Quote:
Originally Posted by GoFlamesGo89
So the question is for the living room set is, do I *really* need 1080p? I don't see ourselves really doing anything with Blu-Ray right now, and eventually the basement TV will be 1080p, so will the resolution be important for just watching live TV and the occasional movie off of a laptop?
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The highest that is currently broadcast by any TV provider is 720 (i or p, I cant remember) and with the huge demand for more HD channels I don't see that changing anytime soon.
The rest depends on the movies you would be watching off your laptop and what the output on your laptop is. If you do not have HDMI/DVI output from your laptop, then it is outputting in SD anyway. If you do, then you need to consider the source of the movies/
If they are HD downloads/rentals from places like Netflix, Itunes etc then you need to check with them to see if they are in 1080p. If they are not currently, there is a much higher chance of them becoming 1080p sooner than TV broadcasts will.
If the downloaded movies are of 'questionable legal status' then it just depends on what resolution they were ripped at. Like legal downloads, sources like this will tend to migrate more towards 1080p as more people get BluRay drives in their computers.
Since you are planning on having a 1080p TV in the basement, I can't see why you would worry about getting one now, but if the price difference is only 100 bucks for a good quality TV, it might be worth it. Even if you don't plan on getting a stand alone blu ray player, your next laptop will almost certainly will come with the Bluray player as an option. if you get the 1080p now, it might make that option a worthwhile thing.
Another thing to consider is viewing distance. I don't remember the specifics but when I bought mine I had to consider the distance away I was sitting when I was watching it. Basicly, the further away you are the less it matters how high the resolution is. I am sure you can find a website that will help you figue that out via google.
edit: It seems photon covered the distance thing much better in his post.