Difference between 720p and 1080p projectors?


I've had an Optoma H79 projector for 5 years and it still works great, but I'm wondering how much video quality difference is there between it's 720p resolution and newer projectors offering 1080p. And is there a very noticable visual difference/improvement or essentially the same?
rxlarry99
720p looks about like a good 35 mm print in a movie theater. 1080p sourced from Blu-ray to a 1080p display looks like a clean window onto the real thing.

720p IS NOT the same thing as 1080i. 1080i actually has 1080 discrete lines of resolution; it's just that it takes two 60Hz cycles to see them all. Still, you're getting a display of 2,076,300 pixels. A 1080p display upconverts 1080i to 1080p and you really get 1080 lines of resolution. Although a native 720p LCD/DLP/Plasma display can accept 1080i input, it downconverts it to 720p, which gives you 921,600 pixels.

In the case of a front projector, I would think that a 7 foot screen would show a dramatic increase in sharpness with a 1080p projector over 720p, especially when sourced from either 1080i broadcast or especially 1080p Blu-ray. Once you experience 1080p from source to display, you'll never want to return to anything less.
Thanks for all the info guys; just when I think I'm understanding more about this hobby, I'm humbled again. If later this year, I was to upgrade to a 1080p projector for Blu-ray DVDs, what projectors would you recommend for under $2,000?
I upgraded from an Optoma H77 (which I loved) to a Epson
7500ub last year. Also as part of this upgrade, I went
from a Pioneer Elite SD dvd player to a Pioneer elite blu-ray player. The difference is honestly night and day. The Epson ($3000) is so superior to the H77 ($5750) four years ago that it really is worth getting into 1080p as soon as you can afford it. With 1080p you will never go to a movie theater again.
you can buy a 720p projector to save some bucks, and then consider upgrading when 1080p projectors become affordable.
The Optoma HD20 is $999, and is an amazingly good 1080p DLP projector for the price. Also very bright--I can use it in a room with quite a bit of light. The 1080p projectors tend to best the 720p in a variety of ways, not just resolution. But even for lower resolution sources you will get a smoother picture. Blu-ray looks absolutely as good or better than any picture I have ever seen in a theater.