I’m in the market to get a new HDTV in May or so. I’ve pretty much decided that I’m going to go with a 50" plasma. I’ve looked at LCD and plasma displays side by side and the plasmas just have much better picture quality IMO. Now, I’m trying to decide on whether to go with 720p or 1080p. Price is a bit of a concern and that is why I’m leaning towards a 720p at the moment. My eyes will be about 12’ away from the TV. The question that I have is that on a 50" display that is 12’ away, can I tell the difference between 720p and 1080p? Do you have any recommendation on some budget/value 50" plasma displays? Give me brands and model numbers, please.
I recently went through the same thing but with a 42". Based upon my research and observation I found that the panasonics plasma had the best bang for the buck. I just saw the most recent edition of consumer reports that confirms my decision. Shop your local retailers and check pricing at J&R, Pricemad, etc to track your best deal. I actually bought my TH-px75u from a local Sears at a sale price of $999. $100 back from Sears to put on their card, $200 back from Panasonic toward installation = net cost of ~$700. I also have 60 days to find it for less (than 999) to get the difference + 15% from Sears.
I am really impressed with the quality of the picture now that I have a new directv hd dvr. I think 50" is where you can start to see the difference between 720 and 1080p. However a lot of the programs are in 720 so there may be limited benefit to the 1080p at this point.
IMHO I think that you should go with the 1080 resolution. With that size TV it will make a difference unles your eyes are really bad. Also most HDTV is 1080i and any HD player is going to be 1080i/p native anyway.
I know cost is a concern, but for the amount of time that you will own the TV it is not a huge $ for a picture that will be much (noticably) better.
…However a lot of the programs are in 720 so there may be limited benefit to the 1080p at this point.
Are you sure about that? There is very few source materials in 720p. There is a lot in 1080i. CBS/NBC/ABC/PBS broadcast in 1080i format. Most pictures on Blu-Ray are in 1080p or 1080i format. On satellite, HDNET/HBO/ESPN alll broadcast in 1080i.
So in your situation, the TV is constantly scaling down the source material to 720p. A 720p monitor throws out a lot of valuable picture detail.
I have both size plasma TV’s. The 50 is 720, and the 42 is 1080. I have also tried the blu-ray player on both. There is a difference in picture quality. That said, high definition is 1080. This is the direction the technology is moving. If you are trying to save money, I would go with the 42 1080. The picture difference wasnt much, but it was there, and will give you more viewing options in the future.
That 46 looks great and it is no wonder why they are blowing out the old models. Nice feature with the new series is 3 hdmi plugs instead of 2. Do you have a bright room and need the anti-glare filter on the 80U? Looks like the 85U has higher contrast ratio without the anti-glare. I would like to see them in person. Personally I dont mind being slightly behind the technology curve as there will always something better coming out in the next year or two making what was hot today into next years bargain basement item. Figure that for what I paid the 42 can be a bedroom tv in the next couple of years.
have you looked at DLPs at all? (samsung 5689, say), much less power consumed and a lot cheaper too… the only thing is that since it’s an RPTV it doesn’t do as well in bright sunlight, and the blacks are not as black as plasma. OTOH you can be sure the picture won’t dim in a couple of years, and you won’t have burn-in to worry about.
At 12’ 720p and 1080p on a 50’ will look pretty much exactly the same.
I’m not interested in DLP because I don’t want to have to replace bulbs every few years. Also, I think it is a dying technology. With that stated, the burn in issue with plasmas has gotten better and better with every generation and this is now Panasonic’s 11th generation of plasmas.
i bought a vizio 52 inch plasma. have had it for 18 months now…awesome tv…i recently bought a sony upconvert 1080 dpi dvd player to replace the sony progressive scan. Now i have to watch all my movies over again. the picture quality is freakin awesome. I cant wait for the HD dvd players to get cheaper…
1080 is a huge jump from 720…to answer your question
Vizio Plasma 50 in 1080i or 720p at costco is $1200. Pretty good deal. I like mine. Read the reviews about 1080 vs 720. Not many people can tell the difference in side by side.
Panasonic plasmas seem to be the favorite amongst the various audiophile sources I’ve read. However, that’s not a “budget/value” plasma. The one that fits that ticket is the Vizio – which really is the best bang for your buck. Get it from Costco and you have 90-days to decide if it’s the one for you. AVSFORUM.COM has a ton more info, if you can wade through it all. Good luck.
I recently went through the same. Plasma vs. LCD. size. then 1080i/720p vs. 1080p.
I also finally settled on a Panasonic Plasma 1080p 50 inch. I sit about 10-12 feet away as well and I can tell the diff with Bluray discs vs. 1080i movies. Get closer and you can DEFINITELY see it. I have a 42 Sony LCD and a 20 LCD Samsung (kitchen) as well. Quality of the Panasonic unit is the best by far (and I was never a previous Pany guy). You should have found out by now with your review searching that there are really only 2 choices here: the Pioneer Kuro and the Pany sets. Since stepping up to a 1080p Pany is certainly not cheap, I just could not see the diff with the Kuro - and I really tried.
I’ve heard about the Pioneer Kuro sets and they are just too expensive for my budget. I would ideally like to spend under $1500, but I can go up to $2k if necessary. I can’t believe I’m spending that much on a TV. My last TV was a 27" CRT that I paid $350 for. rroof, what model is your TV?