OK I think I'll buy the same panny plasma I settled on, but the 720p version...
http://reviews.cnet.com/flat-panel-...z700u/4505-6482_7-32466828.html?tag=mncol;lst
This video review of an old 42" 1080p panny plasma says you'd have to be like 4.5ft or closer to see the difference... This is around the range I'll be sitting at, around 5 ft, and I'm not sure how much extra detail exactly, it doesn't sound like night and day... I really thought 42" was big enough for 1080p, then afew days ago I saw that review and this article:
http://reviews.cnet.com/720p-vs-1080p-hdtv/
Bottom line: It's almost always very difficult to see any difference--especially from farther than 8 feet away on a 50-inch TV.
Katzmaier stands by his previous analysis: The extra sharpness afforded by the 1080p televisions he's seen is noticeable only when watching 1080i or 1080p sources on a larger screens, say 55 inches and bigger, or with projectors that display a wall-size picture.
But...
Katzmaier also says that the main real-world advantage of 1080p is not the extra sharpness you'll be seeing, but instead, the smaller, more densely packed pixels. In other words, you can sit closer to a 1080p television and not notice any pixel structure, such as stair-stepping along diagonal lines, or the screen-door effect (where you can actually see the space between the pixels). This advantage applies regardless of the quality of the source.
Regarding the last quote, I'm guessing I need to be like 2 ft from the TV to notice any of this...
I'm pretty much set now on 720p. Only blu-rays will benefit from the extra resolution and I won't be watching blu-rays a lot, games will be what I use it for most of the time. Also, this TV will only last for a year and a half, if all goes according to plan I'll be moving in summer 2011 and buying a new TV. That one will definitely be 1080p... Hopefully panny plasmas will be at kuro-level quality or better.
I remember lots of discussions on plasma vs. LCD, but the thing that annoys me most about 720p plasma, the 1024x768 resolution, wasn't really mentioned much (if at all) as a disadvantage. Reviews also don't make a big deal of it. Psychologically it sucks, not even full 720p, but I don't think it's worth it going for more than that considering I'll be able to buy it sooner and will only use it for 18 months.
The most important thing is to get a decent upgrade from the 2007 panny LCD I have now, and I'm pretty sure the plasma will decimate it. I think I'll settle for that now. The upgrade after this, with two years of advancement in plasma and a jump to 1080p, should be pretty good.
And to think I was going to buy a 32" 1080p LCD before thinking about a 42" plasma...
Now here's something cool from HD Guru,
he tries to burn-in a plasma and fails. while googling I found a thread on another forum where somebody said he'd go plasma if he weren't a gamer because of burn-in, and it was from 2008. That HD Guru test more than settles the matter, this problem is ancient history.
