TV & Home Theater

[StevePA]

120hz is not marketing or gimmicky.   It's specifically a perk for watching HD/BluRay movies.

In a nutshell- the "hz" is how many cycles per second the refresh is for your TV.  60hz = 60 refreshes per second.   120hz = 120 refreshes per second.

Theatre as well as BluRays are at 24hz.   Broadcast TV is at 60hz.

The problem occurs when you try to watch a BluRay or other HD/theatrical production at 24hz on a 60hz display.  What happens is an odd frame is repeated at periodic intervals as you watch since 24hz does not divide equally into 60hz.   What you get is almost a visual "stutter" in motion as only certain random frames are displayed to fill the 60cycle time frame of 1 second.

With 120hz, the best of both worlds is achieved for motion.  Standard broadcast 60hz signals will sync-up to 120hz (basically every frame is displayed 2x so motion integrity is retained).  For 24hz signals, every frame is simply displayed 5x so it's motion integrity is also retained.  

[DarkWingDUCK]

not true, but I will acknowledge that 120Hz or higher does definitely help your viewing experience on an LCD based display.  There is no such thing as 120Hz, the TV will interpolate the extra frames it needs to simulate what 120Hz would look like if it were possible, fact is an LCD screen can only do at maz 60 frames per second.  The internal processing interpolates the rest.  It is not "marketing gimmickry" as stated, but rather an over simplification of what the technology actually does.  and honestly, the way it is marketed does make it easier for the layman to understand, which is why I dont mind how it is being marketed.  But claiming 120Hz exists is currently incorrect, not to sound harsh or demeaning, just want to state a fact.

[Randy61]

I get 1080p on direct tV satelite

[DarkWingDUCK]

DirecTV advertises 1080p, but as most people know it isnt really 1080p like you get with blu ray quality. compare a movie on demand and the same movie on blu ray side by side. there are tons of artifacts in the picture on the DirecTV feed, therefore, not exactly as advertised.

[Entropy]

Ah, the joys of low-bitrate video.

Yeah, 720p can sometimes look better than 1080p if the video bitrate is restricted.  (CBS' streaming site is a perfect example - 720p videos look great, 1080p is a nightmare of macroblocking)