The main difference between an HD Tv and a conventional television set is that they are able to recreate pictures at higher resolutions which translates into more detail and a smoother and more realistic looking picture. However, one of the problems of this market is that many consumers do not really understand when it is better to buy a product with a higher resolution and when to buy one with a lower one. Like in many markets, hype is one of the determining factors in terms of sells so many people are consumed by hype and end up spending on HDTV sets that have a higher resolutions even if they can’t really see no difference.

According to statistics on many websites are high definition many consumers cannot tell the difference between a picture created using a 720p and a 1080p resolution also known as “Full HD”. How come many people do not see this difference while others do?

The answer to this question is a very simple one. It is very difficult to see improvements when changing from a 720p resolution to 1080p if the screen is small or medium sized. For example, when you change from 720p to 1080p most people won’t see too much of a difference on a set that has a screen smaller than 36 inches. Some people don’t even noticed the change even if the screen measures 42 inches. The problem is that our eyes have their limits too and on smaller screens the pixels are small enough at 720p to be almost unnoticeable when isolated. If you set up your screen to display only one black pixel on a completely white background using a 32 inch screen with that setting it will a little difficult to spot the pixel at more than ten feet. If you do the same experiment using a larger HD Tv, say a 48 inch one where the pixels are larger, you can spot the black dot with relative ease. If switch the resolution to 1080p in this one then the pixel becomes difficult to spot again.

In conclusion, if you are planning to buy an HD television with a screen smaller than 36 inches and want to save some money you can easily go for one that has a lower resolution than “Full HD” simply because the difference will be minimal unless you are planning to be sitting really close to the unit.

Try an experiment with this image and stand back 10 feet see if you notice the difference between the above mentioned resolutions. Enlarge the image above. Can you tell the difference between 720p and 1080p HD resolutions?

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Image By: GraYoshi2x, Noodle snacks, Frisia Orientalis

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Not surprisingly the HD TV market depends a lot of hype. Hype is very profitable perhaps more than people think. People that are sensible to it can spend big bucks on items without reading about them or really knowing about their quality. Remember the long lines people made some months ago to buy a certain next generation smartphone only to find out that it has reception problems? Still, the company made top dollars thanks to very good marketing.

Similar things happen in the world of HD television but they do not generate as much attention. Still, hype is there to help make things profitable for companies.  What is helping pump out extra profits for manufacturers at the moment is the 3D hype. While 3D has managed to get the attention of people in Europe and has created quite a stir there, in the United States it hasn’t had the same impact but the extra sells are still there. Sadly, the technologies that are being used to create the 3D effect are still nowhere near what you see in theaters. A lot of people are complaining that the effect looks horrible, others are even saying that it it makes high definition look poorly defined. So what does 3D have I store for us in the future? It is too early to tell. It may have a future in our homes but there is also the possibility that it will become the latest HDTV fad since a lot of people just do not buy the idea of using glasses to watch a movie and less the idea of having to buy additional ones of other members of the family of friends.

People that already own a high definition TV should wait some time before spending more money buying a set that supports 3D at least for now.

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