HD Ready Vs Full HD

mallet head

hi

Sorry if you guys have answered this one before ( I'm sure you have).

After some research I have decided to buy a panasonic 42" plasma. My query is whats the difference between the 2 HDs ? Also when will I notice the difference if at all. I have sky digital and have no urge to move to HD but If I am buying a new TV I would like to know the pitfalls. There will be a ps3 in the house soon Should that influence my decision.


Thanks in advance.

uncle_sam_ie

Full HD will only make a difference if you have a very large screen 50" or more. The human eye can't tell the difference on smaller screens. And, the only thing at the moment that will take advantage of 1080P is the PS3. If your going to use it to play games a lot on the PS3 full HD might be worth it. But, if your going to watch TV programs most of the time well then it would not be worth the extra cost for full HD. Here is the CNET review for the US version of the Full HD Panny.
http://reviews.cnet.com/flat-panel-tvs/panasonic-th-42pz700u/4505-6482_7-32466828.html?tag=pdtl-list

Dont be at yourself

HD Ready only means it will accept a HD signal though, right? It doesn't mean it will output in HD?

Ghost Train

NekkidBibleMan wrote:

HD Ready only means it will accept a HD signal though, right? It doesn't mean it will output in HD?

Hd ready has to be capable of showing 720 lines and be widescreen format, so it will output HD

Like said above it's really only on bigger screens that the differance will be clearly noticed, however if you're closer to say a smaller 1080p tv you'd notice the differance, so viewing distance is a factor.

Really comes down too the size of tv you're getting and what price you're willing to pay.

Ciaran500

You will be able to see the difference between 720p and 1080p at 42" but the difference won't be huge, certainly not something I'd be prepared to spend alot extra on. Best thing to do is to demo them some where with a propper setup.

The PS3, Xbox 360, Blu-rays and HD-DVD all output in 1080p.

HD Ready means the TV must be able to display 720p natively, accept 1080i and HDCP.
HD compatable means that they can accept HD but fails one of the above criteria.

jmal

I think that anyone concidering a new (good quality) LCD Screen in the 40"+ sizing should also concider the future proofing aspect. Remember in the near future when HD DVD/Blu-ray & PS3 etc become much cheaper and Sky HD becomes standard, then you will be sorry you went for the slightly cheaper option of HD Ready since you are not going to get the full experience.

Most good brands of LCD Screens today are all coming standard with Full HD in the 40"+ models.

Brian68GT

Dont be taken in too much by screen resolution. If you have an unlimited budget, then of course you buy the best 1080p TV you can afford.

However, screen quality is more important than line resolution.

for example, i believe that side by side, a 1080i Pioneer 428 or 508 will beat any Sony or Samsung 1080p TV in terms of picture quality. Theres more depth, more natural colour reproduction and a very organic picture quality.

I have a Pioneer 506xde, which still blows my mind and i'm about to buy a 42" TV and i've decided on thr Panasonic TH 42PV70, which has some sort of 1080p processing, even though its a 1080i TV. Its a beautiful picture, comparable to the Pioneer's that sell for around a grand more.

Also rememer, if your more than 3 metres from your TV, it'll be difficult to see the difference in 1080i vs 1080p.

311

I got a 37" panasonic plasma last week ,it's resolution is 1024 X 720

DID in lucan have good quality connections on their display tv's and thats what made me sure of panasonic.
There was very crisp Full HD lcd's on display ,but they look too processed to me.

Toshiba are doing nice HD ready lcds at the moment.

Calibos

Listen, theres arguements in Projector forums about whether one can notice the difference between 720p and 1080P on anything less than a 120inch screen. Remember that isn't just 3 times as big as a 42 inch plasma. Its 9 times as big.

So I wouldn't really get hung up on 720p vs 1080p. Get the plasma that has the best picture to your eyes, be it 720p or 1080p.

That being said, whenever my poxy 32in Sony FX20 dies (its 13 years old and still going strong, damn 90's Sony build quality!) I'll be getting a 42in 1080p. For one reason and one reason only. Computer use. a 720p desktop is a tiny working area.

dc69

jmal wrote: »

I think that anyone concidering a new (good quality) LCD Screen in the 40"+ sizing should also concider the future proofing aspect. Remember in the near future when HD DVD/Blu-ray & PS3 etc become much cheaper and Sky HD becomes standard, then you will be sorry you went for the slightly cheaper option of HD Ready since you are not going to get the full experience.

