42" Plasma 1080 vs 50" Plasma 720

[love2listen]

If the price was the same, would I be better off with a 42" Panasonic 1080 or a Panasonic 50" 720? I mostly watch sports and DVDs. I will be sitting 12' from the screen. Any suggestions or feedback would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Warpdrv]

If the price was the same, would I be better off with a 42" Panasonic 1080 or a Panasonic 50" 720? I mostly watch sports and DVDs. I will be sitting 12' from the screen. Any suggestions or feedback would be greatly appreciated.

12 ft seems to me to be screaming 50"

Although If I was buying today, I would be buying 1080p, hands down. Tough choice. Might be worth saving up for a little bit longer and getting the 50" 1080p. That would be what I would do..... no regrets that way....

 

[annunaki]

Well stated Warp.

At that distance, I would go 50". But for the difference in price from the TH-50PZ80U(1080p) and TH-50PX80U(720p), I would just save up a bit more and get the 1080p. Not only does one get the higher resolution, but you get a higher contrast ratio and a better overall panel. In any case, you would be getting a great television (720p or 1080p).

 

[Pyrrho]

If the price was the same, would I be better off with a 42" Panasonic 1080 or a Panasonic 50" 720? I mostly watch sports and DVDs. I will be sitting 12' from the screen. Any suggestions or feedback would be greatly appreciated.

At a distance of 12', it will not matter whether you have 720p or 1080p with either size set:

http://s3.carltonbale.com/resolution_chart.html

And the full article:

http://www.carltonbale.com/2006/11/1080p-does-matter/

Or the same information in a somewhat easier to read chart:

http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/assets/download/0602_tech_talk2_large.jpg

In fact, to see all the detail of a 50" 720p TV, you would have to be slightly closer than 10 feet, and that is assuming you have 20/20 vision.

If I were going to sit 12' from a TV, I would want at least a 60" TV, which would be about the right size to get the full benefit of 720p. In fact, it would be like sitting about 8' from a 42" TV—which is what I do.

Of course, there are other things to consider besides resolution when buying a TV. For example, 720p and 1080p tell you ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about other picture quality issues, such as color accuracy and black levels, or about the quality of video upconversion, or many other matters that can significantly affect picture quality. If I were on a tight budget, I would be happy to settle for a good 720p TV. It is certainly far better than a bad 1080p set.

If you must sit 12' from the set, and if the only differences between the sets are that one is 42" 1080p and the other is 50" 720p, it would be crazy to buy the smaller set. You will not even be able to see all the detail that it can provide at that distance.

 

[GlocksRock]

I sit at 12 feet, and I have a 73" which seems to be the optimal size for that viewing distance. I used to have a 50" 720p set before I got the 73" and it was ok, but I wouldn't even consider anything less than 56" for that distance.

 

[jonnythan]

50", no question. 50" will be a little small already. 42" will be tiny.

 

[BMXTRIX]

I'm at 12' and went with a 720p 60" display. No question in my mind that it was the right decision. My 106" screen with projector is starting to look pretty weak at 540p resolution, but the plasma looks phenomenal - and I sure as heck was up in the air about 1080p vs. 720p but when I went into stores and stood 10 feet back it was just nearly impossible to tell any difference whatsoever.

 

[croseiv]

Of course, there are other things to consider besides resolution when buying a TV. For example, 720p and 1080p tell you ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about other picture quality issues, such as color accuracy and black levels, or about the quality of video upconversion, or many other matters that can significantly affect picture quality. If I were on a tight budget, I would be happy to settle for a good 720p TV. It is certainly far better than a bad 1080p set.

Very well stated there! PQ is very important.

 

[Halon451]

As stated, the difference IMO between 720p and 1080p is negligible at the distance you are sitting. If it were me, two things I would be focusing on with my selection is contrast ratio and viewing angle. You can have a fantastic 1080p set, but with poor black levels and/or viewing angle (how far you can sit off axis from directly in front of the screen and still see everything with bright detail). As someone mentioned you really have to look at a few more of the features besides simply resolution - especially if you are looking at LCD, pay particular attention to contrast ratio.

 

[Soundman]

1080p Baby!

I would go 1080p hands down. I know there's alot of talk about at a certain distance you can't tell a difference, but all I can say is that every time I walk into a store to check out TV's, I can immediately tell which ones are 720p and which ones are 1080p. Of course once stepping back a bit, this coupld change. But me personally, I would want the 1080p to make sure I am seeing Blu-Ray with all it has to offer. Even if I can't tell a difference, I would feel better knowing I had the better resolution. Also, If may room conditions ever changed where I was sitting closer to the set, I would be able to take advantage of the higher res panel, but that's just me.

