last? A good 20 to 30 years, I think whilst the rest of the planet implement it. Then the Japs will do something even better and the global upgrade will begin again.

The Japs have a tech which goes beyond HD linky

 

[Rich JR]

So what about resolution? It seems like 1080i is here to stay as the broadcast resolution for quite some time yet as the bandwidth for 1080p transmission doesn't seem available, am I correct?

Obviously when they've got that sorted, 2010+ ?, 1080p will be the standard. Any ideas on how long this is likely to last? A good 20 to 30 years, I think whilst the rest of the planet implement it. Then the Japs will do something even better and the global upgrade will begin again.

1080i in broadcast is the standard, and yes it is bandwidth that is a determining factor, there is more bandwidth required for 720p let alone 1080p --it is not the same as bits off a disc !

1080i is all that is required for broadcast, there will probably be no move to broadcast a progressive signal.

Incidently because of the way an LCD or Plasma actually displays an image; ie progessively frame by frame (unlike a CRT) then the image seen on your plasma or lcd will be exactly the same whether its 1080i or 1080p. This is why the supposedly inferior 1080i looks better and sharper and handles motion just as well when output of a 360,upscaling DVD or HD-A1 at 1080i rather than 720p !

It must be mentioned that our cousins on the other side of the atlantic have had HD for years in the form of HD CRT sets (tie in with other confused post) a lot of these will only accept 1080i. So the standard adopted had to have continuity. Its interesting to note that the PS3 has problems with these sets, if a game is 720p on the PS3 it will only output at 720p and if output to one of these massive HD CRTs which only accept 1080i it will default back to 480p a setting that the screen supports so no high def games for these customers.