HD for gaming?

[Dustinl]

With Black Friday fast approaching, I am seeing a lot of good deals on HD TVs. I currently own a 720 Vizio but have been thinking of getting a 1080p. With that being said, I hear that the 720 is better for gaming. Any insight? I play Xbox360, but if I buy a 1080p TV, I will eventually get a PS3 for both gaming and the Blu-Ray technology. I would avoid getting a 1080p if the 720 is good enough.

Thoughts?


DL

 

[cfriend]

I have a 42" 1080p Vizio, can't compare to a 720p, but games look great on it.

 

[KarthVader]

I remember reading somewhere that the 360 doesn't display at 1080p, but reverts to 720p. Might want to find that out just in case. But playing either 360 or PS3 in HD would be nothing short of amazing. I tried MW2 on a 720p and the picture and graphics quality are just staggering.

 

[opliko]

Any tv that supports 1080p should most definitely support 720 also. There's almost no noticable difference, and the 360 and ps3 use both 720 and 1080 for different games. I don't have an HDMI for the xbox though so it wont go up to 1080p only 1080i. The ps3 puts out whatever the game tells it to.

 

[raisindot]

Neither having an HDTV nor knowing anything about the technology, I will offer my opinion nonetheless.

Whatever you do, you may want to learn toward an LCD or LED rather than a plasma. The latter are known to be more susceptible to "burn in" of static screen images than the latter.

And just get a 1080 anyway. If you want to use it with Blu-Ray, you'll want the best resolution you can get--why let one kind of use (gaming) limit the potential?

Also make sure (if you haven't already) to get an HDMI cable for hooking up your game console to the new TV, but buy a generic model it through Ebay or Computerguys, rather than get ripped off for a $100 Monster at at BestBuy.

My totally untutored .02.

Jeff in Boston

 

[Amer]

It also matters what size TV you are getting. On anything under about 40 inches or so, you won't see a difference between 1080 or 720. There is a fancy chart out there somewhere as to what size TV you should get based upon how far away you sit from your TV and all of that too, but I'd really just get whatever you want.

 

[AndrewWiggin]

Not sure about 720 or 1080, but you definitely need to have an HDMI cable, the picture improves ten fold.

 

[DrBob]

Neither having an HDTV nor knowing anything about the technology, I will offer my opinion nonetheless.

Whatever you do, you may want to learn toward an LCD or LED rather than a plasma. The latter are known to be more susceptible to "burn in" of static screen images than the latter.

And just get a 1080 anyway. If you want to use it with Blu-Ray, you'll want the best resolution you can get--why let one kind of use (gaming) limit the potential?

Also make sure (if you haven't already) to get an HDMI cable for hooking up your game console to the new TV, but buy a generic model it through Ebay or Computerguys, rather than get ripped off for a $100 Monster at at BestBuy.

My totally untutored .02.

Jeff in Boston

They've pretty much fixed the burn in problem with plasma. It is true that the older plasmas did have that problem. Plasma will usually have deeper blacks and therefore usually look better. Plasma does consume a lot more energy than an LED though. A tv enthusiast that only cares about picture quality will choose a plasma. I will tell you though that there are some very attractive LED tvs out there that give plasmas a run for their money on a lot less energy.

As far as 1080 for gaming, 1080p is much better than 720p plain and simple. 1080i is where that misconception comes in. It all comes in the letter following the number. 1080 and 720 are final number of lines of resolution that is "perceived". The 'p' stands for progressive. This means that all 1080 lines of resolution are displayed each time the tv refreshes. the 'i' stands for interlaced. This means that only half of the lines of resolution are displayed for each frame at a time. This can cause motion blur in fast moving video... i.e. video games. Plus, since you are only displaying 540 lines at a time, your "true" resolution is less than a 720p tv since it displays at a true 720 lines of resolution and it refreshes at half the speed as a progressive tv. The interlace does a good job at slower moving video such as golf. In fact it will most likely look better than a 720p when watching golf. Playing a high action video game is another story though. However, 1080p displays at a true 1080 lines of resolution without suffering from a slower refresh rate. It will look better that either the 1080i or the 720p at both golf and high action video games.

Size does make a difference in tvs too. I have a 32" 1080i tv ( it's even a tube! and yes I want to replace it with a bigger better tv ) that I sometimes struggle to see the difference between HD and SD on (btw, sd is 480i). Skklog has a 1080p projector that makes the resolution difference blatantly obvious. So much so that it is almost painful to watch SD video on it. Playing a PS3 on that projector in 1080p is heavenly. It looks much better on 1080p than when I set the PS3 resolution to 720p. (He doesn't have a PS3 so I have to bring mine over to his house, that's how I know what the different settings look like) It's a total judgment call on how big it needs to be before justifying 1080p. But my advice is do not get a 1080i tv. ( they're getting to be a lot less common now anyway ) Go with either 720p or 1080p, but if you have the money to get 1080p, do it. It is much better than 720p.

 

[cfriend]

It also matters what size TV you are getting. On anything under about 40 inches or so, you won't see a difference between 1080 or 720. There is a fancy chart out there somewhere as to what size TV you should get based upon how far away you sit from your TV and all of that too, but I'd really just get whatever you want.