Most good brands of LCD Screens today are all coming standard with Full HD in the 40"+ models.

sky only output hd in 720p and will never go more than that,becuase it takes up twice their bandwidth.no point in full hd unless you are a movie freak and play alot of games

311

There is a bigger issue with quality ,rather than resolutions at the moment. All you have to do is walk into an electrical retailer and see the differences.

I think buying a hi-res (1080p)tv now,is putting you under pressure to buy into HD only services.
Then the whole thing sets you back a lot more than you expected.

mathias

sky only output hd in 720p and will never go more than that,becuase it takes up twice their bandwidth.no point in full hd unless you are a movie freak and play alot of games
dc69 is offline Report Post Reply With Quote

Incorrect , sky output in 1080i , have one myself ! http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055141302&page=2

Also , I'll cut and paste here to avoid typing it again , concerning so called Full HD

True HD Along with Full HD , etc. etc. is nonsense ,

The Wiki on HD says it as plain as it gets ,

HD is anything over 720 lines , if its over that its HD , True HD doesnt mean anything , some broadcasts are in 720p , downloadable content also , this is better on a native ( or closest to it ) set than a 1080p as the 1080p has to scale it , some broadcasts are 1080i , some content is 1080p , these would be better on a native 1080p set , again in theory because you dont have to scale.

Sky does 1080i , blu ray and HD DVD do 1080p , go on the net and you have a plethora of formats , try to get a set that handles them all well , but none of them are " True HD " , thats a BS marketing term along with Full HD etc. etc.

Heres the Wiki , this is true , anything else you get told will probably be marketing BS , and theres an unfortunate amount of it around.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_ready

See also the link for Full HD on this page and the comments about it , marketing speak is all that term is.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_HD

The most expensive sets at the moment are 1920 x 1080 , and that will probably be the max resolution for a while in terms of TV broadcasts due to bandwidth limitations , but higher resolutions do exist albeit in specialist formats , so which one is True HD or Full HD ?

HD TV's can be stunning , but dont start to feel shortchanged if your set is not a 50 inch or bigger 1920 x 1080 , like I said , 720 is a fine picture and is no less true HD than 1080 , and may well suit your living conditions better , who wants a big monster of a TV in the sitting room if a smaller set fits the room better.

There is already a doubling of resolution for HD on the horizon , 3840 x 2160 , some computer displays already being able to do that via dual link DVI and two cards.

Whats that ... fuller HD , truer HD .... ? Its unlikely it will be taken up by broadcast companies due to bandwidth , but could well be made available on media and through download , the size of screen needed and the viewing distance will determine if you need it or not.

Anything over 720 lines is HD , buy a set with a good picture that fits the room and forget all this Full , True etc. marketing BS.

jmal

We'll said mathias.

But it think we are all getting away from the origional Q. The discussion is "HD Ready Vs Full HD", terms relating to the two main screens resolutions available on the market today.

They are HD Ready (1366x768) or the term Full HD 1080p (1920x1080) which is a global standard for "Full HD" Screen. It is very difficult to separate these two on a screen size of below 42" at the correct viewing distance. So the decision comes down to the screen size you intend to purchase and the level of detail you want on that screen. It really comes down to an individual's perception of what looks good in there eyes.
I personally intend on investing in a new panel before the end of the year which is probably going to be the SHARP 42" Full HD panel to get the most out of a PS3 and blu-ray DVD player and as there is only a €200 difference between old HD Ready and new Full HD panel, i think there's no contest. With the substantial reduction in "Full HD" panel cost the gap between these two formats has greatly reduced?

dc69

mathias you do realise that probably not 1 person in this thread could tell the difference between 1080i and 720p if they saw it in person as it is basically the samew to the human eye,sky will never show 1080p,so it is pointless buying a 1080p television unless you are playing games,most televisions know are 720p and 1080i compatible,which is plenty and will match skys maximum output,still doesnt change the fact sky will never show 1080p

dmck

sorry if this is slightly off topic, I’m about to purchase an LCD but I’m completely lost in the jargon and specs at the mo.
I was looking at getting the Sharp LC37XD1E on sale for 999, it’s for use with a media centre and I will primarily be using it to watch SD content and to occasionally play xbox360 when I invest in one. I was all set for a full HD lcd until I read this, now I considering the Sony KDL-40S2530 on sale for 999 also it's a bigger set which I would prefer.
Am I right in thinking I won’t really benefit from the full HD sharp model? What sort of difference will full HD make when using windows and watching media centre, my graphics card specs are below. If you have any suggestions for an alternative set that would suits my needs I would be grateful.


