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This holiday season many of you will venture out to buy your first HDTV. That's great! We are sure you will enjoy watching Bowl games and the Rose Parade in HD. Many of you will buy the newest and latest sets that feature full HD or what is commonly called 1080p. That's great too! I will be in that group. Many will see some great prices on 720p TVs and will lament deciding between a great price and the thought of a lesser HDTV experience. Today we will help you decide whether buying a 720p TV is the right thing for you.

First some facts:

1. There is no broadcast content that is 1080p. There probably won't be for many years. Broadcasters just built out the current HD infrastructure and they are not about to start anything new for some time.
2. The only 1080p 60 fps content available today is xBox 360. PS3 will be available later this month.
3. Next Generation DVD  (Blu Ray and HD DVD) can output a 1080p 60fps but it does so by converting content that is originally shot on film at 24 fps on the fly.
   

Advantages of 1080p:

1. Denser pixel structure means a smoother picture. A 50 inch 720p TV has about one million pixels the same size 1080p TV has two million. So more pixels means smoother picture.
2. 1080i film content scales nicely to 1080p. Live sports is tougher to deinterlace and may not produce a good picture.
3. The TV is ready for native 1080p content when it arrives.
4. Most TVs that support 1080p are are higher end models so they may have other features you are interested in
   

Which one should I buy?:

1. Sets 42 inches and less will not be able to show off the benefits of 1080p at normal viewing distances. Fifty to sixty inches can go either way depending on the distance. Once you get into screen sizes of greater than sixty inches then you have a real reason for 1080p. A general rule Peter Putman uses, if you sit farther  than 3 times the screen height you won't be able to discern a difference in 1080p and 720p. So for a 50 inch TV if you sit more than 8 feet away you won't be able to see a difference. With the right content front projectors are a great candidate for 1080p.
2. If your predominantly watch sports you will be well served with a 720p TV. Scaling the picture to 1080p will not create a better experience. Live 1080i (sports) content is difficult to  scale to 1080p very well. 
3. If you are a gamer and you have an Xbox 360 or are planning on buying a PS3 and you plan on sitting close enough to see the benefits of 1080p then a 1080p set is worth considering.
4. You have or will buy a Blu Ray or HD DVD player and you plan on sitting close enough to see the benefits of 1080p then a 1080p set is worth considering. By the way, if you watch regular DVDs they have to be scaled up for both 1080p and 720p TVs. A good scaler will improve your experience but it won't make the 1080p set look dramatically better than the 720p set. 
5. You want a 70 inch or greater set then buy a 1080p.
6. There are are features  like multiple HDMI  inputs, better contrast ratio, or better video processing on the 1080p set. 

So again we don't come right out and tell you which set to buy but we give you the information you need to decide on your own. You can find some great deals on 720p TVs and projectors this holiday season. And why not save money and still be satisfied with a set that will produce the best picture for your environment.