I heard it as I stood in one of those discount big box stores. Male versus female. Classic domestic strife. But new technology has brought us new issues. The old husband/wife fights were about sex and money. Maybe politics or religion. But today the arguments are about the new flat screen TV.
Columnist Dave Barry once wrote that you could tell if you needed a new big screen TV by answering one simple question, “Are you a man?” If the answer was yes, you needed a big screen. Now it is not just the remote that comes between couple.
In those store aisles I could hear the arguments— “There is no difference in the picture.” “So what if it’s wider. Who cares what’s on the outer edge?” “What’s wrong with the perfectly good TV we already have?”
One lady was screaming at her husband. One was screaming at the clerk. One even threatened to leave her man at the store and go home without him. I spoke to the woman behind the counter and she told me that such scenes went on all day.
I should note here that similar arguments are going on over in the DVD aisle as well. “Who cares if it has the new alternate ending? The Titanic still sinks at the end of the film.” Or “I don’t want to sit through an hour long ‘Making of’ special. I just want to see the movie.”
Somehow the gender thing has come down solidly on two sides of the home entertainment issue. In the TV section the biggest single problem seems to be the 720 vs. 1080 issue. This has to do with the number of “lines” that it takes to make up a TV picture.
Although I am told that women generally have more sensitive eyes, which is why they can detect and wear colors better, but they just don’t seem to see the fine points of the new high definition picture screen.
So, even though I have covered this before, let me go over the technology of 720 and 1080 HD pictures.

The number 1080p represents 1,080 vertical lines of resolution or horizontal scan lines. (Remember that television was invented by a farmer while he was going back and forth plowing his field.) The “p” stands for progressive, which means that the picture is not interlaced. (Stay with me here.) The 1080p picture is considered Full High Definition, with a picture quality about the same as a 2K digital picture. As you might surmise, 4K and better are out there.
The number 720p is also HDTV, but not quite as sharp. Here I must side with the lady of the house and say that, no, from across the room you really can’t tell the difference on the average TV.
But wait, there’s more. We are only talking about broadcast TV so far. Add cable or dish programming, DVDs, Apple TV and other such programming devices, and you have a different issue. While the 720 set will perform well under these circumstances, there will be a noticeable difference. The 1080 TV will be clearer and sharper. This is because most attachment and playback devices are designed to provide a better picture. Jamming a 1080 picture into a 720 box will only disappoint you. I am sorry mom. Having to sit through a three or four hour game demands the best possible picture quality.
And let’s not even bring up the clarity demands of video games.
The end of the issue is this. If you only watch one or two shows a week, then a 720 flat screen is just fine. Remember that the old 20th century analog TV was only about a 450 line of projection, so this is an upgrade. But if you are watching everything from the afternoon news to whoever is hosting the “Tonight Show”; or if you rent more than two movies per week or watch the On Demand channel every night; or if you live for the play-offs, then go 1080p. Your eyes will thank you. (So will the kids as well as the neighbors.)
By the way, if you are seriously planning to buy a Blu-Ray player, you will need 1080p or you’re just wasting your money. And yes, as I write this, I can hear women everywhere hollering, “What? We’ve got a thousand dollars invested in DVDs and now you’re going to run out and buy a new toy that plays more expensive copies of the same movie? I don’t think so. “
When Thomas Jefferson promised us domestic tranquility, he never envisioned 21st century home entertainment.
(Aren’t you glad I didn’t bring up Bose Dolby Surround Sound?)