1080p Over Rated?

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Here’s an interesting article which summarizes 1080p, provides a few set reviews, and defines wobulation. It’s a good read, especially if you’re considering a big-ticket HDTV purchase in the near future. They pretty much conclude unless you’re sitting very close to a large screen and have perfect vision you may not notice much difference between 1080p and 1080i or 720p. It also justifies my hanging back on the new HD generation of DVD players. Will 720p flicks look significantly better than 480p on my 30″ den HDTV? Somehow, I don’t think so…

Popular Mechanics says: Is the extra resolution worth the price premium of a 1080p set? That depends a lot on what you want from your TV. If you insist on neighborhood bragging rights in the resolution department, then you may want to buy a 1080p model to “futureproof” your purchase. But if you choose to make the 1080p splurge, you should do it knowing that it might be a couple of years before widespread 1080p content becomes available. And, even then, the 1080p advantage will be pretty subtle on anything less than the largest screens. On the other hand, if you are interested in making the jump to high definition today–and enjoying the HD content that is already available–then most current 720p and 1080i sets will deliver stunning results right now.

4 thoughts on “1080p Over Rated?”

  1. I read that article – I subscribe to Popular Mechanics.

    I’ve seen 480p side by side with 1080p at CES – and it is *dramatic*. I couldn’t believe the difference. And it wasn’t that the 480p looked that bad itself – but next to 1080p the quality difference was obvious. It was one of the BD demos and they had too systems with the same HD diaplay on both, just different sources.

    I don’t know that 1080p is really going to be worth it over 1080i, but it is worth it over 480p from what I’ve seen.

  2. That’s the real question I (and the author) seem to have… is there a significant difference between 1080p and 1080i or do you reach a point of diminishing returns? For the moment it’s a non-issue given the dearth of 1080p content — how could an average consumer perform a reasonable comparison?

  3. HD DVD’s are 1080p and available from today if I’m not mistaken, although the only player that can play them is 1080i.

    I’m not sure theres much difference between 1080i at say 60 frames per second, and 1080p at 30 frames, However in my opinion 1080p60 is currently the holy grail of home cinema.

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