I have always ruleofthumbed it as the closest and furthers comfortable distances are 1.5x - 2.5x the size of your screen. With my 42" TV, that's about 5' and 9' respectively, which is where I am when sitting at the foot of my bed, or laying at the head of the bed, respectively

 

[bigred90gt]

I have always ruleofthumbed it as the closest and furthers comfortable distances are 1.5x - 2.5x the size of your screen. With my 42" TV, that's about 5' and 9' respectively, which is where I am when sitting at the foot of my bed, or laying at the head of the bed, respectively

Your bed is only 4' long?


I can possibly offer some insight. When we moved back from Jersey, we were staying with a buddy of mine while we looked for a place to live. He had a 42" 720 Plasma TV and an Xbox 360. I dont really play video games much, but the handful of times I played it, I was truly amazed at the picture quality. It was far better than any video game I had previously played. The picture was incredibly crisp and clear.

Fast forward a year or so, and he buys a 50" HD and a PS3, and decides to give me the Xbox 360. We ended up buying the same 50" HD, and I hooked up the Xbox to it. I have probably played it 2 or 3 times in the 6 months we have had the TV, and I can tell you that there is a very noticeable difference in the picture quality. I only thought the other picture was good, but this picture is incredible. Whether it is just me being in love with my TV, or there truly is a noticeable difference, I dont know, but I see a big difference in the picture quality between the 2 TVs with the Xbox.

 

[skiddyrow]

If you are going for a PS3, then you should get a 1080p TV. My PS3 is hooked up to a 46" 1080p Sony Bravia W Series, and playing WipeoutHD at 60FPS 1080p is stunning! The 360 only supports full HD on specified models manufactured after 2007.

Regarding TV types, burn in is still an issue on Plasma TVs, though they are slowly being phased out so you will get better deals on them. The 'LED' TVs still use LCD displays - do not get fooled - they only use LED backlights. If you get them at a good price then consider it as it offers a brighter image other wise look for TVs with better motion control for a better gaming experience.

 

[SRock]

Simple 1080p is the way to go. If you want your game system to display in 720 you just adjust the settings. We have a PS3 and Xbox 360 both display beautifully on our 1080p HDTV.

 

[40_Caliber]

Agree with the 1080p for gaming. My 42" Phillips LCD works great with my PS3 for both Bluray and games. One thing to think about when you go shopping is the refresh speed. Get one rated at 120mhz or faster. 60mhz is too slow at refreshing the screen for gaming and even some high speed action television resulting in video artifacts (little squares) appearing on the screen.

.40

 

[DrBob]

If you are going for a PS3, then you should get a 1080p TV. My PS3 is hooked up to a 46" 1080p Sony Bravia W Series, and playing WipeoutHD at 60FPS 1080p is stunning! The 360 only supports full HD on specified models manufactured after 2007.

Regarding TV types, burn in is still an issue on Plasma TVs, though they are slowly being phased out so you will get better deals on them. The 'LED' TVs still use LCD displays - do not get fooled - they only use LED backlights. If you get them at a good price then consider it as it offers a brighter image other wise look for TVs with better motion control for a better gaming experience.

While I agree with you that LED TVs do use LCD displays I would like to contend that LED TVs are better than standard LCD displays in more areas than just brightness and energy consumption. Standard LCD displays ususally use a single Halogen light for the entire display. This means the Light for the entire screen is always on at the same level. It is solely up to the LCD to block the light to create darkness. LED have many LEDs scattered all around the screen and can dim or turn off independent LEDs which works with the LCD panel to create very deep blacks in small or large areas of the screen. This is why the contrast ratio is so much higher on LED vs standard LCD. This, plus they consume less energy. I also agree with you on choosing one with good motion control. BTW, Plasma usually has the best motion control

As far as plasma burn in, here's an article to look at. It basically says while you can still have burn-in with a plasma TV, they've improved the anti-burn in the past year or two to be just as good as CRT monitors and TVs. When's the last time you heard of someone that had a problem with burn in on their tube tv? It is possible, but not very common and easily avoidable. Beware though, it also says the tier 1 brands do a much better job of anti-burn in than the low end cheaper brands. In other words, you get what you pay for. I do see Plasma's getting phased out of the mainstream in the next couple years though because of the new energy consumtion laws for new TVs in California. Plasma is much more competitive in larger TVs than LCD or LED but as of now cannot comply with the new laws in California at the larger sizes. Once those laws take effect, I see the TV manufacturers strongly shifting away from producing plasma TVs. If you are still torn on whether to pick a Plasma or LCD read this article for the ups and downs of both.

Also, another good point is if you don't currently have an HDTV, any HDTV is going to be far, far better than the SDTV you are used to.

 

[skiddyrow]

DrBob, completely agree that the LED backlit TVs are definitely better than the standard LCD TVs, though where I live the price difference still does not justify a purchase - I can get a full HD standard LCD TV for much less than an LED backlit one - which is why I recommended buying it if you get a good deal. However if price is not an issue then by all means its a better choice - better blacks and brightness / contrast and lower power consumption is always welcome!

As far as Plasma burn in is concerned, I beg to differ as it is definitely an issue for a gamer. Racing games for instance use a standard HUD thats on screen all the time, and most games have some HUD items on constant display. I've been known to easily put in 4-5 hour sessions and more on the weekends, and that's going to cause some damage for sure. A friend of mine has his set top box logo displayed in the same place for every channel, and this has burnt in and is clearly visible even while watching a movie or playing a game - this is a six month old Pioneer Plasma, so it is a recent TV. The link you posted also suggests ways to avoid this so its not been completely solved, and no doubt newer models will have better protection, but if you play for extended sessions (like most avid gamers ) then it is a likely risk.