1080p an issue for now?

Do you think you might integrate a computer for a HTPC? That would be one more reason to consider 1080p. A 50" 720P DLP at 13' is what I have now. It works, but any larger display might have problems with resolution, especially text.

DBW1 - Crutchfield.com

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-XfNaUKiM947/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=146350&I=284LC52D62

Dbw1 - I found these on the net @ vanns.com. No tax or shipping. Both are 50" or over full 1080p LCD. I'll post again if I stumble across any more.

http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/item/features/462999246

http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/item/features/462999810

thanks for looking those up. it looks like 4 grand for a 52 inch lcd with 1080p and just over 2 grand for a good 50 inch plasma. that's a heck of a premium for 1080p and a slightly better picture. at 57 to 58 inches, it's also about 2 grand more for the lcd vs. plasma. i can't really spend 5500 (best price on 57 inch lcd). so back to my original question, is 1080p a real issue at the current time? is it worth an extra 2 grand? if we won't see 1080p broadcast for 5 years, then i'd rather get a new set in 5 years that will presumably be even better and not spend the 2 grand now. if the broadcast is coming soon, or if the bluray / hddvd war will end soon and movies will be broadly available in 1080p, then it might be worth having. a related question - if plasma has better picture quality than rear projection (to my eyes it does), will that continue to be true if the source is 1080p and the rear projection handles 1080p but the plasma doesn't?

thanks everyone for continuing to respond on this thread. it has already been very helpful and hopefully will continue to be. -dave

Dave...it seems as if its more of a budget issue than technology issue. If you're looking into getting a 1080p LCD along with some type of 1080p media, then yes its truely worth every dime. However, if you're only gonna feed the 1080p LCD 720p or 1080i, then it may not be worth it at this point. BluRay or HDDVD isn't going anyware for the time being. They will get better yes, but they are here for a while. Remember, they said the same thing about digital CD's. And don't forget, BetaMax was the thing of the future, not VHS.

IMO, your safe either way. If upgrading in 5 years or so is not an issue to contemplate, then spend the 2G's. This will more than likely be the very earliest you would have media available to upgrade to. If you wanna future proof, now isn't the best time. Also, keep in mind, 1080p may be broadcasted in 5 years or so. Maybe. But it will be probably another 5-7 years or so after that before a higher resolution than 1080p is broadcasted. That could easily be about 10 years before you would be "forced" to upgrade. Even then, you're not forced to do that.

Here's a suggestion for the "best bang for your buck". If you wanna get the 1080p but don't wanna chance HDDVD or BluRay, then take the money for the HD player and get a low priced video scaler. New or used, its your call. You may end up spending roughly the same price overall ($1000 vs. $15-1800). That way, every signal you feed the scaler can be processed to whatever your LCD can handle. If your LCD can handle 1080p, then everything the scaler processes with be output to 1080p. This includes, video games, dvd's, cable/satallite, etc. Same rules for 720p or 1080i, or any point in between.