How important is 1080P on a 32"?

[Jimmyboy]

I wasn't going to bother looking at LCD sets until 1080P became standard but my current CRT has an audio fault and the prices of LCD's have dropped recently so I've found myself looking at the Samsung LE32R87BD. Is there any reason to hold off? I'm not over struck on the colour reproduction of LCD's and I understand there's some new technology round the corner regarding this?

If not then I guess the main question is whether or not 1080P will make a noticeable difference on a 32" size set or will 720P look the same anyway? I have to admit, every HD transfer I've seen so far still doesn't look high enough in resolution to look clear on a LCD set running in 720P - I'm yet to see a single transfer which doesn't show blocking or digital noise which is why I've always said I'd hold out until 1080P becomes available.

[rwniel]

There's no practical benefit to 1080p on such a small screen size; it's even debatable whether it's relevant to models below 40-50", so a 32" wouldn't show up that difference.

The other issue is that there's still a lot of SD content out there and will still be for the foreseeable future - it's harder to upscale to the higher resolution of 1080p panels which is why it often looks worse than on 720p models.

Potentially there are other technologies out there, but they're some way off and will naturally start off pretty expensive. Some looked quite promising at one point like SED (Surface-conduction electron-emitter display) but that's effectively dead given the problems between the original developer, alongside Canon and Toshiba who were originally going to bring it to market. Meanwhile, LCD and Plasma models have continued to fall in price. So LCD models will dominate for the foreseeable future and over time further encroach on Plasma territory at larger sizes (- Plasma continues to produce a more "CRT-like" image but there are no smaller models than 37").

So I would say there's no specific reason to hold-off, other than waiting until you find a model you can live with - I guess that's down to your perception as much as anything. LCD should continue to improve in a number of ways regardless of the new technologies that will come along afterwards but I suspect that won't have anything to do with 1080p. It'll be more to do with improvements in contrast ratios, refresh/switch rates and picture processing etc.

Robert

[LouBarlow]

1080P is negligible on a 50", worthless on a 42" so you can work out the rest.

If you've seen blocking or digital noise you've either:

a) Seen ***** encodes
b) Seen ***** televisions
c) Seen a good television set up ****ely (i.e with noise filters left on)

A ***** tv is a ***** tv, whether it has 1080P or not.

[nwgarratt]

There isn't even a 32" 1080p available. There is a sharp TV coming out soon but only in the US.

[allan]

To be honest, even on my 40" 1080P set it's hard to notice any difference, but then like DVDs, it can depend massively on the source material.

[tezmo]

How important is 1080P on a 32"? to reiterate, not in the least.

[tpr007]

I agree.

Get a decent 1080i/720p set and you won't be missing out.

[Sprout Crumble]

Ditto. I went 1080p on a 50" plasma and even then its a marginal improvement at best unless the source is top notch.

A huge resolution on a 32" plasma is only useful if used with a PC to browse or game.

[Bearhorn]

A huge resolution on a 32" plasma is only useful if used with a PC to browse or game.

Even then, are there many video cards which could output at this sort of resolution at the moment?

[allan]

Even then, are there many video cards which could output at this sort of resolution at the moment?

Erm, yes!

[kiran_mk2]

I'm sure that at some point all tvs of a certain size will become 1080 as it won't be economical to have 2 production lines producing different resolution panels. At the moment I'd guess this size will be around 37".