1080p isn't overkill for projectors to say, but looks a tiny bit much better on Normal TV's/Monitors. If i can at reasonable FPS in terms of gaming then i'll run at 1600 and awhile back while i was visiting the parents, my father worked up a Home Theater project where he would make the frames and screens himself and buy used projectors off ebay.

None the less with a supposedly top of the line projector (I can't remember the name. He told me it's the "Bentley" of projectors and all i can remember of the name is "co" at the end), good blu-ray player, and movie 1080p can make a good difference even on a homemade screen.

Also is it me or does anyone who had or have ESPNHD notice good quality or no? Only reason i ask this is because i would normally walk by and he would be watching Drag racing as usual and it didn't seem all that great. May have just be my eyes.

Quote from Sueycide_FD :

Also is it me or does anyone who had or have ESPNHD notice good quality or no? Only reason i ask this is because i would normally walk by and he would be watching Drag racing as usual and it didn't seem all that great. May have just be my eyes.

Matters what you are watching. Some shows/events don't show in 1080p. Drag racing on ESPN2 could be one of them. Some instead tend to be 720p or sometimes even stretched which makes it look even worse IMO (my local FOX does it, epic fail).

However when watching NFL, NBA, Tennis, NASCAR, X Games, etc, it looks absolutely fantastic. Same with SportsCenter. I have 1080p TVs. The one in my room is a Samsung 40". Absolutely stunning picture coming from it compared to a Visio 42" 720p I had before. Also a 61" 1080p in the "living room" which looks crazy good.

Really want to get a better graphics card (have a 2x 8800GT's currently). Really want to get something that I can max out something on my 30" at 2560x1600. As of now I can do medium graphics on most games yet it looks more crisp than on my cousin's PC (similar specs, high graphic settings) on a 24" at 1980x1080.

The clarity difference I normally see is when it is a shot of grass or turf. The ability to see every little blade of grass is crazy.

Quote from PMD9409 :

Needs to be a 1600p.

2560x1600 resolution here.

A movie in 16:10? Dream on

Problem is even with blueray the videos are pretty compressed, or the raw material just isn't that detail intensive to start with.

Yes, it's overkill. But I like overkill.

Quote from E.Reiljans :

A movie in 16:10? Dream on

Maybe in 10 years.

Quote from JJ72 :

Problem is even with blueray the videos are pretty compressed, or the raw material just isn't that detail intensive to start with.

Considering the usual viewing distances 720p is more than good enough. Pro's never went to 1080p but straight to 4K. All 1080p recorded uncompressed footage looks like aliased oversharpened crap instead of actual detail and resolution that the 4K produces.

actually youll find most cinemas are 2k these days and most of the better looking movies (eg tron or avatar) are produced with either 2k or 1080 cameras

Quote from Shotglass :

actually youll find most cinemas are 2k these days and most of the better looking movies (eg tron or avatar) are produced with either 2k or 1080 cameras

Most cinemas are indeed still stuck at 2K but it's changing already. Most feature length movies are recorded at 4K. Final edit is downscaled for distribution but the studios keep the 4K masters to future proof the inevitable re-releases.

EDIT: As far as I know Avatar's 3D gimmick was first in the making as a blockbuster movie and Sony's HD cameras were the only usable cameras back then during the production. Ignoring the Tron's half-assed 3D I do believe the 2D was shot at 4K. I remember reading the CGI UI artist talking about how they had to write graphic applications to render at 4K or film resolution.

EDIT2: And I recall Cameron had ordered 50 units of Red Epics (4K digital cinema) for the Avatar sequel.

the point was more about a good 1080 camera being able to record a whole lot of detail
of course on a cheap point and shoot the lens probably wont even be able to give you 1080

What resolution are IMAX movies? The last time I watched dark knight in IMAX it blown me away.

TV it is probably overkill, PC monitor not

For normal TV watching you will not see the difference unless you are on top of your TV as Bob pointed out with his link. I have a 50" full HD plasma and have yet to see any demo where 1080 is really any better than 720. I should have got the 720P screen and saved the extra cash.

For a PC monitor things are different, I have a 24" 1680*1050 pc monitor which I use for development and still want more real estate. Trying to get as much code on screen as possible while readable sat a few feet away is very different than watching TV.

on my 42" 1080p I do see a difference between 720p and 1080p at my couch distance of 2 1/2 meters. But it's minor and not really obvious unless you really look for it.

But as decent 1080p Screens are not that expensive anymore, i can't think of any reason why you wouldn't go for such a screen.

Until they make an LCD that you can watch fast paced sports on, I'll stick to my 1996 old tube television.

Even the 120 Hz, you can't watch hockey on unless you like the slideshow effect. HD looks beautiful between plays when everyone is just standing waiting for the faceoff though.

Quote from JJ72 :

What resolution are IMAX movies? The last time I watched dark knight in IMAX it blown me away.

IMAX footage is 4K or just slightly above if I remember correctly and IMAX cinemas have 4K projectors. RED Epic pulls 5K video at 96 FPS... so, yeah.

Hopefully Cameron and Jackson are able to speed up the projector update in cinemas soon.

Quote from JJ72 :

What resolution are IMAX movies? The last time I watched dark knight in IMAX it blown me away.

the imax in my town (which afaik still is europes largest and part of easily one of the most modern conemas in europe) is 2k and 70mm respectively

dark knight according to imdb was filmed via analogue so the effective resolution of the movie is ... whatever (in actuality probably fairly low due to the darkness of the movie)

Quote from Shotglass :

the imax in my town (which afaik still is europes largest and part of easily one of the most modern conemas in europe) is 2k and 70mm respectively

dark knight according to imdb was filmed via analogue so the effective resolution of the movie is ... whatever (in actuality probably fairly low due to the darkness of the movie)

Only parts of the Dark Knight was shot with IMAX film cameras. The footage was apparently scanned at a freaky 8K resolution. Apparently IMAX digital projection is two 2K projectors doubled to increase brightness (Wikipedia's facts you can trust???).

However I still hope cinemas are hurrying with updating to 4K projectors with Jackson's Hobbit and Cameron's blue monkeys in the pipeline.

IT'S OVER 9000p!

Quote from spankmeyer :

The footage was apparently scanned at a freaky 8K resolution.

meaning **** all since film resolution is massively dependant on the lense (applies to digital too obviously) lighting film speed and tons of other things

Quote :

However I still hope cinemas are hurrying with updating to 4K projectors with Jackson's Hobbit and Cameron's blue monkeys in the pipeline.

on anything smaller than an imax screen or to someone sitting in the first few rows 4k will make no difference whatsoever

In all honesty you probably won't notice a big difference in anything below a 37 or 42 inch set but you'd have to look for it.

Most console games don't run in 1080p and all HD broadcasts are 720p.

Quote from Shotglass :

meaning **** all since film resolution is massively dependant on the lense (applies to digital too obviously) lighting film speed and tons of other things

Meaning full 5 stars for proper balls out MOVIE MAKING!

A good DP (Nolan haz it) and IMAX crew (Nolan haz it too!) isn't your average indie film group slapping on a shitty Sigma or Tokina lens on and calling it a day. 35mm cine film pulls about 3.5K of resolution and 70mm IMAX peaks at the stupid high 8K.

Going to the movies should blow your heads off and make your jaw hit the floor. It's good that someone is pushing the envelope fer chrissakes!