Waiting for the Wii and 1080p

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There is a certain irony in that. The seminar revealed Panasonic’s 2007 line-up in full, and it was very proud of its range of plasmas that that can handle ‘Full High Definition’ – that is 1,920 x 1,080 resolution in progressive format, commonly known as 1080p.

1080p is very much the buzz word right now - it’s seen as the ultimate in screen technology – what we should all be aspiring to for our TVs. As such, I was particularly looking forward to seeing the new 42in Panasonic plasma TV that offered 1080p resolution, with Hitachi having announced the same at CES. This was exciting news as previously the smallest sized plasma that could offer 1080p was 50in in diagonal, which is far too large and too expensive for most. A 42in sized plasma though, is a far more practical proposition, though it’s inevitably still going to cost quite a bit more than a 720p 42in screen.

However, during the press trip I found in my press pack an independent white paper, that despite being sponsored by Panasonic was entitled, “Is More Resolution Always Better?”.

It’s a fascinating read and has pretty much turned my thinking about 1080p on its head. To cut to the chase, it explains, that for most European living rooms, that have the TV placed at an average viewing distance of 2.7 metres (mine is actually 3.5m), there’s no point having a 1080 display. For almost everyone, it’s not possible to actually see the extra detail in a 1,920 x 1,080 display unless you move closer. The author works out mathematically that to see the difference at the same viewing distance you’d need a display with a diagonal of 63.7in!

To quote from the paper - “According to this calculation, it really doesn’t make any sense for those with normal vision to buy a set with more than 1,366 x 768 (HD Ready) format unless they want to view from closer than normal 2.7m viewing distances or the size planned for the set is 50in or more.”

Having dispensed with the need for 1080, the paper then lays into 1080p. Movie content on HD DVD and Blu-ray is stored at 24fps, as originally filmed, and according to the paper, this can easily be recombined by the deinterlacer in the TV or the player to create a progressive signal – so 1080p isn’t needed for movie content. It might be useful for live action programmes such as sports where smooth motion is preferred, but as 1080p takes twice the bandwidth of 1080i, it’s unlikely to ever happen as a broadcast format, so no joy there.

The paper then states, as we really already knew, that the only source of 1080p is games consoles – namely the Xbox 360 with its latest update, and the PS3. But that’s irrelevant isn’t it, as what most people will be hooking up to their 1080p TVs is Nintendo Wii’s, while the PS3 is languishing on the shelves in the US - and at £425, it probably will here in the UK too. In fact, thanks to SCEA President Jack Tretton, the PS3 could potentially make you money, rather than costing you any!

What the white paper has gone and been and done then is to pour water over my high end-tech desire to own a 42in 1080p plasma – apparently for movies and sport there’s no point. What you really need then, especially if you have an XBox 360 or PS3 is as big a screen as possible without spending stupid money on a 50in plasma or bigger.

That’ll be a projector then. Lucky then that Panasonic demoed its fantastic looking 1080p projector at the Milan seminar, which to my eyes produced the cleanest sharpest picture I've seen this side of a Sony Qualia 004 - and that costs about 30 grand. The projector will easily deliver a screen size up to 200in across so forgot the 42in plasma, (and not actually having £3,500 to buy the thing aside), that’ll do nicely. However, I may have to paint the side of the neighbour’s house white and project onto that though as I don’t think I’ve got a spare 200in wall anywhere.

At least I’ve got a Nintendo Wii though.

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