Thanks for the very informative follow up Michael..I had a problem about the 70" size as well..While you say there is a difference on a 50 1080P lets say 10 to 12 feet away compared to a 1080i set but how much of a difference. I know it is very subjective but any light you can shed on that would be appreciated. I had figured there was largely hype over the differences for smaller sets..(50 and under)..

Appreciate the information very much.

 

Mark,

I think you misunderstood me. I never meant to imply there is a difference on a 50" set from 10 - 12 feet away. The chart shows that you will notice the full benefit of 1080p on a 50" set at 6 feet away. I don't know of anybody that sits 6 feet from their 50" TV to watch it, most people are 10 feet or more. At 10 feet there is no benefit to 1080p over 720p.

Also, just to get our terms correct. There are NO 1080i plasma TVs. All plasma TVs are progressive output so are either 1080p, 720p, or 480p. Why the HDTV consortium decided to support interlaced standards still boggles my mind, it only serves to create complexity and crappy interlacing artifacts, and is obsolete with progressive display technology which is all we have today.

Yes, I believe 1080p on a 50" set or smaller is mostly hype, let me qualify that by saying this applies to watching TV. Price being equal of course I would opt for 1080p, but price isn't equal. There are some benefits to 1080p, such as if you want to use your TV as a computer monitor, you will get 1920 x 1080 instead of 1366 (1280) x 720, which is useful. Or, if you are gaming with the TV and sitting much closer to do so. But, using the TV as a computer monitor is very much frowned upon with plasma tvs so is a bit of a moot point.