 

[jonnythan]

42" is just too small.

 

[forkbeard]

At 12' you MUST go big

I was in the same position as you. Until Sunday. Fixed budget. Tired of waiting. Right deal. Right time. Panny TH50PX80U. And I sit 8-9 feet away.
42" would have been good. This is great. I figure it will be years before I'm looking at 1080P content. I'm not what you'd call a real early adopter or a spendthrift.

 

[allargon]

I was in the same position as you. Until Sunday. Fixed budget. Tired of waiting. Right deal. Right time. Panny TH50PX80U. And I sit 8-9 feet away.
42" would have been good. This is great. I figure it will be years before I'm looking at 1080P content. I'm not what you'd call a real early adopter or a spendthrift.

Err... you don't need a Blu-Ray or HD VMD/DVD player or even a computer signal to view 1080p content. A set of rabbit ears tuned to CBS, PBS, NBC or the CW during the right time will give you 1080i content which any respectable 1080p display will de-interlace to 1080p giving you all the details and resolution of 1080p.

However, I do agree that at 12' you can't tell the benefits of 1080p with a 50" set. I have a 57" set. I usually sit 3-4 feet away when I am evaluating discs for PQ. At 12' you really need to be looking at one of those lovely 70"+ rear projection displays or a front projection set-up. Of course if you have $25k+ to kill on a 70" flat panel, ignore my projection recommendation.

 

[unreal.freak]

If the price was the same, would I be better off with a 42" Panasonic 1080 or a Panasonic 50" 720? I mostly watch sports and DVDs. I will be sitting 12' from the screen. Any suggestions or feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Whats your budget? maybe someone can point you in the direction of a good deal on a better option.

Peace,
Tommy

 

[love2listen]

Budget

I am looking to spend around $1,000. I could get the Panasonic 42PZ77U or the 50PX75U for about the same price.

 

[unreal.freak]

I am looking to spend around $1,000. I could get the Panasonic 42PZ77U or the 50PX75U for about the same price.

Here is a smoking deal on a Toshiba 46" Regza LCD.
http://shop4.frys.com/product/5626611

If the extra $200 is way too much over the $1000 budget then i would go with the 50" Plasma.
With the Toshiba LCD you would get the size and 1080p full HD. That is, if LCD isnt out of the question.

Good Luck,
Tommy

 

[love2listen]

I was in the same position as you. Until Sunday. Fixed budget. Tired of waiting. Right deal. Right time. Panny TH50PX80U. And I sit 8-9 feet away.
42" would have been good. This is great. I figure it will be years before I'm looking at 1080P content. I'm not what you'd call a real early adopter or a spendthrift.

Forkbeard, if you don't mind me asking, how much did you pay for the
50PX80U? As much as I would like to get 1080p, it seems that for my viewing distance I'm better off with the 50PX80U or the 50PX75U, instead of a 42" 1080P. Thanks for help.

 

[forkbeard]

1199.97 at Boscov's minus 100.00

Had my eye on this model for a while. Wanted plasma. Needed cheap. Thought about 42". Thought about 1080P. Then I saw it on sale at a local Boscov's for 1199.97. Then the salesman said I could knock off a hundred by opening a charge account. So I didi it. Bottom line was 1099.97 plus sales tax.

 

[Panjsheri]

If the price was the same, would I be better off with a 42" Panasonic 1080 or a Panasonic 50" 720? I mostly watch sports and DVDs. I will be sitting 12' from the screen. Any suggestions or feedback would be greatly appreciated.

At 12 feet you might want to go with the 50 inch since there is nothing out there except for the Blu Ray player that does 1080p. The 1080p is a very good option for now and the future but the problem is you need to buy a Blue Ray player to take advantage of it which would cost you at least $300. Currently it looks like it might be a few years before they start broadcasting at 1080p or if anything or everything becomes that standard. Now what you need to think of is this.....Do you want to buy the 50 inch for now and maybe save some money but loose picture quality or wait a while until all the TV's are 1080p then they will drop in price and you can be happy with your decision. Lastly if you did go all out and bought the 50 inch 720p TV would you upgrade in a few years when everything will be 1080p on Blu Ray and maybe (HOPEFULLY) satellite and cable TV???

BTW: At 12 feet you might not see the difference between the two but when everything is 1080p maybe you will??