# 1080p vs 720, with a twist



## Tallgntlmn (Jun 8, 2007)

I have been thinking of getting a HD display for a while. I might have the opportunity soon. But I have a few limitations and the question is based on that.

Obviously I want a 46-52" either Sony or Samsung. But that would be at least a grand for the TV and then another $300-500 for a stand and speaker stands. So that puts me near the 2k range. Not doable at the moment. I am currently looking to spend only a little money, think <$550 or so.

This is the biggest limitation: it cannot be more than 33 inches wide which pretty much limits me to the 32" displays. The sizes I've seen are almost exactly that of my current 27" CRT. 

Now this is not the typical 720p vs 1080p question. I've read at 32" it does not really matter which you go with because you cannot tell anyway. And most people would probably say go with 720 and then use it in the bedroom when the economy will support dropping $2k into the home theatre. I currently sit about 8 feet from the TV. Watching widescreen on a 27" 4:3 makes some things hard to read (especially CNBCHD). But that's not quite what I'd want to do which leads to this question. 

I don't watch TV in the bedroom. So I am thinking that when the economy recovers, I would want to use this 32" TV as a computer monitor. Is that even feasible? Would that look decent? Would that make 1080P as my only legitimate choice? I know I can get decent video cards with HDMI so connections are not a problem. It's more about resolution with this use. I see the Apple 30" Cinema is 2560x1600 and the Dell 30" is the same. Would a TV look ok do you think? I'm just trying to justify buying one now and not waiting until the economy recovers.


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## CCarncross (Jul 19, 2005)

Well as you can see from your post, real computer monitors have even higher resolutions than most HDTV's. IMHO you would not be happy using a 32" TV as a computer monitor, since it will most likely be one of 3 resolutions:

1366x768
1280x720
1920x1080
Compared to the capable resolutions of the 2 30" displays you can see its not even close.

Also I can't think of any video cards I have ever seen that actually have HDMI connections on them, they usually only have DVI connections on them. It doesnt make sense to have HDMI on a vid card since it doesnt provide audio. You'd be much better served to pickup a new pc monitor that has a DVI or HDMI input and use it for a tv.


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## Tallgntlmn (Jun 8, 2007)

CCarncross said:


> Well as you can see from your post, real computer monitors have even higher resolutions than most HDTV's. IMHO you would not be happy using a 32" TV as a computer monitor...
> 
> Also I can't think of any video cards I have ever seen that actually have HDMI connections on them, they usually only have DVI connections on them. ...You'd be much better served to pickup a new pc monitor that has a DVI or HDMI input and use it for a tv.


I've slowly come to that conclusion. If the 30" monitors weren't so darn expensive AND had HDMI... Those run into the $1200-1800 range and for that I could get a 46" set. The two that I mentioned require dual-link DVI. I am not sure if they can double as a TV. After all, how would I hook up a monitor that requires dual link DVI to the DirecTV HR22? I know the Dell 24" models can double as a TV, but that's too small for a living room TV.

There are indeed video cards with HDMI. Not sure why other than some of the better 24" models come with it. This one looks like it might not be too bad given the reviews. It's been a while since I've shopped for one as the one I currently have is a GeForce4 Ti4200.

Maybe I could go with the 32" set until it burns out and then get the bigger one. And then I imagine it doesn't much matter 720p or 1080p for that size, eh? Some part of me has an issue with replacing a perfectly good 5 year old TV. But the other part of me wants an HD display.


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## rebkell (Sep 9, 2006)

I'm using a Toshiba 42" LCD HDTV for a PC monitor w/HDMI and it also has 2 HR20-100 HD-DVR's connected to it. It is an excellent PC monitor. I'm using a fairly cheap ATI card the HD 3450, running at 1920x1080 and it works nicely as a monitor for the PC, I program on it, watch videos and Blu-ray and HDDVDs from the PC connection. It works fine, and I'm sure a 32" 1080P LCD HDTV would look and be a fine PC monitor also. I'm very content with 1080 for the resolution.


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## spartanstew (Nov 16, 2005)

To answer your initial question, from 8' away you need a screen size of at least 46" before the benefit of 1080p starts to become noticeable (and 55" to get the full benefit). At 32", you're just starting to see the benefit of 720p. Anything less than 32" from that distance and you'll be hard pressed to tell the difference between HD and SD.


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## Tallgntlmn (Jun 8, 2007)

rebkell said:


> I'm using a Toshiba 42" LCD HDTV for a PC monitor...running at 1920x1080 and it works nicely as a monitor for the PC, I program on it, watch videos and Blu-ray and HDDVDs from the PC connection.


