Do Regular DVDs look significantly better (or "less bad") on 720p than on 1080?

[Kriket]

I just bought a 42" 1080p LCD (LG). I'd been planning on 720p but this one was on sale so I thought it might be a good idea. Now I'm wondering if I made a mistake. I'm not planning on moving up to Bluray just yet so I'll still be watching regular DVDs.
Right now I just have an Xbox360 with the HDMI cable. DVDs look fairly good but for certain scenes things look fuzzy and there is a noticeable "static" effect.
Subtitles don't look too good either and this is a problem as I watch a lot of foreign films.

I was planning on buying either a good component cable or an upscaling DVD player. From what I understand(not much), they would do a better job of upscaling than the 360.
I just bought the tv though and I still have a couple weeks to return it if I'm not happy with it.

I'm wondering...should I just take it back and look around for a 720p instead? Or with better upscaling, will it look about the same?

[orac]

I have just bought my first LCD - a 32" Samsung 720p and I think that standard DVDs look excellent upscaled through a 360 via HDMI. I found that you do need to tweak the factory settings on the screen - high contrast, mid brightness etc to get the best results - but DVDs do you look great - examples of ones that looked excellent: Star Wars (a new hope), Son of Rambow, Raiders of the lost ark etc.

If you look online, as always you get mixed views on the 360 upscaling - some good, some not, some swearing by ps3 upscaling, some not... best to make up your own mind... tweak the settings on the LCD and give that a go...

Also I think subtitles on most SD DVD players (upscale or not) will not look too good on that size screen.

[LouBarlow]

Just ignore the resolution of the set - 1080P means NOTHING on a 42" set. Buy the set that offers the best standard definition treatment, as HD will likely look awesome on anything.

People too easily fall into the trap of thinking they have to go 1080P. It's just not the case. Buy the set that produces the best picture, not the one that has the bigger numbers.

[LordoftheDance]

Just ignore the resolution of the set - 1080P means NOTHING on a 42" set. Buy the set that offers the best standard definition treatment, as HD will likely look awesome on anything.

People too easily fall into the trap of thinking they have to go 1080P. It's just not the case. Buy the set that produces the best picture, not the one that has the bigger numbers.

Gotta disagree with that.

My best mate has a series 7 Panasonic 42" set which is 720p.
Mine is a series 8 set, 1080p.

I definitely think movies look better on my set than they do on his, though it is a close call in many cases.

(His audio setup ****** all over mine from a great height though, but that's another story. :) )

[SheepDip]

It could be the set, but Samsungs are supposed to be really really good for SD. The only reason I went for a Toshiba at the time, was the speakers - Samsungs have a bad reputation for the speakers due to the design of the casing, and you don't want to have to put the surround system on just to watch Eastenders.

Well I can only speak for myself, but mine is 720p, and all SD DVD sources have been really good. Scart was pretty sound, upscaling through the Xbox was ok, a slight improvement, but I wouldn't use an Xbox for that due to other issues, upscaling through a Sony blu-ray 350 though is IMO outstanding.

Hard to say then.

[orac]

360 upscaling > RGB Scarted sony dvd player... miles of improvement PQ wise for me

[LordoftheDance]

Well I can only speak for myself, but mine is 720p, and all SD DVD sources have been really good. Scart was pretty sound, upscaling through the Xbox was ok, a slight improvement, but I wouldn't use an Xbox for that due to other issues, upscaling through a Sony blu-ray 350 though is IMO outstanding.


To the OP - sorry, I didn't read the question properly.

Obviously it's all down to personal opinion in the end, as we don't all have 20/20 vision, but with regards upscaling standard DVDs on either a 720p or 1080p set, the difference should be negligible.

I have to say SheepDip that I think the S350 Blu-ray upscaling is pants compared to both the PS3 and my £100 DVD player (which isn't that much in the grand scheme of things).

Still, as a Blu-ray player it's just dandy. :)