Actually....1080i doesn't equal 720p, pixel wise. Maybe close if your just looking at one interlaced frame, but with 2 frames, 1080i is 1920x1080 pixels. Each interlace frame is 1920x540, but they are different interlaced slices of the total 1920x1080 frame. 720p is just 1280x720 pixels.

But, I don't think we can say that the "1920x1080p @ 59.94/60Hz (Top-and-Bottom) mode is interlaced, wouldn't they call it such? They are averaging every 2 vertical lines in a1920x1080 frame (subsampling) to end up with frames that are 1920x540. How can they call this a 1080p mode, I wonder? May be it's cross eye interlacing, the left eye gets the even lines, the right eye the odd lines? Seems I remember this being done in the past. 

Anyway, I would be totally content with a 1080p game running at 30hz, or better yet at 1080i at 60hz. 30 hz is what most console games run at anyway, and have trouble even getting that. Sure there's a few 60hz exceptions, StardustHD, WipeoutHD. But WipeoutHD, the sneaky bastards, uses 'variable horizontal resoulution', 1280 to 1920, and it still tears every now and then. 

Getting back to the OP, I personally am ready for a new TV, I like 3d, and will be buying one. It's either a panasonic vt20 or the new Vizio 480hz lcd's, depending on the reviews. A 60" laser or dlp is just too big for my apt., and I just saw the 3d adapter for samsung 3d dlp's listed at $300, without glasses. And i'm one of those people that notice the dlp rainbows.

You are confusing Hertz (Cycles per second) with FPS (frames per second)  While sometimes they are interchangable, for the most part they are not.  One is how many times your screen "redraws itself" per second (hz) and the other is how many different Frames are drawn Per second.  When they are equal (or FPS > Hz) a much smoother picture is born.

And for top/bottom (from page 7 on the 3D HDMI white sheet)

"For Top-and-Bottom, the original full left and right pictures are sub-sampled to half

resolution on the vertical axis. Sub-sampled pictures are arranged in Top-and-Bottom

layout. See Figure 8-6."

Wipeout HD is the only PS3 game I saw in 3D thus far. I am pretty sure it is no longer running anywhere close to 1080p or 60 hz when in 3D. I actually couldn't believe the visual drop for that game... 

Everyone has praised Stardust HD so I am curious to see that.

Otherwise I am sure you will find a TV that best suits your needs. If you need one, you need one... I was just suggesting DLPs because they support everything right now. That samsung adapter is only 300 because it is a 3rd party workaround since samsung isn't releasing one. Mitsubishi adapter is 99 bucks... But being too big is definetly a valid argument.

I don't know anything about this 480 hz Vizo but I did look at the VT20 and despite their claims of having "faster phosprus" to prevent ghosting in 3D, I saw slight cross talk between the eyes when looking at a 3D soccer match they had showing on the TV.  This is not something I'd like to see when Im asked to spend 2500 bucks...

As far as the rainbow effect on DLPs, pretty much all DLPs that are still on the market have a color wheel which spins at 7200 RPMs (120 hz) and a 6 color processor. Old ones were 60hz and 3 colors...If you can still see the rainbow effect with all this implemented...damn dude, you have superhuman vision. :) 

Thinking that I need another 3D TV for me was overkill at this point. I have a 6 month old 50 inch Samsung plasma in the bedroom and 2 year old 67 inch 3D DLP in the living room. I was looking to upgrade the bedroom one to a 3D model as well, but I don't see anything out yet that will give me better 3D performance of my DLP for 2000 or less which is what I was looking to spend.

There's always an argument for not buying new technology...but in the end, consumers always move on to the newer stuff.

5 or 6 years ago, I could've said the same about HDTVs. Barely any content, HD wasn't over the air, etc. I could've done the same with the PS2. Reading DVDs won't help because DVD isn't needed (first games were no bigger than a gigabyte). Could've done the same with the iPod. Overpriced, other options, etc.

You can give all the reasons why YOU think it's bad to get one, but technology always advances, and the limitations it may have NOW doesn't mean it'll be that way later

Ssenkahdavic, I mentioned the subsampling above," They are averaging every 2 vertical lines in a1920x1080 frame (subsampling) to end up with frames that are 1920x540" My point is how can they call this a 1080p format, when it's actually only 540p???? Do they just double the verticle lines at the tv to make it 1080p, or are they some how interlacing to get back up to 1080p? Just doubling the 540 to get back to 1080, then calling it 1080, is...lame.