Does it look good or bad like 800x600 does on a 17" LCD that should be at 1280x1024? I may one day get back into gaming, though I doubt it since I have no interest in WoW. Just curious how it works for that? I have seen computers on Samsung 42" HDTV's running web apps and they looked good, just not sure for gaming or anything like that. Curious, how far away from yours do you sit?


spartanstew said:


> To answer your initial question, from 8' away you need a screen size of at least 46" before the benefit of 1080p starts to become noticeable (and 55" to get the full benefit). At 32", you're just starting to see the benefit of 720p. Anything less than 32" from that distance and you'll be hard pressed to tell the difference between HD and SD.


And most DirecTV is 720p anyway, right? I really want a 46-52" but the combination of having to buy new furniture, not knowing what my next place set up will be and budget concerns are keeping me from it. I was going to go stand first and then get the TV probably around Black Friday. For some reason I got to looking at them recently and see a 32" 16:9 will look a lot like my 27" 4:3 and will fit in my current furniture. In fact, the measurements of the LCD would be almost the same as the whole box of my 27". I could see where that would be conceivably bigger. Most things I watch are in widescreen. HD on SD looks very good, but some things that are hard to watch: CNBCHD and ESPNHD. Words are very small. Regular programming looks great since it's not cropped.


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## rebkell (Sep 9, 2006)

Tallgntlmn said:


> Does it look good or bad like 800x600 does on a 17" LCD that should be at 1280x1024? I may one day get back into gaming, though I doubt it since I have no interest in WoW. Just curious how it works for that? I have seen computers on Samsung 42" HDTV's running web apps and they looked good, just not sure for gaming or anything like that. Curious, how far away from yours do you sit?
> And most DirecTV is 720p anyway, right? I really want a 46-52" but the combination of having to buy new furniture, not knowing what my next place set up will be and budget concerns are keeping me from it. I was going to go stand first and then get the TV probably around Black Friday. For some reason I got to looking at them recently and see a 32" 16:9 will look a lot like my 27" 4:3 and will fit in my current furniture. In fact, the measurements of the LCD would be almost the same as the whole box of my 27". I could see where that would be conceivably bigger. Most things I watch are in widescreen. HD on SD looks very good, but some things that are hard to watch: CNBCHD and ESPNHD. Words are very small. Regular programming looks great since it's not cropped.


It looks fine, the resolution of the video card is 1920x1080, which is the highest resolution of the TV, I'm running Vista, I'm not a gamer, so I can't answer that question, but as far as PC use it's fine, I originally used the onboard hdmi connection on the mobo and it really didn't look good for PC usage(videos looked great, but desktop, surfing, etc looked weak). When I changed to the HD3450 video card it was like night and day, it was all I could ask out of a PC, the fonts are crisp and sharp, it's a great PC monitor.

I sit about 6 feet away.


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## Tallgntlmn (Jun 8, 2007)

rebkell said:


> It looks fine, the resolution of the video card is 1920x1080, which is the highest resolution of the TV, I'm running Vista, I'm not a gamer, so I can't answer that question, but as far as PC use it's fine, I originally used the onboard hdmi connection on the mobo and it really didn't look good for PC usage(videos looked great, but desktop, surfing, etc looked weak). When I changed to the HD3450 video card it was like night and day, it was all I could ask out of a PC, the fonts are crisp and sharp, it's a great PC monitor.
> 
> I sit about 6 feet away.


Thanks for that info. If videos with explosions are good, then I'm sure gaming would be just fine. That was always the biggest factor back when I bought my current monitor. I think 5 years ago, it had a 12ms response which was one of the best I could get. It sounds like from this I could potentially use a 1080p TV for a monitor but wouldn't want to go 720p if that is an potential use.


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## spartanstew (Nov 16, 2005)

Tallgntlmn said:


> And most DirecTV is 720p anyway, right?


720p or 1080i, both of which will look better on a 1080p set (from the appropriate distance) when upscaled by the display.


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## CCarncross (Jul 19, 2005)

Tallgntlmn said:


> And most DirecTV is 720p anyway, right?


Directv isnt really controlling the the resolution as far as whether a channel is 720 or 1080, that would be the station that does that. I havent checked lately but it sure seems there are more station broadcasting in 1080i than in 720p. Might depend more on the particular channels you watch vs. what I watch.

A few examples:

NBC and all its channels tend to be 1080i
FOX " " " " 720p
ESPN's 720p
CBS is 1080i

I'd say all in all its probably more like 50-50, or 60-40 with the 60 being 1080.


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## Shades228 (Mar 18, 2008)

While it's outside your size limitations costco had some sceptres on their website a couple months ago for about 600 I think. Might want to check there. I believe they were 42"


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