 | Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years. Thanks, CNET Support |
Recently I bought a 37" 720p Sanyo flat screen on sale, but I'm wondering if I should have gotten a larger 1080p TV instead. How much a difference would it make for playing Xbox 360? How about for playing graphics-intensive computer games like Crysis Warhead (I'm assuming I can hook my laptop up to the TV)?
Thanks
Discussion is locked
Got some Samsung 23 inch 1080p HDTV, monitor thing because we wanted it for both the TV and display. 720p via HDMI from the 360 should be fine. Of course we went 1080.
Bob
Not sure if this is true, but I heard that you can't really tell the difference between 720p and 1080p once you're over 4 feet from the screen. Is that your experience?
I also have another question which is probably a stupid question but if you want to view HD TV on the screen, do you have to have a special HD set-top box from your cable provider? And if you have just a regular set-top box, you will simply see standard picture on the screen?
Those with 720 sets to sell would say that. Here we have 1080p and after hooking it up to the 360 I'm not going back down to lower settings.
Your dime and choice here.
"do you have to have a special HD set-top box from your cable provider? And if you have just a regular set-top box, you will simply see standard picture on the screen?"
These questions are already answered in our Samsung and many other forums. I'll stick to the 360 1080p question for now.
Bob
Whether a 1080p set gives a better picture than a 720p set will depend on a host of variables. Viewing distance is obviously one of them. Quality of the source material is another. Consumer Reports is not a tech oriented site, but I've usually found their information accurate. I don't know if this link will work for non-subscribers:
TV resolution, buying advice, 720p, 1080i, 1080p
Is 1080p always the better choice?
Not necessarily. While a 1080p set has the potential to display finer detail than a 720p set, resolution alone doesn't determine picture quality. Other factors such as brightness, contrast, and color also come into play. Some of the top-rated TVs in our Ratings are 720p sets that have better picture quality than some 1080p models. Further, the effect of resolution depends in part on the size of the TV. You can best appreciate the finer detail of a 1080p screen on a 50-inch or larger TV, though you might see subtle improvements on a 40- to 47-inch screen, especially when viewed up close.
I have the 360 and a not so big display. We set it as 720 and 1080. Hands down, everyone that tried it picked the 1080 setting. So even under 50 inches it looks better.
Seems simple enough here. But if you had 720 gear/displays to move out you would want to talk to them about it only matters at larger displays?
Or better yet "host of variables." There is no way you would let them see it side by side!
Bob
The difference in resolution shouldn't matter too much for the size you're going with, but you should also consider what other features you would gain by going with a 1080p set. For the 37" TV's that we sell, going with a 1080p model also gives you higher contrast ratio and/or 120Hz, since those models are "high end" for a 37" set.
Chowhound
Comic Vine
GameFAQs
GameSpot
Giant Bomb
TechRepublic