Don't worry about 1080p?

poppe

poppe

macrumors 68020
Hello

Hoping you all can solve this question for me? I'm very curious on something.

I want a TV and I want a Monitor, so as many people come to the conclusion like I did, I decided I want a TV/Monitor combo. So what should I be looking for?

I'm trying to stay under or at 999. Is 1080p a major factor for a great resolution when hooking my MBP up to the monitor? Or will it still look sharp and clear on a 720p?

The reason I ask is because I could save alot of money staying away from 1080p, but I can't have it looking all nasty or the icons being all pixalated. Especially when I'm video editing...

I searched but never found any clear answers. What are your guy's thoughts? Please pass on any links for me aswell.
 
Well... how big is the TV?


In my opinion, if you are getting a small screen like a 24'' LCD, 720p should be fine. Anything larger, I would personally go up to 1080p.


Make sure though that it supports HDCP, or else the money you just spent just went down the drain when you try to watch HD movies.
 
You can't find a 1080p TV for anywhere near $999, so it's really a moot point. (Not one that you'd want anyway. I'd take a 720p TV from a namebrand company over a 1080p TV from an off brand any day)
 
Chaszmyr said:
You can't find a 1080p TV for anywhere near $999, so it's really a moot point. (Not one that you'd want anyway. I'd take a 720p TV from a namebrand company over a 1080p TV from an off brand any day)
Click to expand...

I was looking at the Westinghouse 37" which I've heard alot of people hook up as a monitor/tv. Yes it doesn't have a TV tuner but seriously who needs that? Not me. I'm just learning about HDCP, but i'm not really sure why I need it... This is all I'll be doing with the TV. Xbox 360, Wii, Movies with an up converting DVD player, and using it to edit my MBP. So its not really moot.

What is the HDCP and why would I need that so badly?

Any more advice? or thoughts? I want 30+ inches... but no more than 40"
 
If you're in the US - and you are - I don't know that 1080p makes any sense anyway. I'm reasonably sure the US networks are all standardized on 720p for their HD broadcasts.

Someone will certainly correct me if I'm wrong. :D
 
HDCP is basically an encryption used by new digital content with HDMI and DVI connections to make sure the signal is sent from the output device to the TV and not intercepted in between. All new TVs you look at will probably have HDCP, including the Westinghouse.

I don't know, maybe that Westinhouse TV is the best TV on the market at that price, but personally I've never used an off-brand TV that I was happy with.
 
Westside guy said:
If you're in the US - and you are - I don't know that 1080p makes any sense anyway. I'm reasonably sure the US networks are all standardized on 720p for their HD broadcasts.

Someone will certainly correct me if I'm wrong. :D
Click to expand...

You're not wrong about the broadcasts, but Blu-Ray, HD-DVD, and any other next gen "standards" that come along are all 1080p... and I think this user wants the higher resolution for computer display purposes more than video display purposes... And he may well be right that it would be a good idea.
 
Westside guy said:
If you're in the US - and you are - I don't know that 1080p makes any sense anyway. I'm reasonably sure the US networks are all standardized on 720p for their HD broadcasts.

Someone will certainly correct me if I'm wrong. :D
Click to expand...

CBS and NBC are 1080i.
 
poppe said:
Yes it doesn't have a TV tuner but seriously who needs that?
Click to expand...




WHAT?!


You are buying a TV that has no TV Tuner? Then... that is basically a monitor then...


As far as brands are concerned, Sharp and Samsung are the top leaders. Another thing to watch out for is some LCD screens come with a DVD player built in. AVOID that. If that thing dies, you are stuck with a feature you paid a premium for that will cost you a few hundred to fix.
 
poppe said:
I was looking at the Westinghouse 37" which I've heard alot of people hook up as a monitor/tv. Yes it doesn't have a TV tuner but seriously who needs that? Not me. I'm just learning about HDCP, but i'm not really sure why I need it... This is all I'll be doing with the TV. Xbox 360, Wii, Movies with an up converting DVD player, and using it to edit my MBP. So its not really moot.

What is the HDCP and why would I need that so badly?

Any more advice? or thoughts? I want 30+ inches... but no more than 40"
Click to expand...

Which 37" from Westinghouse were you looking at? The 37w3 or 37w1? I was looking at the w3 a while back because I was considering doing the same thing as you. My suggestion would be that if you want to use a TV screen as a monitor/TV, you should go with the 1080p set. More than twice the pixels (compared to 720p) would be hard to pass up when using it as a monitor.

Also, when I was looking at the Westinghouse in the past I was keeping track of a massive thread about that model over at AVS forum. If you haven't already, I'd suggest you search for threads there about the model you're interested in. You'll likely find people posting experiences and pictures of the monitor in action. Good stuff.
 
wako said:
WHAT?!


You are buying a TV that has no TV Tuner? Then... that is basically a monitor then...
Click to expand...

