I'm in the market for an HDTV. It will be used solely for standard DVDs, not HD DVDs. Is there a particular HDTV resolution that's optimal for standard DVDs? My thinking is this: the higher the resolution, the more defects can be seen in standard DVDs. So, would I be wise to purchase a 720p TV instead of a 1080? Or is this a non issue?
Furthermore, are there any particular sets you guys would recommend? I'm looking to spend less than $3500. 40" - 50". Thanks.
Brian Shannon
12-13-06, 10:02 PM
How close do you plan to sit to that size tv?
Birrman54
12-13-06, 10:12 PM
I would think viewing at native resolution would be best. I could be wrong.
So for a standard DVD, that would be 480p
dtcarson
12-13-06, 10:13 PM
Out of curiousity, why would you buy an HDTV if you're only interested in SDTV? Do you plan to watch HDTV through cable, satellite, or OTA? Unless you're just futureproofing, or if the tv with the specs you want doesn't come in SD, I don't see a purpose in getting an HDTV given your needs. Especially if your budget caps at 3500--spending even anywhere close to that, and not getting the 'best' specwise, doesn't make much sense to me. Granted, it's an RPTV, but my 60" HD RPTV was less than half of that, three years ago.
I'm not sure if you can still find 'EDTVs' for sale, I think they're 480p.
If you're going to spend that much, I'd get at least 720p/1080i, if not 1080p. Odds are you could set it to display 480p for your dvds.
I don't think the issue is so much the resolution of the tv, is that you're "blowing up" an image with relatively few pixels [SDVD]. If you go ~40"+, and you're closer than 8 feet or so, the image will not look as good.
It sounds like you're willing to spend the money--get a good TV, the size you need, with the highest resolution you can afford, spend the rest on an HDDVD player or other upconverting DVD player.
X
12-13-06, 11:00 PM
Or is this a non issue?It's a non issue. DVDs won't look worse with better resolution.
I have an RPTV that's capable of resolving more than 1080 lines and DVDs look great on it. I have a projector that's capable of resolving only 480 lines and DVDs look great on it too. I can see more "flaws" on the projector than I can the RPTV because the projector displays twice as large an image.
I don't think you can find large screens that aren't capable of better than 480 lines anymore anyway and if you could you wouldn't want one.
caiman
12-14-06, 01:22 AM
Thanks for the replies.
I suppose it is a bit of futureproofing. I don't want to get into HD DVD yet due to the format war, yet I'd like to have a nice, big 16x9 set. I'm tired of my puny 25 inch CRT. And I figure if I'm getting a big widescreen TV, I might as well get a top of the line one so that it will still be what I need once I do jump on the HD DVD bandwagon.
PixyJunket
12-14-06, 10:12 AM
From my experience, a resolution difference is only noticeable (and in a big, bad way) for video games.
4KRG
12-14-06, 10:56 AM
I think 480 resolution DVDs look fine on a 50" HD TV. I only have mine setup via component cables right now.
My friend is going to let me borrow his Oppo player and an HDMI cable
for a few days so that I can see the difference. He has a pro series Panasonic plasma and he claims the oppo upconverted output is awesome. $149 does not seem too bad of a price if it makes a big difference and you don't have to 're-buy' all your DVDs.
Buy: