Hello, new to this site. I am going to buy a new hdtv to play X-Box 360 games on. I was wondering if I play a 720P game on a 1080p set, will it stretch the image? If so, will I even notice it? Im considering the Sony 50'' XBR1. Thanks very much for any feedback.
I would much rather here that you're buying a new HDTV to enjoy high def and enhanced def programming. A $4500 game console just doesn't register with me.
That said, if the X-Box will output 720P it should also output 1080I, which is the optimal signal input for a 1080P set. I'm not saying a 720P signal input won't look awesome. It absolutely will. However, the 1080I signal is why the 1080P set was made.
"Stretch" is not a proper definition for scaling. "Stretch" is what happens when you resize a 4:3 image to a 16:9 screen. Same with panoramic and zoom. Picture sizing and resolution line scaling are two different operations.
To answer your question directly, no, you won't even notice it.