Confuse about TV and DVD players resolution

[hanugro]

Hi all, I am bit confuse about choosing the best TV. I want to buy an LCD/plasma TV to watch a DVD and cable TV (a 4:3 standard PAL). If I am correct DVD (NTSC) players has native 480 and can upscale to 720 (some even 1080)? How about PAL DVD?
Now if I want to buy new TV which one should I buy a 480 or 768 one (I only want 37" LCD or 42" plasma)? Why don't TV conform to DVD resolution (720 instead of 768?). Is there any problem with this?
Suppose blue-ray/HD-DVD is common in near future. Will a 768 TV is enough or should I buy 1080 full HDTV compliant. How would a 1080 TV plays standard DVD, will I see 'blockiness'?
Thanks for your help!

[edDV]

At 37 to 42" size a 1366x768 16:9 LCD or plasma panel should be sufficient at normal viewing distances (i.e. ~5 feet for HDTV, up to 10 feet for PAL).

NTSC DVD is 720x480
PAL DVD is 720x576

Both would be upscaled (interpolated) to the native screen resolution of ~1366x768.

At this screen size and resolution, DVD is being upscaled about 2x horizontally and ~ 1.5x vertically.

HD/BD DVD at 1920x1080 would be downscaled to ~70% for display at 1366x768.

Another way to look at it is viewing distance should determine the screen size. For example a viewing distance of 7-10 feet would predict a screen size of 50 inches for proper 16:9 viewing angles.
http://www.myhometheater.homestead.com/viewingdistancecalculator.html

For a 50 inch screen, if you intended to sit close (e.g. 6-7ft) you would benefit from 1920x1080 screen resolution. If you intended to sit further back (e.g. 9-10 feet), then 1366x768 screen resolution would be enough. A human can't perceive more resolution at that distance.

If you were like me and sit 3-4 feet from a 42" screen, then 1920x1080 resolution isn't even enough . THX standards say I should move back to 4.7 feet for an optimal widescreen viewing experience. SMPTE theater standards say the audience for a 42" screen would ideally be seated 4 to 6 feet back.

[hanugro]

Thanks for your answer. So if I watch DVD with 1366x768 TV then I will watch 'fat' people? I just wondering why they choose 1366x768 and not 1024x768 that is common in computer. Also if I watch widescreen DVD would the TV 1366x768 try to maximize the width and crop the height?
Also what will happen if I watch normal 4:3 cable network? Would I have more 'fat' people or will the TV have two pilars on both side to preserve 4:3?
I watch a 1080 HDTV on a showroom few weeks ago and it plays regular DVD and I am not impressed at all. The picture seems to be not smooth (probably because of the upscale).

[edDV]

Thanks for your answer. So if I watch DVD with 1366x768 TV then I will watch 'fat' people? I just wondering why they choose 1366x768 and not 1024x768 that is common in computer. Also if I watch widescreen DVD would the TV 1366x768 try to maximize the width and crop the height?
Also what will happen if I watch normal 4:3 cable network? Would I have more 'fat' people or will the TV have two pilars on both side to preserve 4:3?
I watch a 1080 HDTV on a showroom few weeks ago and it plays regular DVD and I am not impressed at all. The picture seems to be not smooth (probably because of the upscale).

1366x768 is "wide" WXGA and intended to display at 16:9. The image is scaled to 1366x768 through interpolation. This similar to the "full screen" mode on a PC.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wide_XGA

High definition television is all wide format. When movies are shown that exceed 1.78 to 1 then letterbox is used. When 4:3 aspect is shown, "pillars" are normally shown left and right. Users have the option for a wide stretch (fat people).



Picture quality will depend on the source.