Don't Buy 1080p HDTVs For The SuperBowl
For those of you thinking about buying an HDTV for the SuperBowl, just remember that you don't need to be springing for that 1080p. This game will not be broadcast in 1080p and no SuperBowl ever has. For The Big Game viewing purposes, a 1080i or 720p will do just fine. It's just an unconfirmed rumor at this point, but I've also heard that analog sets will be able to receive the SuperBowl signal as well.
(Photo: satinpeter)
Post a comment
Comments:
This is kinda silly advice. It's not like you're going to buy a TV, watch the SuperBowl, then throw the TV away. You should be encouraging people to buy 1080p sets so they can enjoy other programming, in true HD, for years to come. Buying 1080i or 720p is like buying a VHS player today. What's the point? Better is already out and not very much more expensive. For goodness sake, there are hells of deals out there - 40" 1080p Samsung LCD HDTV for $899! That's insane.
You should definitely base your television buying needs on the broadcast of a single event.
my television may only be a analog 19" CRT, but it radiates shame in HD.
All broadcast HD is in 1080i. To date there is no programming available over the air that is 1080p. If you want 1080p, you need blu-ray.
Don't buy any expensive, fragile, piece of electronics on a whim without proper research?
my 42" 1080p set fulfilled all my hopes and dreams and even helped me lose weight! from my wallet
Well, you can get The Dark Knight in 1080p and the rewatchability is much higher than the Super Bowl, even for fans of the winning team.
why wouldn't analog sets be able to see the super bowl? it's on feb. 2, correct? a full 15 days before the digital changeover.
The only source for 1080p material is blu-ray & HD-DVD.
OTA b'cast HDTV is usually 480p or 720p, occasional 1080i. HDTV off-the-air using an antenna will give you the best HD signal for the super bowl (or for anything), unless cable & sat are bumping up the bandwidth just for the game.. they usually compress the shit out of their HD.
Unless you have 1080p sources, nobody needs 1080p. but you might as well be future-proof. The other advantage is the picture has a finer dot pitch, but at the same time a lower-resolution source has to be scaled up to 1080p using the TV's internal scaler. New TV's are getting better but TV makes usually skimp on the scaler IC's.. it is usually the weakest link in the chain and is what can really set apart cheaper TV's, even though nobody seems to realize this.
@sumgai:
Agreed. I just picked up a Toshiba 40" 1080p for $750. Sure, broadcasts aren't available in 1080p yet, but if you're upgrading to a new HD-TV, you should probably try to get the technology that's going to have the greatest lasting effect.
@sumgai: I was just coming to post along the same lines. If you can afford the extra, you should definitely spring for the 1080p and future proof your investment.
But there are other factors to consider. Some people can't tell the difference between a 720p picture and an 1080p one. Also If the screen size isn't too big or you'll be sitting far away from the TV, it might not make much sense to go 1080p.
IIRC, no channel in the US or Canada broadcasts in 1080p yet but for HD gaming (Xbox 360 and PS3), watching True HD content and blu-ray, 1080p gives you the best quality picture.
Again, if this is for a 27" TV that will be 15 feet away... there is almost no point. You are too far away to see the detail.
The question I have is, is 120hz worth the price jump?
@sumgai: Haha, great minds think alike. I also came here to post about NOT purchasing a TV based on a single event and its broadcasting signal.
You should definitely do the research of what you want and what you can afford. Seeing the TVs themselves in person also helps.
Yeah seems like these days you are pretty much forced to buy 1080p unless you're going under 40 inches.
And if you want to have some fun, go to BB and demand to see all the 1080i displays. Tell them you do not need 1080p since nothing is broadcast in that but you do want something a little more detailed than 720p.
@jozhua: And if they refuse to show them to you ask them if they can calibrate one of the 1080Ps to 1080i and sell it to you for half price.
Yeah, and don't fill up your car with gas -- even if it's a good deal -- unless you are going to immediately use all the gas.
So the superbowl isn't in 1080p, don't gear your TV purchase around it.
Thats bad advice.
Get at 1080P TV, if you have Bluray, or Xbox 360, or PS3 they all can use 1080P and TV will eventually run on 1080P as well.
Get the 1080P, it's future compatible.
@flugelhorn: Pshaw. My own 19" non-flat screen radiates, well, probably radiation, but also pride. It has survived ten years, six moves, and two drops, yet still keeps on trucking.
I have better things to spend my money on at the moment.
... Not that I don't want an awesome high-def, mind you. But I am content with what I have at the moment. I find saving money on the off-hand-chance I may lose my job to be a better investment in my future than a fancy TV.
@dclamster: Only your eyes can tell you. If you can - find one in a store and look at it or find a store with generous return policies. Personally I bought a set a few months back and skipped it - I'm very happy with my set and haven't seen 'motion blur' that 120hz is supposed to stop.
@barco: Does future-proofing really matter when we're talking about a device that has an average lifespan of less than ten years? By the time 1080p is common, any flat-screen TV you buy now will probably be ready for replacement and new 1080p sets will be much cheaper than they are now.
@sumgai: Bad analogy. Buying a 720p TV today is like buying a DVD player. Sure there is better available, but in both cases, it's a trade off: higher price point for higher picture quality.
This is stupid advice. 1080p sets will upconvert any incoming signal to 1080p, and if you're in for $700, may as well be in for $900 and get the best product.
120Hz, on the other hand, IS a feature that's only useful if you're watching blu-ray.
@sumgai: Agreed (am I fifth?) This is silly advice, unless it's meant to be some sort of parody or satire based on people who think the Superbowl broadcast is the only entertaining thing that ever comes on television.
