We talk about the Family and Consumer Act of 2007 and how it may bring a la carte pricing to your TV. We also revisit a subject that we have received allot of email about. Should you go and buy a 1080p when you can get a great deal on 720p TVs. For a refresher we are including information from our November  14th show as well as a link to an interview at Electronic house with SIM2 marketing Manager Greg Nicoloso.  

 

A SMPTE study found that resolution is less important to picture quality when viewed by the naked eye than:

1. Contrast Ratio/Dynamic Range
2. Color Saturation
3. Colorimetry/Color Temperature or Grayscale

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