1080p hdtv rips?

[jbaruch76]

hey everyone, i noticed some files labeled 1080p hdtv. i was curious how these compare w/ bluray rips. would it be the same thing? is 1080p 1080p no matter what the source? also i was curious why so many releases are in 720p. i would think most would be 1080p since even people who only have 720p it will automatically downconvert. i am asking because i just got my wd tv media player and a 1080p hdtv and am building my collection and only want to get the best, is there really not that much of a difference between 720p and 1080p?
edited after reading forum rules, hope this post is alright now

[redwudz]

A Blu-ray rip would be 20 - 30GB, so you wouldn't see those often on the net. More often they would be converted down to MKV, AVCHD, H.264. I backup my BD discs for HTTP use to MKV for either DL DVD-9 (7.95GB) or DVD-5 (4.37GB) discs. I leave them at the 1080P format (1920 X 1080)

More info on the Blu-ray format is available to the upper left on this page in 'WHAT IS' Blu-ray.

[jbaruch76]

A Blu-ray rip would be 20 - 30GB, so you wouldn't see those often on the net. More often they would be converted down to MKV, AVCHD, H.264. I backup my BD discs for HTTP use to MKV for either DL DVD-9 (7.95GB) or DVD-5 (4.37GB) discs. I leave them at the 1080P format (1920 X 1080)

More info on the Blu-ray format is available to the upper left on this page in 'WHAT IS' Blu-ray.

yeah, i meant blu-ray rips converted to mkv