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Random Quote: she said "tie me up and you can do what you want'', so I tied her up, and went fishing.
OK I recently joined the 21st century and got a direct TV package. (It kills me to pay for TV)
Anyway the wife went out and bought 2 new TV's 1 27" flat panel for the bedroom which is a 720 (dpi?) and a 40" for the living area that is 1080 (DPI?) and operates at 120 hz.
The problem I may be having is the DTV box that comes with my package only has older style connecting cables sort of like old (RCA) connections 3 color coded wires that plug into the TV and DTV box then into the surround sound system.
I've been told (By a salesman) that these style cable connectors won't give me 1080 or 120 hz. operation.
I don't think I can get 120 hz anyway as transmission lines only transmit at 60hz. so this may be a mute point. But what about the 720 vs. 1080 dpi stuff? Would i be able to see any difference in my picture and how can I get DTV to give me a box with HDMI connections? They said my package is not an HD package and they want me to pay more for it.
I'm thinking they can only transmit on one level so if I change the receiving box I might get a better quality signal, what do you say?
Anyway the wife went out and bought 2 new TV's 1 27" flat panel for the bedroom which is a 720 (dpi?) and a 40" for the living area that is 1080 (DPI?) and operates at 120 hz.
720 and 1080 refers to the number of scan lines of data going across the screen -- it is the maximum resolution the screen can resolve without reformatting (reducing resolution) of the data. Since going digital and having to live within the realm of pixels, you can think of the 720 or 1080 as the number of dots going up (or down) the side of the screen -- the shorter dimension of your display. There will be greater resolution (more pixels) going across the width. For comparison, old CRT TV's were 480 lines up the side of the display.
Yep, you have to get HD programming. I did and can't believe the difference in quality. I have a 42" 1080 in the living room on an HD line and a 37" 720 in the bedroom on a non HD line.
There is a difference between the two. Get the HDMI wires.
__________________ 2005 Yamaha SX230 HO w/ 320hp. & 1968 13' Boston Whaler project
Kind of yes and no. It could matter with a display over 30-inches or so, but it depends on what the viewer is watching and what they want.
Broadcasting has embraced 720 to save bandwidth, cable satellite and hd dvds targeted 1080, and yes, there is a visible difference -- more so if you know what to look for.
Yep, you have to get HD programming. I did and can't believe the difference in quality. I have a 42" 1080 in the living room on an HD line and a 37" 720 in the bedroom on a non HD line.
There is a difference between the two. Get the HDMI wires.
HDMI is a standard connector (similar to a USB connector) that replaced the larger DVI connector. The DVI is actually a better connector (better signal quality than HDMI, too) but it isn't as marketing friendly -- and it is big.
HDMI (and DVI-D and DVI-I) are digital, the 3-cable component (and DVI-A and DVI-I) are analog. Almost no one can tell the difference between digital and analog inputs to a quality flat panel display. If you can immediately distinguish a difference your display's drivers are of lower quality.
The 120hz is how fast the image on the LCD screen refreshes itself. It doesn't have anything to do with the 60 cycle power coming into the house. 120hz is a very typical rate for an LCD. There are some true 240hz screens out there, but they are quite a bit more expensive for what you get.
Generally, plasmas have the fastest refresh rates, up about 600, but they are not a bright as LCDs.
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Pay for HD and box and get HDMI cable, You'll NEVER go back. Just don't by the cable at your local Best Buy, they'll $crew you on it. I picked a few up for a couple of bucks on ebay and they work great.
As far as 720 v 1080, I have an early-years 720 JVC 48" and it looks awesome. My eyes can't see any difference between it and my 1080.
__________________ 2009 Key West 186 BayReef - Yamaha F115
FOR SALE - 2001 Scout 175 Sportfish - Yamaha 115
----------------------------------------------- Send lawyers, guns and money, the "crap" has hit the fan.
The 120hz is how fast the image on the LCD screen refreshes itself. It doesn't have anything to do with the 60 cycle power coming into the house.
How fast the display could refresh -- if there was data available to show you.
Whatever you are watching on your display, it is all based on displaying 24 (film), 25 (Europe and Asia where power is 50Hz), or 30 (US where power is 60Hz) frames or images per second. Higher refresh rates are result of techno-voodoo being used to create the illusion of a pretty picture from increasing bandwidth and mis-matched technologies. It's complicated -- very complicated.
Consider: when you watch a DVD movie on your digital display, the original source, a Hollywood movie, was created at 24-frames per second on film. Regardless of increasing refresh rates, there is no more information to show you. Your flat panel wants to show you a minimum of 30 frames per second. So, for every 5 frames your flat panel shows you, one frame has no data. Well, there was no data to define that one frame, so somewhere, somehow, something had to create data to fill that empty frame -- and it had to look pretty doing it. Like I said, it's complicated.
Rule of thumb is any screen under 37 inches go with the 720........anything over 37 inches get the 1080. You can't see the slight difference in quality of picture between 720 and 1080 on the smaller screens. 1080 is supossedly the higher quality image.
I am a home theater fanatic and also in the film and video business particularly on the post production side..
My opinion is that you should consider the highest resolution you can afford. 1080P is where its at and that is all I would buy regardless of size though as it was pointed out earlier, it is harder to appreciate the resolution differences on smaller screens.
Most new TV's today are 120Hz capable. They will will run at lower rates as well to match the source. Over the course of the next year, lots of 3D content will become available. Most 120hz displays will be capable of displaying this content as that is part of the new stereoscopic standard that is in the works. Of course you will still need those funkey 3D glasses, but the picture quality will be much better than the 3D content that is out there now short of what you can see in the theaters. Things like sports and movies will all be available in 3D in the near future and if you have not seen what the future has to offer, you will be amazed! I have seen it and I can tell you that its amazing. 3D gaming will bring a whole new element to the TV as well and while I am not a gamer, those that are will really appreciate it.
HDMI cables will provide a better signal than component cables. If you want the best picture, get the HD package. SD looks like crap on an HD display. SD looks better on an HD display when upconverted from the HD receiver. The recievers should include the HDMI cable as well so if you go to a new receiver, you should have the cable you need in the box.
I have Directv here with their HD package. Their HD quality is much better than Dish's and much better than most cable providers. They encode at a higher bit rate and the end result is a better picture even though most of their transmissions are not in 1080P. I had dish for years but switched back to Directv for the quality and quanity of HD content.
1080 vs 720 / HDMI / 120 HZ ? 