Anyone who says they bought their TV "for" the Superbowl is using it as an impetus, but surely that person is not planning to box the set up and wait until the next one rolls around to use it again.
Unless you plan on buying a CRT you wont be getting 1080i and since nobody buys CRT hdtv's anymore chances are they will go 1080p anyways. The difference in price between 720p and 1080p is fairly small these days. Sooner or later hdtv will be broadcast in 1080p
@dclamster: Depends what you watch/do with your television. As marcus1060 noted, it's noticeably better at rendering quick motion, like sports or action movies. Some fast-twitch video games fare better with 120hz as well.
(But only your eyes can tell ya.)
You know what would be really cool? For viewers to be able to rate the articles. :)
i'm thinking you should buy a 1080p if you watch sports, what with the p standing for progressive and all. maybe not so much football, but hockey or baseball definitely
I agree that this is silly advice. Buy a 1080p set. For one, 1080i broadcasts WILL (ok, should) look cleaner on a 1080P set than a 720P (unless you are buying a CRT, you won't find an actual 1080i set).
Plus, you ensure that you won't second guess your decision if they change broadcast formats or (more likely), you get a bluray player down the road.
I bought a new 42" 1080P set for 600 freaking dollars during the xmas season. Come on now. 720P sets just are not cheap enough to justify not buying a full HD set.
I would spring for a 1080p set, especially if you have the broadcast available in 1080i. Technically there is no such thing as a 1080i tv, it is simply a 720p tv that upscales the 540 line interlaced signal. With a 1080p set (1080 Lines displayed at 60 frames per second) you can watch the game at true 1080 resolution (your tv will take the two 540 fields, combine them into one 1080 field and display that at 30 frames a second). Since there is some computations involved it is not perfect and there may be some artifacting, but 1080i will indeed look better on a 1080p set than a 1080i(read 720p) set.
@Elcheecho, EyeHeartPie, sumgai:
Keep in mind that a 1080p TV isn't always necessary. I have a 720p 32" Samsung, and for anything less than that size, it won't make a noticeable difference what the resolution is. I'd challenge anyone to tell the difference between 1080p, 1080i, and 720p on a smaller screen.
@David Brodbeck: That's what I was thinking. Why "future-proof" something that the vast majority of Americans don't even have yet?
@purplesun: Agreed. My 19" CRT could survive a nuclear blast. Hay, if it's possible to build resistance to radiation, it may save me too!
"720P sets just are not cheap enough to justify not buying a full HD set.
The 32" 720P Vizio that I picked up at Costco for $389 last month sure was.
@LiviaPerseus: FOX and ABC are broadcasting 720p.
but yes, there is no OTA or cable single that transmit 1080p.
If you are going to buy a new HDTV, might as well spend a few more bucks and get a 1080p set. Why get a DVD player (720p/1080i HDTV) when you can get a Blu-Ray player for a bit more (1080p HDTV). Sorry Ben but this advice of not buying a 1080p = fail.
@dclamster: i'm not convinced.
your source material is AT BEST 60hz, and actually most of the time it's 23.976hz so either your tv will be displaying the same frame half of the time or it will do some "magic" to "invent" missing information/frames.
quality of that "magic" is highly doubtful..
but you can connect such tv to your computer and play in 1920x1080x120hz goodness :)
xbox720 and ps4 eat your hearts out!
same thing with 120MHz sets... I am not aware of any HD broadcasts that are done in 120MHz.
@David Brodbeck: Less than 10 years???!! THAT I didn't know.
I bought a 37" LG 1080p this week for $899. I got 1080p for exactly the futureproofing reason. I don't have any digital devices yet, but I expect to within the next year to 3 years. Do you really think 1080p won't become relevant for OTA for another 10 years?
@sumgai: Agreed.
I got my 1080p TV with the intention of using it as both a TV and a computer monitor....
Sure, my U-verse service only serves up 1080i, but I can tell ya that a 1920x1080 computer monitor is WAY better than a 1344x768 monitor (which is what most 720p LCDs support). It provides TWICE as much screen real estate, and all my friends are totally jealous when I tell them I'm running WoW at 1920x1080 on a 46" screen. ;-)
@Mxx: directv and dish network both offer certain on-demand programming in 1080p (requires a HD DVR).
@PunditGuy: Like the birth of your first born? I'm thinking 480i w/VHS? If that's the case.. I seriously do NOT need brain shattering hi-def.. But say I base my purchase of a TV off choosing the broadcast of Planet Earth on Blu-Ray 1080p.. I'll choose 1080p over 720p.. would only take that to remind me I made the right choice.
see how easy it is?
@jozhua: Actually most people say 720p feels warmer and looks just as good - if not better than - 1080i.. but that's just the average eye talkin.. regardless why go interlaced when you should be thinking progressively.
@dclamster: 120 Hz isn't really about viewing 120Hz source material. It's about viewing lower frame rate source material without the need for "pull down".
Typical source frame rates are the following:
Film Source: 24 Hz
TV Source: ~ 30 Hz
Video Game / Computer Source : 60 Hz
Most HDTVs have a refresh rate of 60Hz. This makes them great for watching TV and playing video games. However, when watching filmed material, the TV or DVD player needs to compensate ("pulldown"), since 60 does not evenly divide by 24. To do so, it needs to repeat some film frames in an uneven pattern. In contrast, if you have 120 Hz to deal with, film content can be displayed evenly, because 120 divides evenly by 24.
@OwenKlient: You'll see a reduction in compression before you see an increase to 1080p. At least, that's what I'm hoping. I'd rather see a 720p feed that is as uncompressed as possible before I see a heavily compressed 1080p feed.
Thank a higher deity I didn't rush out and get one!! Thanks Consumerist!