Do I Need 1080p Resolution?

Do you really need 1080p resolution? It all depends on size.

An age-old question: When you're getting bigger, better technology, how far is too far to go in the pursuit of high-end technological goodies? Especially when shopping for digital television displays, the numbers 720p, 1080p and 1080i are surrounded by a mystique that only the true techie geeks can penetrate. The average shopper assumes that more is better, a myth perpetuated by marketing, and spends the most they can afford to get a "quality" television.

What does 1080p mean?

A 1080p television displays 1080 vertical lines or pciture, filling in from top to the bottom. The 1080 is the number of lines, and the "p" stands for "progressive," which means that the image fills in from the top of the screen to the bottom, providing a complete scan of every frame. A 1080i HDTV has the same number of vertical rows, but instead of completing the entire image from top to the bottom, the interlaced display fills in every other pixel line of the frame. For example, the first frame will display the odd-numbered lines (1, 3, 5, etc.) while the second frame displays the even-numbered lines.

Both of these processes happen far too quickly for our eyes to see, but they may affect the way the image appears on the screen, particularly when fast-moving images are displayed. All 720p HDTV sets use progressive scan, though you'll sometimes see them in stores with a resolution of 768 instead of 720p.

Native resolution vs. source resolution.

Native resolution refers to the way the television is intended to display an image. Unfortunately, the native resolution of the television doesn't matter if the source resolution isn't the same quality. Upscaling mimics a higher resolution, but results vary greatly depending on the source and the methods used.

Your first question in sorting out resolution is to know what you're watching. If you have, or plan to own, a Blu-ray player, a PlayStation3 or an Xbox 360, you may want a 1080p set. These are currently the only devices that utilize 1080p, and there are no plans by broadcasters to use a resolution higher than 1080i for programming because of the huge amounts of bandwidth needed to broadcast the signal. If you don't own any of these devices and you're getting TV programming from cable, stick to 1080i, as most cable, even HDTV, is too compressed to take advantage of higher resolutions.

Screen size and viewing distance.

The next questions to ask are how big the TV will be and how far you'll sit from it. It can be difficult to tell the difference between 720p and 1080p televisions if you're sitting 8 to 12 feet from your TV. In order to truly notice the difference in resolution, you'll need to sit approximately 5.5 feet from a 42" television or 6.5 feet from a 50" display. If you don't sit that close to your television, you won't get the full benefit from the increased resolution of a 1080p display. The difference in resolution is more pronounced in models 56" or bigger in size. As a rule of thumb, 1080p should be reserved for televisions 40" or larger. If you're on a budget, don't be afraid to consider 720p resolution for sets 37" and smaller.