1366×768 What the heck?
So was perusing the local Sam’s club the other day and just happened around the HDTV’s.
To my chagrin almost all the sets there were 1366×768 resolution. WHY????
Now being a computer geek forever and remembering that there is a resolution like this in computers (1024×768) I did some digging. Come to find out that to save a buck or two on the premium asked for real HD chips (1280×720 and 1920×1080) companies just added a few more columns to the 1024×768 chips and viola, we have the 1366×768.
Now here is the kicker. No source material is presented at this resolution so everything must be scaled up or down. Do you think you are getting a $1000 scaler in that $800 set? Not gonna happen so you get a potentially crap scaler in a TV that has a resolution no PC, DVD, Satellite or cable company supports natively.
So the next time you are looking for a set, stick with at least one of the 16:9 HD resolutions (1280×720 and 1920×1080) or a resolution that is divisible by this.
Check out our new sister blog on Home Theater, HTBlog.net
January 22nd, 2007 at 11:03 am
I have news for you, even if you buy a set with 1280×720 or 1920×1080 everything is still scaled, as TVs have overscan programmed into them about 1-3%. Some of the newer TVs have a 1:1 pixel mapping mode, but if you turn them on you sometimes get garbage along the edges of the screen.
You can confirm this yourself, but capturing some HD to your PC and viewing it in a window, you’ll see there is more space around the edges than on your TV as well as you’ll see the garbage, especially during commercials.
January 24th, 2007 at 7:54 pm
If you are surprised by 1366×768 resolution (some even have 1365×768) in HD sets in 2007, you should not really blog about HDTV, as it shows you are an amateur.