HD 720P or 1080P?

Question

i am thinking about buying either a 22" 26" or 32" HD Ready LCD TV and if i get a 32" should i get it in 1080P or should i get it as 1080i and run it 720p?

Answer 1

The answer lies of course in the quality of the signal you're going to feed the TV set. LCD screens are capable of correctly displaying only one screen resolution (called "native resolution"), scaling and distorting all other resolutions to fit the screen before they are displayed.

Only buy a 1080p screen if you're going to feed it a 1080p signal (from a compatible BluRay player for example), through an HDMI signal cable.

If you're thinking of displaying current HDTV channels, buy a 720p TV set. The channels are all 720p at best and most send a 720i signal (this may improve over time).

If you're thinking of displaying a correct quality picture after the switchover to digital, buy a Freeview box for your CRT screen. The standart for the digital signal will be 576i or 576p, so no LCD TV screen will display it correctly.

Answer 2

The normal viewing distance for a 32" LCD TV is  6-8'. At these distances, no one can discern the difference in a 720p or 1080p vertical resolution regardless of your source content. Save yourself some money and ignore the hype; get the 720p HDTV with a 32" diagonal.