[Ravenscar]

Hi, i'm planning to buy a 30"-40" HD TV for my pc to use with xbmc. I won't use it for programs, only multi-media and games.

I have read a lot about HD TV but I'm still very confused about the resolutions available.

768p
I really like to play pc games and emulators. 1024x768 looks logical for pc games which is 4:3.

720p
Most of the video content that I watch are dvd rips and HD rips and a lot of SD music videos, tv shows and documentaries. 1280x720 is standard HD 16:9, so I think this would be the best choice.

And to be honest I don't really see any difference between 1080p and 720p, maybe my eyes are not so good

Which resolution do you recommend for games and movies; 768p or 720p?

thanks in advance, and yes I'm a noob with television...

[EMK0]

i never seen a 4:3 hdtv so your best choice would be 720P you do notice a difference for 1080P but only on bigger screens.

[DaddyLongLegs]

EMK0, there are certainly 4:3 HDTVs. They're typically CRTs but they exist (or at least they did). They were fantastic too as it displayed 4:3 content wonderfully but also made widescreen footage look great.

Anyway, Ravenscar, I wouldn't really recommend a 1080p television, especially at that screen size. The price difference you will pay I promise will make no difference. However, if you were indeed going to use your TV for programs and web browsing, I'd definitely go with 1080p. The first thing I ask someone when they ask me if they should get a 1080p television is if they will use their PC on it. If they say no I almost never recommend it.

I bought a 1080p TV because with my PC on my TV I do web browsing, game playing, all that stuff. But I wouldn't see it as necessary for video viewing and 3-d game playing. It's really just very good for reading text from a PC. But since you're just doing media stuff I wouldn't sweat it.

[Ravenscar]

Thanks DaddyLL, but I'm still not sure which one is better

However almost all large HD TVs with 40" or more are 1080p and they are very expensive.

Is it possible to change the resolution to 720p on a 1080p tv?

I'm afraid that all my SD content looks like shit on a 1080p I have also read that 720p is faster and better for games and a lot of action. 720p would be enough P for me

Which brand would you recommend, and plasma or lcd?

Does 4:3 content like games get black borders on a wide screen or does it get distorted/unsharp when it fits content to the screen?

I've already got a 26" display for programs and games. But i want a 720p for multi-media and xbmc ofcourse. 1280x720 would be a fine resolution for dvd rips and other SD content too.

And is it better to resize backdrops and posters to 720p or 1080p?
It seems that 1080p is standard HD and maybe I will buy a huge TV in the future, after 10 years or so, when they are affordable

[digitalhigh]

Thanks DaddyLL, but I'm still not sure which one is better

However almost all large HD TVs with 40" or more are 1080p and they are very expensive.

Is it possible to change the resolution to 720p on a 1080p tv?

I'm afraid that all my SD content looks like shit on a 1080p I have also read that 720p is faster and better for games and a lot of action. 720p would be enough P for me

Which brand would you recommend, and plasma or lcd?

Does 4:3 content like games get black borders on a wide screen or does it get distorted/unsharp when it fits content to the screen?

I've already got a 26" display for programs and games. But i want a 720p for multi-media and xbmc ofcourse. 1280x720 would be a fine resolution for dvd rips and other SD content too.

And is it better to resize backdrops and posters to 720p or 1080p?
It seems that 1080p is standard HD and maybe I will buy a huge TV in the future, after 10 years or so, when they are affordable

IDK about where you are, but I just saw a 50" 1080p TV for less than $900. Made me wish I had $900 to spend.

It's totally possible to run 720 on a 1080 tv. And like was said earlier, unless it's like a 60" TV, you'd have to have a very good eye to notice any difference between the two.

And the quality of your SD content depends solely on it's resolution...not that of your TV. Unfortunately, "SD" can mean a lot of different image dimensions in the computer world. You can have DVD-qual SD, or you could get an old-skool youtube rip. Guess which one is going to look better?

As far as speed...yes, 720 will probably go faster for games. But it's also a matter of what hardware your computer is pushing. If you've got a brand-new dual core with 4gb of ram and a spankin' vid card, then you can prolly push w/e you want with no performance drop.

BUT, for games and such, there's also the issue of what that game's gfx engine can do. IDK...it's complicated.


My end recommendation is this:

Unless you've got a super-fast computer and a huge collection of 1080p-rez movies sitting around, I'd probably go with 720p.

[Ravenscar]

very true, I think I will wait for a while. 26" is large enough for me at the moment, I'm going to invest in my pc first, i need more TeraBytes. But I will go for 720p better for my content and 720p rips are much smaller

This site is very good: http://bestcovery.com/node/8284

Thanks for the good advice, I guess I will wait for a while for prices to drop. 40" or 50" would be a very nice home theater