Well TBH 640x480 is not a bad size. It's just a 4:3 480p image, most of TV history is this format. Obviously since we have gone widescreen the image would have to be 16:9(720x480) so I'll just upload a screenshot from a HQ encode of Titanic in 480p 
Not too shabby is it? And this is indeed 480p albeit at 21:9 AR
Now for two different 720p images:
HQ

Not HQ

As can be seen not all 720p is created equal so this validates the point that resolution isn't the most important thing with regards to quality.







