'Is a 1080p resolution television worth the extra money?'

Choosing the right television isn’t an easy decision to make. After deciding if you want an LCD television, a Plasma or maybe a LED, you’ll face a much harder decision to make: which resolution should you choose? This question is for many people the key point in choosing a television. When looking for a television you probably came across the higher priced 1080p televisions. But what does this 1080p mean and is it worth the extra money?

What has 1080p to offer?

Most 1080p HDTVs are capable of displaying every pixel of HD broadcasts of the highest resolution. The more regular models offer resolutions like 1024 x 768, 1280 x 720 or 1366 x 768 (these televisions are often called 720p). In contrary, 1080p HDTVs offer a 1920 x 1080 resolution. Although prices of 720p and 1080p don’t differ as much from each other as they used too, there’s still a noticeable difference between them. You shouldn’t be surprised when there’s a $300 difference between the 720p version and the 1080p version of the same television.

A higher resolution increases the quality of HDTV sources and allows for much better display and high resolution computer signals. Especially text (for example, text at the bottom of a screen during a video game) can turn out unreadable if scaled improperly, something that won’t happen soon with a high resolution.

But, cable-providers mostly broadcast their HD-content in either 1080i or 720p and not in 1080p because of bandwidth issues. Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 games can be upscaled to 1080i or 1080p but are usually 720p native. Some titles are also being offered in 1080p though. Blu-ray players support 1080p and are the best way to get true 1080p output.

But is it worth the extra money?

Experts say that the extra sharpness which a 1080p television offers is only noticeable on screens which are 55 inches or bigger. Besides that many say that the real advantage is not the extra sharpness you’ll be seeing but the more densely packed pixels. So, when you are sitting close to the screen you won’t notice any pixel structure.

Whether you should buy a 720p or a 1080p television depends totally on your own preferences. If you do not want to spend hundreds extra, a 720p model works just fine too. Some even add that unless they have a huge screen (55-inch or more) and sit closely in front of the television, most people won’t even notice the difference between 720p and 1080p.

Enjoying the ultimate movie and television experience depends in this case more on whether or not you get HD programming and buy HD movies, than on the model of your television. But, if you really want a big television (55-inch or more), you should consider spending some extra. As long as you have a 1080i or 1080p HD source, the improved quality could be worth the extra money. Also, if you plan to use your TV as a big computer monitor, a 1080p might be a better solution than a 720p.