Thank you.

Features/Specifications:
• Zotac NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT 256 MB PCI-Express Dual DVI & TV Video Card
• General Features:
• Powered by Nvidia Geforce 8600GT GPU
• 540 MHz engine clock
• 400 MHz RAMDAC Technology
• Max. Resolution at 2560 x 1600
• 256 MB GDDR3 memory
• 1.4 GHz memory clock
• 128-bit memory bus width
• PCI Express x16 interface
• Microsoft DX10 support
• DX10 Shader Model 4.0
• NVIDIA Lumenex Engine
• NVIDIA Quantum Effects
• OpenGL 2.0 support
• True 128-bit HDR lighting
• 16x Full-Screen Anti-Aliasing (FSAA)
• PureVideo HD
• H.264 decoding suport
• NVIDIA Essential Vista
• SLI Ready
• HDCP Ready
• Dual Link Dual DVI connectors
• NVIDIA ForceWare Unified Driver Architecture (UDA)
• RoHS Compliant
• External Connectors:
• Two (2) Dual DVI-I Connectors
• TV-Out (S-video) Connector
• Regulatory Approvals:
• FCC
• CE
Package Includes:
• Zotac GeForce 8600GT 256 MB PCI-Express Dual DVI & TV out
• Driver CD
• One (1) DVI to HDMI adapter
• One (1) DVI to VGA adapter (Dsub 15-pin)
• One (1) S-Video to HDTV out adapter
Additional Information:

• Notes:
• Model: ZT-86TE250-FSP
• Product Requirements:
• Available PCI-Express x16 slot
• CD-ROM drive (for Driver CD)
• Minimum 300W power supply

savemejebus

dmck what you really need to do is see both TVs in action, running an SD DVD preferably and then make your decision based on that.

Will you notice the difference? Well that depends on your source and also how close you sit to the screen. Something to consider is that alot of people who say there is no visible difference between 720p and 1080p is that they are basing their opinion on what they've read on the web rather than what they've experienced themselves. 1080p is going to be the standard for LCD TVs soon (prices for the tech are dropping now) whether SKY broadcast in it or not. The only reason that the larger sony is cheap at the moment is because it is old tech that is being cleared in order for Sony 1080p models which will take it's place.

Anyhow in my opinion the best thing for you to do would be bring a DVD to shops displaying the TVs you are interested in and get them to demo the tv's for you. Play around with them for a few mins and see which one you prefer in real life.

slave1

sky will never show 1080p

there are no TV transmissions in the world today at 1080p, HDTV is either 720p or 1080i, as previous posters have correctly said sky are 1080i although you can select the HDbox to output 720p, in the US some broadcasters are 720p some are 1080i. Some say 720p is better for fast action broadcasts like sports and 1080i better suited to regular viewing.
I have a 55"1080p tv, being honest cannot see any difference between 720p and 1080i with SkyHD
Previously had a "HD ready" 50" and I did notice a marginal improvement moving up but not massive.
What I can tell you is 1080p is stunning from my limited viewing on my tv.

conzy

The problem with "720p" Tvs is that they do not have 720 lines of vertical resolution... they have 768 and they are not 4:3 or 16:9 or 16:10 because they have a 1366*768 resolution so even if they get a 720 source scaling must be done....

Ghost Train

even with a 1080p tv and 1080p signal, the tv will probably use some overscan and will scale the picture up a bit (usless you pixel map/use native)

1366 * 768 is 16:9 (or as close to 16:9 as makes no differance ie. less than a pixel)

conzy

i suppose but its still gonna have to compensate for that across lots of pixels...

Im in the market for a HDTV myself atm and 1080p obviously seems like the better choice, but I will still be watching SDTV on it for a long time so im not sure what set to go for...

im thinking about the Samsung LE40M86BD atm but there are some problems with it such as jittery SD playback

mathias

mathias you do realise that probably not 1 person in this thread could tell the difference between 1080i and 720p if they saw it in person as it is basically the samew to the human eye,sky will never show 1080p,so it is pointless buying a 1080p television unless you are playing games,most televisions know are 720p and 1080i compatible,which is plenty and will match skys maximum output,still doesnt change the fact sky will never show 1080p

I think in my long winded post that I am basically agreeing with you , I was just pointing out that sky is actually 1080i and not 720p , electronically there is a big difference , whether you can see it or not. And if you have a TV with 1920 x 1080 res then no theres no scaling with 1080 which has to be good.

