I get a kick out of engads tongue-in-cheek cynicism in the article introduction....I feel the same way...
One thing I have never understood - and this may not be the place to ask, but I'm going to - is explain the relationship between screen resolution and the distance from the viewer? And add to that Mr E. comments regarding finding something to drive it at it's native resolution?
I will not get into all of the math and science behind why and how all of this works but here is the short answer: The human eye has a limited ability to resolve detail; and, because of this, different resolutions at different distances will all appear to have the same quality to the average viewer.
For a little more detailed answer consider an equation that has three variables: Screen Size, Resolution, and Seating Distance. By varying these three variables the human eye will 'see' the same quality image on different screens.
Size matters. The larger the display, the easier it is to see the benefits of higher resolution. This is why most 32 inch and smaller televisions are not full 1080p screens. Get yourself a 110 inch projector and you will certainly appreciate all the resolution a blu-ray can give you. Screen sizes in between depend on how far you sit from them.
Seating distance matters. If you are sitting within five feet of your screen you are probably going to see all of the possible picture detail. In fact the screen size will usually need to be under twenty inches before you would NOT notice the difference between 720p and 1080p at a distance of five feet. On the other hand if you are sitting ten feet away from a 46 inch screen you might not notice the difference between 720p and 1080p.
One very important thing to remember is that resolution is just one part of the equation for how good an image appears. In fact it is not the most important factor. Most people would agree that Color and Contrast are much more important factors. So the viewing distance versus resolution arguments all assume that all other factors are equal. In real life they usually are not.
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I get a kick out of engads tongue-in-cheek cynicism in the article introduction....I feel the same way...
One thing I have never understood - and this may not be the place to ask, but I'm going to - is explain the relationship between screen resolution and the distance from the viewer? And add to that Mr E. comments regarding finding something to drive it at it's native resolution?
cb,
I will not get into all of the math and science behind why and how all of this works but here is the short answer: The human eye has a limited ability to resolve detail; and, because of this, different resolutions at different distances will all appear to have the same quality to the average viewer.
For a little more detailed answer consider an equation that has three variables: Screen Size, Resolution, and Seating Distance. By varying these three variables the human eye will 'see' the same quality image on different screens.
Size matters.
The larger the display, the easier it is to see the benefits of higher resolution. This is why most 32 inch and smaller televisions are not full 1080p screens. Get yourself a 110 inch projector and you will certainly appreciate all the resolution a blu-ray can give you. Screen sizes in between depend on how far you sit from them.
Seating distance matters.
If you are sitting within five feet of your screen you are probably going to see all of the possible picture detail. In fact the screen size will usually need to be under twenty inches before you would NOT notice the difference between 720p and 1080p at a distance of five feet. On the other hand if you are sitting ten feet away from a 46 inch screen you might not notice the difference between 720p and 1080p.
One very important thing to remember is that resolution is just one part of the equation for how good an image appears. In fact it is not the most important factor. Most people would agree that Color and Contrast are much more important factors. So the viewing distance versus resolution arguments all assume that all other factors are equal. In real life they usually are not.