Whither 1080p?

Many pundits, myself included, have debated what the coming of 1080p actually means for consumers. Should you hold out for the new 1080p models, hoping that they come down in price enough to justify the extra cash over a 768p or 1080i display? Or is going with a 1080p the best way to future-proof your purchase? I've seen solid arguments both ways, but the latest from CNET Reviews is among the best. They took five flat-panel displays, three of which offer 1080p resolution, and hooked them up to a Blu-ray disc player showing Mission Impossible III, which the CNET guys say is perhaps the best-looking Blu-ray title they've seen. Then they switched the movie to 1080i output to compare.

The bottom line? The differences in picture quality between the 1080p displays and the 768p Panasonic and Philips plasmas were tiny to the point of being barely discernable. CNET agrees with the Imaging Science Foundation, a standards group for the video industry that says screen resolution is only the fourth most important characteristic in a display. The three most crucial, in order, are contrast ratio, color saturation and color accuracy. Keep this in mind when shopping for your next HDTV.