[Ancient IDTV]

I have a lot of favourite older tv programmes on DVD which really look abysmal on a 1080p set (I've tried a few on my 1080p monitor). My main tv set is a Panasonic 720p IPS jobbie, and they're best played on that. I'm actually considering buying a similar set soon, and leaving it boxed in storage until the day the current set conks out, in case such sets aren't available by then.

What do you reckon to this plan? Do you think quality 720p sets will still be available in years to come, or will 1080p and even higher resolution sets become the only purchase options?

[David (2)]

there are no "720p sets". But I guess you mean those called HD Ready with a res of 1366 x 768 pixels, and the others being Full HD @ 1920 x 1080 pixels....
,...ok so I see your point. Certain old material (regardless of format) make look worse if scaled up the extra step for the Full HD sets.
You can select on things like BluRay players the desired output res. For example my sony bluray player allows me to output the image at SD (576i), HD (720p), HD (1080i), or HD (1080p). As my tv doesn't do "p" I have to use the HD-1080i mode. But I can set the player to a lesser mode than that, which then relies on the tv to make up the final bit of scaling. I have a box set DVD of Steptoe&Son, and the ancient black + white pictures tend to look better with the player set to 720p. But for everything else the 1080i looks just fine.

BTW, there are many, many "HD ready" (1366 x 768 pixels) still available, especially at the smaller sizes, where they still dominate.

[Winston_1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ancient IDTV

What do you reckon to this plan?

Stupid. By the time you need it your set in storage will be so out of date you won't want to give it house room.

[noise747]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Winston_1

Stupid. By the time you need it your set in storage will be so out of date you won't want to give it house room.

I know of someone who have done this with 2 CRT sets as they do not like flat screens. They got two 28inch CRT sets LG i think from currys when they was selling them off cheap a few years back. They are switched on now and again just to keep them going. He reckons when his old CRT goes belly up he will still have two to keep him going for years.

I still got my old JMB 28 inch in the bedroom and if/when my plasma gives up, I may put it back into action to be honest. The only problem is i am so used to a large screen now.

[grahamlthompson]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ancient IDTV

I have a lot of favourite older tv programmes on DVD which really look abysmal on a 1080p set (I've tried a few on my 1080p monitor). My main tv set is a Panasonic 720p IPS jobbie, and they're best played on that. I'm actually considering buying a similar set soon, and leaving it boxed in storage until the day the current set conks out, in case such sets aren't available by then.

What do you reckon to this plan? Do you think quality 720p sets will still be available in years to come, or will 1080p and even higher resolution sets become the only purchase options?

720P sets have not been made for years. Way back a few Plasma Tv's had 1280 x 720 pixels (the 1:1 screen to transmission pixels required).

The ones I saw had crap picture quality.


Big problem no UK broadcaster ever used 720 lines (the original spec allowed for 720P at 50fps or 1080i at 25fps (The doubled framerate made both systems very close in performance). . Every broadcast source in the UK has always transmitted 1080 lines (1080 lines at 25fps), no doubt because most assumed more pixels would give a superior picture irrespective of other factors (completely wrong). Already pretty well all TV panels have the full 1920 x 1080 lines to match the existing broadcast standards to display the picture without rescaling. 4K TV's are the next generation. Basically two horizontal full HD pictures by two vertical pictures.

[Ancient IDTV]

Yes, it is actually 1366 x 768. I just used 720p for convenience. My bad.

Anyway.......

Maybe I should wait till these sets are being sold off. It's all about timing it right. I could get the relevant 32 inch set for £230 now.

[emptybox]

I don't see any reason why a DVD (resolution 720 x 576) should look better on a 1366 x 768 set than a 1920 x 1080 set?
It's all just upscaling, so the set with the better upscaler will win out, regardless.

Seems a bit daft stockpiling old tellys, but carry on if it pleases you.
Some people still collect valve radios.

[d'@ve]

For old SD stuff a plasma set is the best and you can still get them at 1024 x 768 and 50 inches for around £400. I recently bought a Panasonic one just in case they were to stop making them as has been suggested in a few places, in case my 6 year old plasma of similar specs goes tits up (which now lives in the bedroom). Love it (including on HD channels/broadcasts too).

I have a full HD LCD[LED] set too but it can't match the plasma on SD/old material, so that's my suggestion.

[Orbitalzone]

A 1080P that scales badly might look worse than a 768P that scales well, conversely a well made 1080P might scale SD better than many 768P TV's

It all comes down to quality of the panel, quality of the scaling and probably whether you turned OFF all the picture 'enhancement' modes - this applies to any TV regardless of screen and resolution capabilities.

All I can say from personal experience is that a decent 1080P TV always looks at least as good with SD material when compared to HD ready TV's at 768P.

Of course that 1080P UMC made Blaupunkt you got from Sainsburies for £149 will probably look and sound a bit poor

[neo_wales]

Quote:

Originally Posted by noise747

I know of someone who have done this with 2 CRT sets as they do not like flat screens. They got two 28inch CRT sets LG i think from currys when they was selling them off cheap a few years back. They are switched on now and again just to keep them going. He reckons when his old CRT goes belly up he will still have two to keep him going for years.

I still got my old JMB 28 inch in the bedroom and if/when my plasma gives up, I may put it back into action to be honest. The only problem is i am so used to a large screen now.

You can get CRT TV sets for next to nothing, in fact often nothing if you look on the likes of freecycle. I have offered both CRT monitors and TV's for free in the past and did not get one offer to pick up.

[noise747]

Quote:

Originally Posted by neo_wales

You can get CRT TV sets for next to nothing, in fact often nothing if you look on the likes of freecycle. I have offered both CRT monitors and TV's for free in the past and did not get one offer to pick up.

No doubt at the moment, but they are getting less and less.