It's really not a big deal. Most people buying an HD set won't be using the built in tuner anyway. They'll be getting digital, including HD, through a cable/sat. provider. But then I'm sure there are some people who don't and just use their set for a 360 or PS3... weirdos. :)
 
jpcos said:
CBS and NBC are 1080i.
Click to expand...

A number of the cable channels also use 1080i instead of 720p, e.g. HBO-HD and SHO-HD, but I agree with mkubal that for most folks it just won't matter. That goes for CableCard too.

B
 
i have the 37" 1080p westinghouse and it is a nice extension when hooked up to my laptop. looks great with Dish network HD and DVD movies.
 
mkubal said:
It's really not a big deal. Most people buying an HD set won't be using the built in tuner anyway. They'll be getting digital, including HD, through a cable/sat. provider. But then I'm sure there are some people who don't and just use their set for a 360 or PS3... weirdos. :)
Click to expand...



Maybe for satellite since Im not too aware of the hook up, but for my cable, you definitely need a TV tuner to get the cable TV to run on your TV....
 
Chaszmyr said:
You can't find a 1080p TV for anywhere near $999, so it's really a moot point. (Not one that you'd want anyway. I'd take a 720p TV from a namebrand company over a 1080p TV from an off brand any day)
Click to expand...


That is not entirely true!! Crutchfield has a deal going on right now for a 37in westy that is 1080p.

I just ordered one and am hoping to hook up a mac mini to it at some point.

There are a lot of ports on the back of the westy that should allow you to hook many different things into it.
 
prostuff1 said:
I just ordered one and am hoping to hook up a mac mini to it at some point.
Click to expand...

I was wondering about that. I plan to do something similar with my Mini in the future, but I was confused since it can't drive a 30" Apple Cinema Display - but it can do a TV that large? Is it because the TV has lower resolution?

Sorry to be off-topic like this!
 
I had my mini hooked up to my Hitachi CRT rear projection TV. I cold get it to drive the TV at 720p and 1080i. It wasn't really usable as computer monitor. But movies looked great. So did iTunes visualizer!
The CRT units don't have a native resolution.
If you are planning on using it as computer monitor, I'd recommend going to 1080p. I would think 720p (1280x768 or there abouts) would look pixelly.
I haven't seen a computer driving a LCD TV, but I suspect it looks ok.

Now I'm in the market for a 50" to 65" rear projection HDTV.
I'm looking at DLP and LCOS at 1080p.
Anyone have recommendations? or good websites for reviews and opinions?
 
Oh, ok. I planned on using it as a media center computer, recording TV, playing movies and whatnot. No real "daily computer" use, if you will. So it should work ok with a 1080p TV?
 
wako said:
Maybe for satellite since Im not too aware of the hook up, but for my cable, you definitely need a TV tuner to get the cable TV to run on your TV....
Click to expand...

If you were running cable TV straight from the jack in the wall that would be the case. But as far as I know, you'll need a set-top cable box or Cable Card to receive an HD signal (excluding OTA). The tuner is in the cable box. Anyway, my point was that if you're buying an HDTV you're likely buying it to watch an HD feed in which case you would forgo the use of a built-in tuner anyway.

Not that an internal tuner would be pointless. It's just not a necessity.
 
Unless you get a huge tv, 50 inches and up, your most likely not going to be able to tell the difference between 720P and 1080P video. Don't get to caught up on the spec sheets of the models you looking at. The best advice I can give you is to go to a few stores and examine the models your interested in.
 
poppe said:
Hello

Hoping you all can solve this question for me? I'm very curious on something.

I want a TV and I want a Monitor, so as many people come to the conclusion like I did, I decided I want a TV/Monitor combo. So what should I be looking for?

I'm trying to stay under or at 999. Is 1080p a major factor for a great resolution when hooking my MBP up to the monitor? Or will it still look sharp and clear on a 720p?

The reason I ask is because I could save alot of money staying away from 1080p, but I can't have it looking all nasty or the icons being all pixalated. Especially when I'm video editing...

I searched but never found any clear answers. What are your guy's thoughts? Please pass on any links for me aswell.
Click to expand...

i have a 720P hdtv and mine is just connected through vga. it looks great and the size of the text is really good too. i can read it from all the way across the room. i've never seen a computer hooked up to a 1080P but i would think it would be too small to actually use with a pc as far as text goes. here's my tv just for a little example to see what i mean....42inch sony lcd projection

 
Thought I would weigh in. I work at a video post production facility. If you can afford to get 1080p, by all means get that. No question. But honestly, I believe 1080i will become the "standard". The key won't be what the big networks have to do to convert over to HD standards. It is what the small affiliate stations have to do. 1080i would be the "easiest" to convert over since it is still based in the NTSC world.
 
rmhop81 said:
i have a 720P hdtv and mine is just connected through vga. it looks great and the size of the text is really good too. i can read it from all the way across the room. i've never seen a computer hooked up to a 1080P but i would think it would be too small to actually use with a pc as far as text goes. here's my tv just for a little example to see what i mean....42inch sony lcd projection

Click to expand...

Very nice loooking! thanks alot. i might forget 1080p if it looks fine in 720
 
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