[OBF]

This is a discussion ad nauseum in the HT world.  I think the overall conclusion is that both sides have their points; 720P is practically (95%+) indistinguishable at certain distances, but like audio, that last 5% is quite sweet. 

Doesn't processing also enter into the equasion?  While there may be distance/screen combinations where a person would be hard pressed to tell a difference, I don't think it is desirable to take a 1080P from a BRD or a 1080i from cable tv and process it down to 720P.  I think maybe I remember reading that 720 to 1080 processing is not very challenging and perhaps that is also true of the reverse, but when people say the difference is indistinguisable, that comes with an "all else being equal" caveat.

I would have preferred to wait on some "big" increase in performace to make the upgrade, something like LED lighting maybe, but since my relative was leaving Infocus (and access to discounted pricing) I pulled the plug 4-5 months ago on upgrading a 720P IN78 to a DarkChip 4-based 1080P IN83 and I don't find the difference to be slight at all.  But there is more going on than just a simple resolution change so it is hard to draw firm conclusions, and I'm somewhere around 12-13' with a 100" screen.

When I bought a 42" LCD for the bedroom, I paid approx $100 more for a 1080P model just to have 1:1 pixel mapping with 1080 content.  Being 12-14' back on a 42" screen there is probably little or no resolution advantage but I don't really trust $600 tvs to do good processing.

[ted_b]

Since this is a Blu-Ray thread, and since Blu-Ray does 1080p natively (no processing) I take your question as this: is the necessary 720p down conversion process adding another downside to the already lesser resolution of 720P?  My understanding is that 720P down conversion in the player (or most any modern display) is a piece of cake; not at all equivalent to what we see from the various quality processors out there trying to guess and extrapolate faux pixel structure doing UPconversion from 480p/1080i/720p to 1080p.

[OBF]

Yes, that is exactly what I was asking and your answer confirms what I thought I've heard -- that it is not really an issue.  Does that mean no degradation at all though?  Maybe a rhetorical question as it doesn't need to be perfect to be indistinguishable.

[ralph1950]

I've learned with expensive video and digital equipment in the past.  You can pay huge premiums for very little extra performance with technology that rapidly changes.

Now, that is the plain truth.  From a 5000.00 unit to a 500.00 unit 4 years later, I cannot see a difference.

[Phil A]

I've learned with expensive video and digital equipment in the past.  You can pay huge premiums for very little extra performance with technology that rapidly changes.

Now, that is the plain truth.  From a 5000.00 unit to a 500.00 unit 4 years later, I cannot see a difference.

And I've learned that the hard way, from a $7.5k Proceed DVD transport to a $10k projector.  That's why I went with the Oppo BDP-83 (which is currently at Modwright for mods) as for the price, even with mods, I'm going to end up with a great video source and a capable SACD and DVD-A.  When I got a projector, I went with the BenQ W5000 for a similar reason.  When I'm ready to upgrade (and I don't watch tons of TV), I went for a low end Sony 720p projector for the secondary basement system and I can rotate the BenQ down there the same way I've rotated lots of other equipment like probably my Marantz DV9600 when I get the Oppo back.  If I had that Proceed transport today a good sub $200 Samsung Blu-Ray player (and I do have a Samsung 2500 in the bedroom system that I had for a short while in the main system waiting for the Oppo) upconverting DVDs would outperform it.

I'm getting ready to upgrade the Vizio 42 inch TV I have in the bedroom system (which I don't use tons and didn't pay an arm and a leg for that TV four years back) and move it to the kitchen and I'm taking my time until I find a deal.  I had a Samsung 1st generation 40 inch LCD in the bedroom (it was about 14 inches deep) for about 6 years (before the current Vizio) and that thing cost me something like $2,600 or $2,700 dollars.  Before the projector in the basement (when I finished the basement I put PVC in the ceiling so I can get wires to a front projector later), I had a Sharp 64 inch 346 lb. rear projector that at one point I had in the main system and that ran about $6,500.  About a year and half back I had a friend call me up who I sold an old (analog) Pioneer Elite 60 inch rear projector to about 8-9 yrs. before that (I used that before the Sharp rear proj.) and when he told me the Pioneer Elite set finally bit the dust and asked where he could get a TV cheap, I gave him the Sharp 64 inch set and only asked he help me get started closing the opening for it in the basement so I could make a spot to mount a screen.