If it isn't bad enough with the format wars for high definition, coupled with the strangling DRM of the content constraints, now you have to be darn careful if you decide to buy a device to watch the content upon. In a report last week, TD Daily wrote about four new LCD TVs from Hitachi that integrate a new generation video processor that is capable of "advanced 1080p histogram processing" for about $2200 in a 32" package. The trouble is that while the chip can create and convert the highest resolution, the TV itself cannot. In fact, the chip may take a 1080i (interlaced) or 1080p source, convert it to 1080p (in case of 1080i sources) - and then render it back down to a resolution the TV actually supports. In the case of the four new Hitachi LCD TVs, which will be introduced later this year for prices between $2200 and $3000, that would be 768p (1366x768 progressive).

So, which HDTV do you buy today? Wait some time for 1080p or jump on 720p/768p today? Whalen said that this decision pretty much depends on the physical distance between the TV and the viewer: "If you watch TV in a distance that is less than three times the screen height of your TV, then 1080p is worth the wait. If the distance is greater than three times the screen height, then today's [720p/768p] HDTVs, such as 42" units, offer an incredible value." According to Whalen, in most cases the price premium of a 1080p TV is "hard to justify" today.