Pointyskull

I plan on picking up a 50" Panasonic plasma within the next few weeks. My original plans - due to space restrictions - were the 42" plasma, but a creative redesign of our room has given me the luxury of bumping up the size. And Panasonic goes from 42 to 50, with no inbetween.

This begs the 1080p or not question. My understanding was that under 50-55 inches, the 1080p is not a major issue vs the cost differential of 720p.

Viewing distance is approx. 8-10 feet from set to seats.

Thoughts or opinions to further confuse me?

Chew

As I posted in another thread, the distance where you start to tell the difference between 720p and 1080p on a 50" is 10 feet. Being right under that, it comes down to whether the big bump is price is really worth it to you. Perhaps go to the store and measure out the distance and compare for yourself?

Sdallnct

Personally, I would not spend the extra money (unless you plan to hook a computer up to it).

I would read the reviews carefully. It seems the 1080p versions of the panasonic are not getting the universally high reviews their 720p models were. And since picture quality is more then about resolution, you want to make sure you are not giving up anything (black levels, color accuracy, etc) just to get higher resolution.

Patman

Very true, resolution just tells part of the picture. Panasonic now has a 1080p model (TH-50PZ77U) with 10,000:1 contrast ratio, the earlier 1080p model (TH-50PZ700U) had 5,000:1 contrast ratio, but it cost more.

I noticed that Fry's has the Panny 1080p 50" (probably the TH-50PX700U) for $2200 this weekend. I think the 720p 50" (probably the TH-50PX75U) is down to $1500 or so. That's the crux, is the idea of having the latest-n-greatest 1080p with less buyer's remorse worth $700 to you. For me, the answer was no. Now if I were in the market for a 58" or larger plasma, then I'd consider the 1080p models much strongly, but the 50" hits that sweet spot were you won't feel like you're given up as much picture quality with a 720p set over the 1080p with the proper viewing distance factored into the decision-making process.