Anyway , TV shops who get a customer asking about HD are going to try and push the most expensive set in the shop ,this means tagging the latest sets with the rubbish term " Full HD " , insinuating incorrectly that anything else is not proper HD , people should be aware that the big jump ( the one you'll notice the most , ) is from SD to the first HD resolution ,which is 720p , after that they are just incremental increases. And you need a huge set to see it , so buy for the room and beware the salesmen.

Incidentally , there is a huge amount of 1080p content on the web , music videos , films , tv shows from america , etc etc. I dont know if anyone in america broadcasts in 1080p , but the shows are certainly available in that format.
It should be noted that this content will play fine on most systems , just gets downscaled is all.

conzy

how come Plasma's have such a low res (compared to 720p and 1080p sets) yet have great image quality?

i suppose it shows how resolution isnt everything

Im a bit confused how the 1024*768 4:3 panels in Plasmas handle 16:9 content? do they just have anamorphic pixels?

Anyone like to clear it up for me?

mathias

If the source is 1920 X 1080 , or 1280 x 720 , the set must downconvert the signal to show it on a native 1024 x 768 display , some information from the signal is lost , regardless of how the set does it.

For 720p on a 1024 x 768 set the situation is an upconvert for vertical and downconvert for horizontal , done well on some sets , terribly on others. ( the really bad ones just throw away the extra pixels and stretch the rest ... looks brutal ! )

Its a downconvert in both directions for the 1080 resolutions.

The reason 16:9 native resolutions should be preferred is that both native HD resolutions are 16:9 and scaling should be simple and easily done.

1366 x 768 is 16:9 ( or near as dammit ) so should handle the scaling better than a plasma , but the better picture on a Plasma is not down to the scaling but the technology , it is inherently better at blacks and movement so this makes up for the scaling issue.

Having said that , both technologies are well capable these days.
My only issue with that funny plasma resolution is that It can give a lot of connectivity issues , for instance , until recently , no decent graphics card could handle it using DVI, and you were stuck with crappy analog out for a HTPC.

Oh and burn in , but thats a different thing.

311

I bought 4 blu ray films ,last week to test out on a ps3 with a 37 plasma.

I might be off the mark a little ,but the best picture quality of 3 I've watched is apocalypto. The picture is amazing ,BUT.
I couldn't help noticing that when the camera work got very fast ,it was like the tv couldn't catch up. On normal panning scenes the quality is there ,but when it gets a little crazy ,it looks a little crazy.

Is this what this film is really like ,or is this where the low-res plasma looses on the tech side. The other films where grand ,but the definition wasn't as high on them.

mathias

There are a lot of settings to try on the PS3 to optimise your picture , what res have you got it at by the way , and have you tried the 24 frame option , supposed to work really well with movies.

Some movies are definitely transferred better than others , although all should be showing a marked improvement over SD , dont forget that cinema transfers wont have the same look as TV content shot on HD cameras. ( Hence the 24 frame option on the PS3 to optimise for movies )

I havnt seen apocalypto yet by the way , so far I have 300 , Casino Royale freebie , Enter the dragon ( not great ) and planet earth box set , ( by far the best but shot on a special HD camera so it wipes the floor with most movie transfers ).

I also have a 500GB hard drive full of Music videos and american TV programs in HD , big mix in there , both 720 and 1080 , lots of trailers , and a whole lot of HD demos , like you see in the shops , mostly landscape travel programs , airshows , and performance car videos. These play through my HTPC.

Im not buying anything else till after christmas as I suspect I'll be getting a few as presents with all the waffling I do about it.

311

The blu-rays seem to kick the tv to 1080p ,regardless of whether I've got the PS3 set at 720p.I presume it's the HDMI cable that is doing this.
I'll try the 24 frame option ,thanks.
I find the PS3 XMB looks better set at 720p ,it's smoother for me.

Still ,I'm looking for any excuse to look at apocalypto again . Massive difference in standard tv ,even the dvd collection has been given new life:)