HD Finally!

[Bob The Skutter]

Yeah, I watched the Tree of Life show in HD too, some great stuff in there. Planet Earth and Galapagos both looked fantastic when BBC HD broadcast them not long ago.

I've been contemplating buying a PS3, for 1 or 2 games, but mostly for the Blu-Ray, but really I'd need to get a 1080p screen to take advantage of it first.

Big o'blurb for Nature's Great Events for ya.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00hn4hs
The first in a new series about the most dramatic wildlife spectacles on our planet.
The summer melt of Arctic ice, opening up nearly three million square miles of ocean and land, provides opportunities for millions of animals, including beluga whales, families of Arctic foxes, vast colonies of seabirds, and the fabled Arctic unicorn, the narwhal.


...


In a unique aerial sequence, the migration of narwhal with their distinctive unicorn-like tusks is filmed for the first time. The whales' journey is risky as they travel along giant cracks in the ice. If the ice were to close above them, they would drown.
Hundreds of beluga whales gather in the river shallows. They rub themselves on smooth pebbles in one of the most bizarre summer spectacles.

 

[AviTrek]

Unless you get a very large screen or sit very close to the TV you can't really tell the difference between 720p and 1080p. The human eye is just not that sensitive. Of course, I bought a 1080p set myself since they tend to have the best PQ overall, but if you already own an HDTV I wouldn't rush out and buy a second set just to get 1080p. You're better off putting that money into the Blu-Ray player, a receiver, and a decent set of speakers(unless you already have good audio equipment).

 

[Jim Steele]

Unless you get a very large screen or sit very close to the TV you can't really tell the difference between 720p and 1080p. The human eye is just not that sensitive. Of course, I bought a 1080p set myself since they tend to have the best PQ overall, but if you already own an HDTV I wouldn't rush out and buy a second set just to get 1080p. You're better off putting that money into the Blu-Ray player, a receiver, and a decent set of speakers(unless you already have good audio equipment).

I sit about 7 feet away from my 37" and there is a noticeable difference between 720 and 1080p, but according to half the internet I must be lying.

It's by no means an enormous difference, but the image is slightly sharper and more detailed even at that distance. When sitting on my gaming chair (about 4ft from the screen) the difference is huge.

But, a friend of mine has a 720p set (same size as mine) and blu-rays still look incredible on it. I wouldn't let that put you off upgrading to the new format now Bob, 1080p downscaled for your screen is still a massive step above 480p upscaled for it. And, it gives you a good reason to upgrade if and when you feel the need to later on.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

Unless you get a very large screen or sit very close to the TV you can't really tell the difference between 720p and 1080p. The human eye is just not that sensitive. Of course, I bought a 1080p set myself since they tend to have the best PQ overall, but if you already own an HDTV I wouldn't rush out and buy a second set just to get 1080p. You're better off putting that money into the Blu-Ray player, a receiver, and a decent set of speakers(unless you already have good audio equipment).

I sit about 7 feet away from my 37" and there is a noticeable difference between 720 and 1080p, but according to half the internet I must be lying.

It's by no means an enormous difference, but the image is slightly sharper and more detailed even at that distance. When sitting on my gaming chair (about 4ft from the screen) the difference is huge.

But, a friend of mine has a 720p set (same size as mine) and blu-rays still look incredible on it. I wouldn't let that put you off upgrading to the new format now Bob, 1080p downscaled for your screen is still a massive step above 480p upscaled for it. And, it gives you a good reason to upgrade if and when you feel the need to later on.

I sit about the same distance from my 42" most of the time. Problem is I have a plasma that, while not burned in, has this problem where if there's any bright images on the screen for a while gets these bight streaks in areas of the picture, like certain areas are getting over charged or something, so I have a reason to want a new TV anyway. I'm just hoping the TV goes while still under the 5 year warranty.
The PS3 idea is just one I'm playing with, I've never been a big Sony fan, the PS3 doesn't seem to have a huge library of games that I'm interested in, just one or two really, but the added bonus of the Blu-Ray player, and the fact that most games that are on the xbox come out on there too gives me the idea that if my xbox goes on me again at least I'll have a machine I can continue to buy most games on... *shrugs* not a serious "I want one" but still mulling it over.