Last Christmas my gift was an LED backlight LCD TV that was to function as a monitor more than it was to be a TV. I was not in a rush to get one back in December because I am currently living at home and am not going back to my university until July or so. I figured that the prices would just continue to drop and that the TV technology would only get better.
My dad already had picked out the specifications that he was looking for in a monitor/TV for me– so that narrowed down my choices by a lot. No, he was not narrowing them down to make it cheaper for him, he was merely giving me a direction and a starting point, and I was extremely thankful for this.
One of his criterion was that the TV had to be 1080p. In the last couple of years, more and more HDTVs have been designed to have a 1080p native resolution. The high resolution TVs usually cost more than their lower resolution counterparts, but that just makes sense. However, can an average user really see the difference? After reading a lot of different review sites, I have come to believe that the different resolutions do not make too big of a difference–especially when it comes to smaller TVs like the one I am hoping to get (22 or 24 inches). People have done side-by-side tests between two 50-inch HDTVs in which they compared a 1080p TV to a 1366×768 resolution, or 720p, TV and they say that it was hard to tell the difference. Of course, to the TV enthusiast the two screens may be “completely” different, but not to someone like me.
I must admit that technology-wise, 1080 pixel HDTVs are certainly better. They usually allow for more details, help with picture quality, allow for better contrast and/or color, and more. All I am saying is that if you are looking to get a TV, but you have your wallet in mind and are not too picky about your picture, then maybe you should not dismiss a 720p option.
