720p Movies: The Best Way To Enjoy High-Quality Resolution

The debate about 720p vs 1080p continues to rage, but the majority of pundits recommend 720p HD. Encoded at 1280x720 pixels, a movie in this resolution has enough detail for a theatre screen.

When your TV is 50 inches or smaller, you can't see the difference between 720p and 1080p. And if you're watching with your PC monitor or laptop plugged into an HDTV through HDMI, then you should watch at 720p. Below is a related blog post about movie watching and downloading:

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The biggest difference between 720p and 1080p movies is how well they're encoded. The resolution is important, but the fact that it's unencoded means that TVs must display the movie at a low bit rate.

The good news is that the quality of 720p encoded movies is very close to 1080p, and there are some great ones out there. In this guide, we will provide you with every release of a movie that we recommend at 720 or better.

When you consider the size and price of an HDDVD or the expense of Blu-ray, it makes sense to invest in a movie with high-quality encoding.

While we recommend 720p movies, you may find that some of your unit's decoding circuitry is not up to the task. If you get "no signal" messages, try turning off your video and audio processors. If the resulting image is unacceptable, then you will need to upgrade your video processor or settle for a lower resolution.

720p HD movies can be found on both HDDVD and Blu-ray discs. The HD version of a movie will be identical in quality to its SD counterpart. The only exception is when a title has been upconverted from the standard definition (SD).

As the name suggests, upconversion is the process of rendering HD content from an SD source such as a DVD. Upconversion is not always performed as well as it should be, and you may see artefacts in the picture, but this is rare.

If you're thinking of buying a new HDTV, then the cost of upgrading your video and audio is likely to be lower than for your A/V receiver. For this reason, we suggest that you buy first and upgrade later if needed. This way you get a smaller machine, which is easier to manage and cheaper to buy.

When you're shopping for a new movie to buy, you'll see them listed as 1080p or 720p. The "p" is short for progressive-scan, and this is the way the movies are encoded. Most DVDs are encoded at 15/30 fps, whereas 720p movies are encoded at 60 fps and 1080p movies at 60 fps and 24 fps.

This means that a 720 or 1080p movie will have smoother motion than its SD counterpart, but it takes more processing power to decode these movies than their lower-resolution counterparts.

Progressively scanned means that each frame of the movie can be displayed individually without having to reconstruct images using clues from adjacent frames. This is where the 60 fps and 24 fps numbers come from.

As you might expect, 1080p movies are more expensive than 720p movies, but they also tend to have better audio and video quality. You don't need a Blu-ray player to view a movie at this resolution.

Indeed, the first time we tried to watch The Kingdom in HD with our Pioneer BDP-51FD, it wouldn't play. We had to set the resolution of the TV first to 800x600 before we could see anything. A Blu-ray player will help you get the best possible picture and sound.

So, which of these formats should you buy? If you have a new HDTV with standard definition (480p) or standard-def analogue television (standard-def DVD) and you're happy watching DVDs at that resolution, then 720p is all you need. 720p movies are just as good and at times better than 1080p movies.

However, if you're considering upgrading to HD, then it's worth having a look at the 1080p titles that are available right now. These are the best releases across all formats and include everything from action to adventure to horror.

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