Re: HDTV Questions and Answers Thread
It's really a matter of personal preference, but you will likely find more people who say that 720p is better for sports and other programming which has a lot of fast motion. Personally, I think the difference is negligible, but I guess it depends on a lot on what set of eyes is viewing.
I have 2 HDTV sets in my house: a 65 inch Mitsubishi rear projection CRT, and a 50 inch Samsung DLP in my bedroom. The Mitsubishi's native resolution is 1080i, while the Sammy's is 720p. I have viewed several sporting events on both, and they both look great. You also have to take the resolution the stations are transmitting at into account. I know with NFL games, Fox broadcasts at 720p while CBS uses 1080i. So, basically, if you buy a 720p native TV, anything you watch that is natively transmitted in 1080i is going to have to be scaled down to 720p by either your source (cable or satellite box) or the TV itself. Same goes for 1080i sets, with 720p material being upconverted to 1080i.
The scaling process can effect the picture quality, though it's usually not a big deal. Furthermore, DirecTV uses heavy compression on their HD material to fit it onto their cramped bandwidth, so there is more picture degradation than there should be. Cable can be effected by the quality of their lines, but the picture is generally less compressed.
I think you can only get Fox Sports Net in HD with cable, and I would guess that they use 720p, since all other Fox stations do.
Dollar for dollar, CRT's are by far the best bang for your buck. They are a dying technology, so the demand is low and the deals are plenty. If you don't mind the bulkiness (especially for the bigger sizes), that is probably what you should do.
Originally posted by Blzer
I have 2 HDTV sets in my house: a 65 inch Mitsubishi rear projection CRT, and a 50 inch Samsung DLP in my bedroom. The Mitsubishi's native resolution is 1080i, while the Sammy's is 720p. I have viewed several sporting events on both, and they both look great. You also have to take the resolution the stations are transmitting at into account. I know with NFL games, Fox broadcasts at 720p while CBS uses 1080i. So, basically, if you buy a 720p native TV, anything you watch that is natively transmitted in 1080i is going to have to be scaled down to 720p by either your source (cable or satellite box) or the TV itself. Same goes for 1080i sets, with 720p material being upconverted to 1080i.
The scaling process can effect the picture quality, though it's usually not a big deal. Furthermore, DirecTV uses heavy compression on their HD material to fit it onto their cramped bandwidth, so there is more picture degradation than there should be. Cable can be effected by the quality of their lines, but the picture is generally less compressed.
I think you can only get Fox Sports Net in HD with cable, and I would guess that they use 720p, since all other Fox stations do.
Dollar for dollar, CRT's are by far the best bang for your buck. They are a dying technology, so the demand is low and the deals are plenty. If you don't mind the bulkiness (especially for the bigger sizes), that is probably what you should do.
after getting that tv. and the hd baseball games you were talking about will look spectacular.
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