In an effort to reduce the redundant topics that tend to clutter up this forum, we are starting this thread with an intention to "corral" the disussion of this particularly popular topic to this one location, as much as humanly possible. 
Above all else, the goal of this "sticky thread" is to be the one-stop information center for new forum members who have questions about 1080p and 720p, and their relative merits. General resolution questions are also fair game in this dedicated thread. Here you may post your facts, observations, questions, relevent links.
Yes, some debate is permitted, however, let's do our best to be dispassionate information providers. Best to leave resolution debates outside the confines of this thread. Again, what we are mainly trying to do here is provide a single location where the more experienced forum members can direct new/inexperienced members to, in order to save us all from repeating the same basic information over and over and over and.. well, you get my drift.
To get us started, I've copied some posting contributions here from another recent thread, which centered around this very same topic. The following opinions are by no means definitive, but hopefully a reasonably good starting point for discussion. Feel free to add your own contributions as you see fit.
FINAL NOTE: This initial thread post is subject to revision, if necessary, upon review of our moderator, MarkRubin, as well as my own subsequent scrutinizing. Perhaps we will add informational links to this first thread post, as they become available.
Above all else, the goal of this "sticky thread" is to be the one-stop information center for new forum members who have questions about 1080p and 720p, and their relative merits. General resolution questions are also fair game in this dedicated thread. Here you may post your facts, observations, questions, relevent links.
Yes, some debate is permitted, however, let's do our best to be dispassionate information providers. Best to leave resolution debates outside the confines of this thread. Again, what we are mainly trying to do here is provide a single location where the more experienced forum members can direct new/inexperienced members to, in order to save us all from repeating the same basic information over and over and over and.. well, you get my drift.
To get us started, I've copied some posting contributions here from another recent thread, which centered around this very same topic. The following opinions are by no means definitive, but hopefully a reasonably good starting point for discussion. Feel free to add your own contributions as you see fit.
FINAL NOTE: This initial thread post is subject to revision, if necessary, upon review of our moderator, MarkRubin, as well as my own subsequent scrutinizing. Perhaps we will add informational links to this first thread post, as they become available.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CruelInventions 
The independent experts all tend to agree on this point.. 1080p is just about the least important factor in picture quality particularly if you are seated outside the physical boundaries where our human eye can no longer discern the resolution differences. This is a sliding distance scale which depends on screen size in relation to seating distance. Here's one such chart example:
http://hdguru.com/wp-content/uploads...ance_chart.pdf
Color accuracy, contrast, black levels, scaling/processing all come before resolution in importance. The smaller the panel, the less important resolution becomes UNLESS you will be using the panel as a computer monitor (where you'll often be seated within 4ft. of the display, and at a distance that close, you will much more likely notice & appreciate the difference). On a 37" panel, for example, you have to be within 5ft. to tell the difference. And that's under ideal circumstances.
Disregard any poster who suggests otherwise. They are seeing something other than the true difference between 1080p & 720p when they claim they can tell the difference even on smaller (37"-42") panels beyond 5-6ft. The difference they claim to see is likely to be in the processing of non-native signal, i.e., panels will typically display their native rate better than they can a lesser resolution which the panel then has to scale to match it's own.
If you have a 1080p 42" panel, for example, assuming for a moment that you are seated outside the optimal seating boundary for fully resolving (seeing) 1080p content, the panel will still often look better displaying 1080p content merely because it doesn't have to scale the resolution. Feed the 1080p panel some other lesser resolution which then must be upscaled to match the panels 1080p native rate, then on all but the most expensive panels with excellent processing, the image will look inferior not because 720p is a lesser resolution, but because the panel simply cannot do a very good job scaling it. Or, maybe the panel handles scaling these duties well, but the particular 1080p model just so happens to have better color rendition, contrast, etc., than another particular example of a 720p panel, and as a result, it looks better under any circumstances, regardless of their comparative resolution capabilities.
The independent experts all tend to agree on this point.. 1080p is just about the least important factor in picture quality particularly if you are seated outside the physical boundaries where our human eye can no longer discern the resolution differences. This is a sliding distance scale which depends on screen size in relation to seating distance. Here's one such chart example:
http://hdguru.com/wp-content/uploads...ance_chart.pdf
Color accuracy, contrast, black levels, scaling/processing all come before resolution in importance. The smaller the panel, the less important resolution becomes UNLESS you will be using the panel as a computer monitor (where you'll often be seated within 4ft. of the display, and at a distance that close, you will much more likely notice & appreciate the difference). On a 37" panel, for example, you have to be within 5ft. to tell the difference. And that's under ideal circumstances.
Disregard any poster who suggests otherwise. They are seeing something other than the true difference between 1080p & 720p when they claim they can tell the difference even on smaller (37"-42") panels beyond 5-6ft. The difference they claim to see is likely to be in the processing of non-native signal, i.e., panels will typically display their native rate better than they can a lesser resolution which the panel then has to scale to match it's own.
If you have a 1080p 42" panel, for example, assuming for a moment that you are seated outside the optimal seating boundary for fully resolving (seeing) 1080p content, the panel will still often look better displaying 1080p content merely because it doesn't have to scale the resolution. Feed the 1080p panel some other lesser resolution which then must be upscaled to match the panels 1080p native rate, then on all but the most expensive panels with excellent processing, the image will look inferior not because 720p is a lesser resolution, but because the panel simply cannot do a very good job scaling it. Or, maybe the panel handles scaling these duties well, but the particular 1080p model just so happens to have better color rendition, contrast, etc., than another particular example of a 720p panel, and as a result, it looks better under any circumstances, regardless of their comparative resolution capabilities.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nmlobo
The 1080p sets are the only sets that will display both broadcast formats of 720p and 1080i with no loss of detail. They upconvert (scale) the 720p to 1080p (screen resolution) and deinterlace the 1080i/60 and display 1080p/30 with no detail loss.
A 768 display has to scale every input signal.
The 1080p sets are the only sets that will display both broadcast formats of 720p and 1080i with no loss of detail. They upconvert (scale) the 720p to 1080p (screen resolution) and deinterlace the 1080i/60 and display 1080p/30 with no detail loss.
A 768 display has to scale every input signal.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mongoos150
] Contrast, color saturation and color accuracy are all more important than resolution. Your display could very well produce a better picture because of better color saturation/contrast and have nothing to do with the bump in resolution. The difference in sets under 42" is negligible - people only think they can see a difference because *usually* they are seeing differences in contrast, color saturation and color accuracy as opposed to resolution differences.
] Contrast, color saturation and color accuracy are all more important than resolution. Your display could very well produce a better picture because of better color saturation/contrast and have nothing to do with the bump in resolution. The difference in sets under 42" is negligible - people only think they can see a difference because *usually* they are seeing differences in contrast, color saturation and color accuracy as opposed to resolution differences.
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