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Player2 on 03 December 2013
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d21lewis said:
Player2 said:

There isn't a big difference between 1080p and 720p.

What's going on:

Unlike CRT TVs, LCD TVs have only one native resolution. Everything that don't have that res is upscaled/downscaled. So when you send an image to the TV that doesn't match the screen native resolution (like that 720p image from a PS3) it looks like trash because it's the TV the one upscaling it to 1080, and they usually do a poor job at it.

Your X360 720p games look good because the X360 takes the 720p game image, upscales it to 1080p and then sends it to the TV.

So: Use a 720p TV for games with 720p output.

I may be misunderstanding what you're saying.  I'm using an LED HDTV (still an LCD, I know).  It always shows what resolution it's displaying in the upper right hand corner. 

Doing a quick run through of the things connected to it

  • If I run DirecTV HD on it, it shows "1080i" in the upper right, even when the programming itself is sub-HD
  • When I run the 360, it says "1080p" regardless of what resolution the game I'm playing is running
  • When I run my Wii, it says "480p" regardless of what game is running, even Super Nes games!
  • When I change to Wii U, it says "1080p" regardless of which game I'm running...even if I change it to Wii Mode (which is still blurry)
  • When I run my PS3, it says "1080p" until the actual game starts playing.  Then, it says 720p.
  • When I run the PC, it says "1024 x 768" (I can run it sharper but I sit so far away that everything is too small to see)

Give me some guidance, here.

What the TV displays in the upper right is the input (resolution, refresh, for TV and consoles; width, height for the PC).

So whenever it says 1080p or i (or 1920 x 1080 for the PC) the input matches the TV native resolution and you get the best picture quality.

I don't have a Ps3, but given the replies in this thread it seems some PS3 games refuse to run at 1080p, that's why the PS3 switches from 1080p to 720p. Those games will look better on your old TV if it isn't full HD.

Plasmas are a different beast, they do a much better job at upscaling, that's why everything looks awesome in Kekrot's TV (plus his plasma is a Panasonic).