HDTV Resolutions

[themule]

I am in the market for my first HDTV. I started leaning towards the 32" Samsung LN-S3251D (LCD). I then noticed that the 42" plasmas are comparable in price, so I started looking at the Samsung HP-S4253 and the Panasonic TH-42PX60U. One big difference I noticed is the native resolution of the TVs. The LCD is 1366 x 768 while the two plasmas are 1024 x 768. Has anyone found that the increased resolution makes a big difference?

(Of course I was blown away by the Sony XBRs with full 1920 x 1024 resolution, but I think those are out of my price range.)

[emok]

The problem with 1024x768 plasmas is that the resolution is a 4:3 aspect ratio that runs on a 16:9 screen. They do this by using rectangular pixels. Thus, if you run your htpc in the screen's native resolution, the display will look stretched horizontally. You can counteract that by running in a non-native resolution but will not look as good.

I would definitely go with a resolution that matches the aspect ratio so you won't have to deal with this problem.

Besides that, for me, I don't think I can really tell the difference with video content. My eyes are kinda bad.

I think this problem is only on 42" plasmas

[MeInMaui]

The 42" Westinghouse LCD might be worth your consideration.

Aloha,
Mike

[lobosrul]

Id look for 1366x768 or 1280x720. You'll need pretty serious horse power (pc hardware) if you want to do full 1920x1080p. And I'd stay away from 1080i.

Edit: WOW thats a good deal for a 42" 1080p.... but im still holdin out for SED.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by emok

The problem with 1024x768 plasmas is that the resolution is a 4:3 aspect ratio that runs on a 16:9 screen. They do this by using rectangular pixels. Thus, if you run your htpc in the screen's native resolution, the display will look stretched horizontally. You can counteract that by running in a non-native resolution but will not look as good.

You can compensate for that with aspect ratio controls in SageTV, and 5.1 will make it easier.

[themule]

emok, thanks for pointing out the problem with the 4:3 aspect ratio, that hadn't occurred to me.

stanger, will it be easy to compensate for the the problem outside of SageTV as well?

[stanger89]

Not really, Windows doesn't provide anything to do it (other HT apps like TheaterTek do though). But I'll pose this question, what are you going to do outside Sage for which non-square pixels would be a problem.

FWIW, I've got a non-square pixel setup 1280x720 resolution and 21x9 screen

[lobosrul]

A 21x9 screen? Thats like 2.34 to one (the same as 35mm anamorphic). Link plz!

[stanger89]

Actually when I measured it, it's more like 2.39:1. Don't have a particular link, but it consists of:
Infocus IN76 720p DLP Front Projector
Panamorph P752 anamorphic lens
115" (wide) Accoustically Transparent screen

It's not quite done yet, so I don't have any pictures of it yet.

[emok]

Originally Posted by themule

emok, thanks for pointing out the problem with the 4:3 aspect ratio, that hadn't occurred to me.

stanger, will it be easy to compensate for the the problem outside of SageTV as well?

With regards to your question about compensating outside of SageTV. Many of these TVs will accept a 16:9 resolution and rely on internal processing of the TV to output it in the native resolution of the TV. Unfortunately, because the htpc isn't outputting in the native resolution of the tv, the picture clarity is compromised. To me, it's only noticeable when I'm trying to read smaller text off of the screen. But I DO notice a difference. It's not as fuzzy as trying to run a lcd in a non-native resolution, but still noticeable.