Q: To 1080p, or not to 1080p?

As Hamlet might say, "To 1080p, or not to 1080p?" Okay, so he had much bigger worries. But you shouldn't worry much about it, either.

Here's a quick test to see if you're going to need the highest "Full HD" resolution: How far away from the screen are you sitting? And how big is the set?

If you plan to sit up close, you might see the space between the pixels of a lower resolution set like 720p. This is what is called the "screen door effect." But if you're sitting farther away, you probably won't see a difference. (We recommend sitting a distance of one and a half to three times the screen size, depending on your preference."

At reasonable seating distances, the difference between 720p and 1080p won't be very noticeable in sets up to 50 inches in screen size. So if you're getting a big-screen TV and plan to sit close, definitely opt for 1080p. If not, you could save yourself some bucks.

The Shape of Things

Aspect ratios just refer to the shape (or format) of the picture. An aspect ratio simply denotes the shape of the screen, in a ratio showing the width to the height. The most popular formats are:

4:3

Four units in width to every three in height. It's the squarish shape of traditional TVs. Mostly only CRTs are available in this. Also referred to as 1.33:1 (do the math).

16:9

Also called "widescreen" The more rectangular format is used by HDTV. All HDTV programs are shot in this. Also known as 1.78:1.

1.85:1

The most common widescreen format for movies. Showing a 1.85:1 movie on a 4:3 or 16:9 screen will cause black bars (called letterboxes) to appear on the top and bottom of the screen.

2.35:1

An even wider format used for many blockbuster movies. Also known as CinemaScope. Also causes letterboxing when viewed on 4:3 and 16:9 sets.