[quote user="makhlari"]
Please help! The truth is that 100% of my viewing is SD, either TV/Satellite or DVD. I'm in the market for a 42 to 50" set and am somewhat confused. I am told on expert forums/articles that the higher the native resolution does not necessarily give the better SD playback (as it is all up-scaled) in fact to the contrary, it's often worse (is this true?) And that the quality of SD viewing is down the up-scaling processor hence we are talking manufacturer. My questions are: Why lay out the premium for a 1080 set? Would I be better off with a 720p set or even a 480p (if I can find one), as it is best picture I'm looking for. And does anyone recommend a good flat panel TV. (I'm already presuming plasma is preferable to LCD for my needs.). Sorry for so many questions. Thanks.[/quote]
SD tv is transmitted at 576i so to display it on a HD set it must be de-interlaced (all flat panels show a image in progressive scan) and upscaled to fit the panels native resolution so generally speaking the less information the screen has to add to the avalible transmitted information the better the results.
Now older Plasmas were 480 panels none of were nor could be HD ready so I would not advise tracking one of these down as a purchase option today (even tho I have my old 480p Panasonic in my bedroom and it still has a cracking picture). If you main use for the tv will be for SD viewing and DVD and you feal no rush to join the BD/HD-DVD brigade then get a HD ready panel and save the extra money. I have a Samsung PS50q97hdx which can be found for about a grand and it is great with SD viewing and DVD. I upgraded to Sky HD and that looks fantastic. The only thing it cant do is take BD/HD-DVD at 1080p/24FPS.