How important is 1080p?

[admin_exported]

Ok, so the time seems about right to upgrade my 42¨ Panasonic PW6 Plasma to a hi def screen and the obvious choice is to go for one of the Pioneer 8 gen panels. But which one? I'd like to be as future proof as possible, and so 1080p seems to be the way to go, but...

The 42¨ pioneer is HD ready, where-as to get 1080p I need to go to the 50¨ and spend significantly more cash. Although I would like 1080, and am happy to spend the £3500 i've seen the 1080p 50¨ Pioneer fror, I'm wondering if it is really worth the extra outlay. I'm not ready to jump onto either of the high def DVD formats just yet, and do not want to replace my non-upscaling Tag DVD32r (yeh, I know I can add an external scaler).

Has anyone actually seen a HD Ready and True HD version of the same panel (such as the 508XD and 508D) running side by side displaying the same source? How much better is 1080p? How does a SD image look on a 50¨ 1080p panel?

I have lots of questions, and very few answers at the moment...

 

[Anonymous]

The owners of the 50" XD say that its the best hd image they have seen and blows everything else away even although its not a full hd panel.

Was gonna buy one myself but got frustrated at the lack of stock in dealers and bought a full hd pz700 panny at half the price.

My point is that if you are not ready to jump on the hd bandwagon yet (possibly not untill the format war is over anyway), the chances are that the xd will be more than capable.

I am reliably informed that the sd on the pio is better than that on my panny and SD looks fantastic even tho its a 50" full HD panel. Not sure how it can be improved upon, its that good, however, both reviewers and PIO owners insist thats the case so I gotta believe them.

 

[Anonymous]

As far as I'm concerened ( yes perhaps I should change my surname by deedpoll to Meldrew) unless you go for the new generation of Blu Ray Players set to hit the high street soon and match with a good Full HD1080p screen, including of course Blu Ray DVDs, I would forget entirely about 1080p altogether and instead opt for a good HD ready Plasma Display as opposed to an LCD and match with a good Upscaling DVD Player.

SKY have no plans to 1080p transmissions either. SKYHD does look good, but I'm quite happy with SD at the moment.