I know I've said this before in this forum, but here it is again.
In TV's under 32" it is VERY, VERY, VERY hard to see the difference between 720p and 1080i even when the native resolution is 1080. Very, very, few TV's under 32" even have 1080 native capability. What does "native" mean here? It means that the TV LCD screen has at least 1080 horizontal rows of pixels. Many smaller TVs which "support" 1080i signals, display the picture on an LCD panel with 768 rows of pixels. The TV "down converts" the 1080i signal to fit the 768 pixels. So in this case, there is no way to see 1080 resolution picture, no matter how close you get to the screen. There are only 768 rows of pixels available.
For 32" and under, get yourself a good quality (more recognizable brand name) 720P TV and spend the rest of the dollars that you would have used to get a 1080i TV, on something else, like surround sound, or an new upconverting DVD player, or satellite radio, or a new GPS, or whatever.
Just this week, I had a couple hours to waste, waiting on someone at a doctors appt. I went to the TV dept in Best Buy for the specific pupose of trying to see a difference between 720P and 1080i in a whole row of 32" TVs. (By the way, there were only 2 1080i TVs in the 32" row.) They were showing the continuous loopin HD demo and sales pitch on all the TVs. After watching very carefully almost an hour, I still had not seen anything which "looked better" on the 1080 TVs than the 720 sets. I will also admit, that I don't know for sure that they were even distributing an HD signal to all these TVs. Nor do I know what quality the source video was.
The main point is, that 99% of the time you won't ever see a difference between 720 and 1080 (in a TV under 32").
Me, the DW, 2 dogs and more.
1998 Overland Larado, 41', one slide, 325 Cummins, '02 Jeep Liberty Upgrades we've done: SMI-Air Force 1 towed brake system, replaced all 3 TVs with new hiDef LCDs, inst. Xantrex 2Kw Inverter, Prog. Ind. HW50 surge protector
Check out the Philips LCDs. Their warranty service is top-notch. We had a 20" picture tube set that went out on us, and because they had no 20" in stock, they replaced it with a 19" Widescreen LCD (no cost). Beautiful picture and sound, and I'm considering buying another for the MH. Whatever you consider, go online and do a search with the make and model number. You'll find user reviews and prices for both new and refurbished. Great way to help in making a decision. :-)
* This post was
edited 08/07/08 04:11pm by frmAloha *
the 3Dees
Dad, Daughter and Dog
All retired w/
2000 31' SurfSide Class A
JimInMA wrote: I would recommend avoiding any new TV that isn't capable of displaying a minimum of 1080i. 1080p is the current "standard" for Hi-Def. Technially, @740p that Vizio is hi-def but it's the very bottom end of hi-def. That 700:1 contrast ratio is also fairly low.
I partially disagree. On smallish screens, less than 37", at a viewing distance of say 8' or more, the difference between 720p and 1080p is almost impossible to notice; plus, most programming aside from 1080p DVDs is in 720p. Due to different refresh modes, 1080i is no improvement over 720p, either.
Vizio is a bottom-end brand. You do get what you pay for, but also you can pay more for specs that you don't really need. LTBW.
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