I wasn't confusing the two, they are the same spec. applied to different things. 60hz refresh means 60 frames drawn per second. If a monitors refresh rate is 60hz, it's entire screen is redrawn 60 times a second. If a game runs at 320fps, and you have it hooked up to a 60hz monitor, your still only going to see 60 fps. I meant that if the maximum a tv could show was 1080p at 30hz, which is 30 1080 frames per second. That would be more than enough for 95 % of the games on consoles, that struggle to do even 720 at 30fps. 

Just read up on the 480hz refresh backlight trickery of those new Vizios coming next month, i'll just have to wait until the reviews come in.

StardustHD was the only game I heard that they got running in 3d at1080 60hz, but recently they nocked it down to 720.

Hah, no i'm not superhuman, but if I notice it even a little, it bugs me, and I find myself looking for it. A 120rps color wheel w/6 colors means the color changes 720 times a second, not fast enough I say! I notice the rainbows when there is vertical movement on screen. I would love to fiqure out the math envolved with that, ie if a screen object is moving vertically, at what rate are you going to see some color artifacts, because the wheel isn't spinning fast enough?  Let's see, 120hz, 6 colors, that's 720 colors/sec, which means 12 color changes per one 60hz frame. What would it take for one of the colors to 'miss', say with a black screen with a falling white box? Are there certain falling rates that resonate with the color wheel's speed? Yes, there are, but my brain is to tired to fiqure it out, but I know it happens, I can see it. Do you realise at any givin instant there is only ONE color on screen? Think what that must be doing to your poor brain! Also, bulbs burn out. The ultimate tv will be OLEDs, but they are a few years off, and I don't want to keep waiting for the next best thing. I don't need the best, but the best for my money.

Interlacing means every other line (odd then even) per pass (ie 2 cycles for 1 full frame).  This method is not interlacing anything.  The top is all the scan lines 1-540, just as the bottom is 1-540.  They call it top/bottom (one is on top of the other) and together they equal 1920x1080p (it does not say anywhere it is per eye, that is limited to framepacking)  This is still progressive since they are not interlacing anything in the signal.

Go and look at the framepacking example.  That is the only true way to get full 1080p PER eye.

Have you ever run a game at 320fps on a 60hz monitor (without a limiter) ?  They are in no way the same.  Your monitor will only redraw 60 times per second, but your machine is outputting 320frames in that same second.  This means that you are getting 4 frames per cycle (or only 1 in every 4 frames is being displayed).  What does this look like? Fast forwarding a movie.

fps is from source (computer, ps3, dvd player, etc)

refreshrate (in Hz) is from destination (monitor/tv/etc)

They are not interchangable unless they are equal.  (ie 30fps game will display 1frame per 2 cycles, while a 60fps game will display 1frame for every unique cycle, while a 120fps game will drop every other frame per cycle)

1 to this thread!

this reminds me when I bought the first DVD burner.... 600$ that could only burn DVD RW.... umh..... thanks sony!

You are right with 720 colors per second on these new DLPs...Is this enough? I think it is...

Before I bought my samsung I read that most people will not see the rainbow effect anymore but there still some people out there. I was slightly concerned as  I remember seeing this on my dads old 2001 Toshiba but ever since I got the 2008 Samsung DLP I have not seen it even once.

But you may be one of the few people still being able to see it...

As far as best for the money...again I repeat, that Laser TV from mitsubishi

- No bulb to replace! (yay! I hate bulbs and thats why I bought the Samsung LED DLP instead of Mitsubishis bulb one)

- No color wheel

- Best colors - can produce up to 90% of the colors a human eye can perceive (Twice that of best current HDTVs)

- 1/4 of the power usage compared to plasmas.

- no picture degredation or burn in until The TV dies

etc

I'f I had 5000 dollars I'd buy the 65 inch Laser TV in a heartbeat. But it is rather large so I see someone potentially being turned off if they need a smaller TV...

As far as that 480hz Vizio I find it hard to believe that is a true 480 hz refresh pannel. 240 hz pannels just came out and were shown at CES 2010... Its probably reffereing to something else like the backlight refresh rate but not the pannel it self.

If you ask me, as long as you have true 120 hz refresh rate, its much more important to have a fast screen response time rather than a higher refresh rate. Sure your picture may be slightly smoother with a 240 hz pannel, but you will still see crosstalk in 3D. 2 ms response time is the fastest these large LEDs have and thats still way too much for 3D. Plasmas are less and more acceptable for 3D IMO. (DLPs are even less)