t400: 720p vs 1080p

i wanna buy a nice HDTV that i can use as a computer monitor for my t400.

-what would be better, 720p or 1080p?
-PCinput (analog rgb) = vga?
-what size screen would be better: 32", 37", or 40"+? (in combination with 720p or 1080p?)

ive heard that 1080p for smaller tvs doesnt really matter, unless you plan to use it as a computer monitor? is it even a good idea to use the vga port....?

 

oh and what about gaming?

 

That's a lot of questions without a clear plan.

Are you planning on hooking your T400 up to an HDTV for video playback? If so, what kind of video and at what distance.

Do you plan on typing on this display? If so at what distance?

Also different brands work differently. My 37" LG 1080P LCD doesn't like VGA signals at 1080P (it cuts off the right side) but it scales a 1280x720 image perfectly and that's fine for the rare occasion when I want to watch a video from my computer on a big display.

Gaming tends to be easier on the GPU at lower resolutions, but again you need to specify your question A LOT better.

 

Ok.

I want to use the HDTV for video playback mostly. Perhaps HD movies.
I wouldn't really be any closer than 1.5X the size of the TV.

Oh and I was very favorable towards LG, but I guess I should prefer something else like Samsung if what jonlumpkin said is true.

Question: do 720p and 1080 differ for videoplayback in HD? which brand do you recommend?

 

I have a 37" WUXGA LCD at the end of my bed. For movies it's great, but anything text based, it's small. When I do FF I make the text much larger.

 

jonlumpkin, i was reading over the thread "T400 and HDTV."
there's a lot of info in that, thanks.

Zaz, what brand of HDTV is that, i was thinking of gettgin a 37" too

in any case, im thinking of going to best buy with my t400, lol...see if they let me plug in.

 

1080p, im not sure why anyone would get 720p if they have the means to get 1080.

as far as screen size goes, depends on how far back you're planning to sit in front of the tv. and how big is the room.

the full 1080 HD TV does offers noticeable boost in detail over the 720 equivelant. especially over larger screen sizes.

 

I have nothing against my LG (37LG50) it is a very nice set, has superb picture quality, minimal overscan, and a generally good design. The best thing to do is take your ThinkPad into the electronics store with you and start hooking it up to different TVs to make sure it works as intended.

1080P is useful for HD broadcast/cable (usually 1080i/720P) or Blu-Ray (usually 1080P). However, the vast majority of "HD" videos you can download off the web are 720P or below. In addition, the Radeon 3470 in the T400 is unlikely to be able to drive any modern games at 1920x1080 resolution (but probably can at 1280x720). Further, most console games (e.g. XBox360 or PS3) are rendered at 720P (sometimes less) and then scaled to fit your desired TV resolution.

As such, I don't consider the fact that the 37LG50 doesn't like 1080P sources over VGA to be a deal breaker as 720P is perfectly adequate for when I attach a computer (the 37LG50 has a good scaler). I even considered getting the 720P model (37LG30 IIRC), but the premium for the 37LG50 was so small that it was worth it for futureproofing.

 

You have to sit pretty close to the TV for text to be comfortably readable on 1080p. I sit anywhere from 8-12' back on a 52" screen and text is just legible enough at 1360x768. At that same viewing distance, 1080p is practically useless for reading. You may not intend to use your TV to do things that involve reading text, but you inevitably will.

As for gaming, I don't have any interest in running any games at 1920x1080 on my T500. They still look great at 1360x768 and the vast improvement in framerate over 1920x1080 is a far greater priority for a middle-class GPU like the Mobility Radeon HD 3650. The T400's HD 3470 will need every last frame you can squeeze from it, so you might not even be playing in 16:9.

For anything computer-based, 1080p video serves very little benefit given the practical limitations of bandwidth and the T400 itself.

That said, I would still get a 1080p TV, but not for the purpose of using your laptop at that resolution.