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Hi all,
I am looking at 32" TVs for my bedroom, planning on running XBMC on an HTPC to feed it. I have DVD and BluRay content on a media server.
720p LED 32" TVs are extremely cheap, and I'm wondering the pros and cons (if any) of going with a lower res TV. Will XBMC display properly? Menus readable, etc?
Will the TV be working "extra hard" to downconvert a BluRay? Will they even display?
Thanks.
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At 32", a 720p tv will be just fine.
XBMC will display just fine on a 720p display.
Yes, your 1080p content will work on a 720p display. The scalers inside the TV will take care of everything. While it won't be a perfect reproduction of the 1080p source material, you'd be hard pressed to notice (i imagine) on a 32" display.
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I'm not sure about other people, but the vast majority of my video content is 720 and under. I've got 1080 TVs and kind of wish I had just gotten 720 TVs and saved money (or gotten a larger screen, etc).
Movies will often go to 1080, but most TV content (what I watch most often) is 720 max.
The other thing is, on a 32 inch screen you have to be sitting pretty close to notice the difference between 1080 and 720.
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PatK
Team-Kodi Member
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I can tell the difference if I use a magnifying glass.
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davilla
Retired-Team-XBMC Developer
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if I use binoculars, I can tell too.
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magao
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2012-10-23, 00:31
(This post was last modified: 2012-10-23, 00:33 by magao.)
As an actual data point ...
I watch anime on a 720p 32" TV. I sit just over 2 metres away from the TV.
- I cannot tell the difference between 1080p (scaled down) and 720p material. They both look essentially perfect.
- 576p material appears blurrier than 720p material, but definitely watchable.
- There is a significant difference between 720p and 480p material. 480p material appears blocky. It's still watchable, but it's annoying.
- Anything less than 480p is essentially unwatchable.
In comparison, I have a 1080p 40" TV which I sit about 3 metres away from. It's almost entirely used for watching live action or 1080p animation (Pixar movies,etc).
- The difference between 1080p and 720p material at that distance is minimal. Doing a high-quality encode from a Blu-Ray source I have to look really hard to see any difference.
- 576p (PAL DVD) looks fine. A bit blurry, but nothing too annoying.
- 480p live action is a little blurry (there's a marked difference between it and 720p) but completely watchable. The fact that it's live action hides a lot of flaws that show up in anime.
- 360p is watchable if the source material is good, but blurry and often pixellated. I don't want to watch anything < 480p on that TV if I can avoid it.
