Can you tell the difference between 720p and 1080p on a 42 Inch Television set?

The guy at best buy told me that you cannot tell the difference between 720p and 1080p on a 42 Inch Television set.He said on tvs over 50 inches that's when you can tell the difference between 720p and 1080p is that true?

it really depends what you are watching usually the higher the resolution the better however its better to watch a basketball game in 720 than 1080 becAuse there is so much going on in the background and foreground that if you viewed it in 1080 you'll get somewhat of a streaking effect with the panning of the camera. but if you watched something like kungfu panda 1080 you'll get a better picture because of the detail in the animation. it goesw back to depending on what you are watching

you can tell the difference if you read it but hes right 720p is really only 502 lines horizontal res. i don't remember 1080p res. but i know that its 1080 horizontal scan lines and 1,080 lines of vertical res. the letter i in 1080i stands for interlaced 1080p, the p would stand for progressive scan. but if you want the best res. get a BLACK and White Tv set the res. on that is Unlimited because there are no shadow masks on B&W sets.

well the deal isthat 1080 p is not used very much except for like blu rays and stuff. a 720 p set might handle 1080 i which is what most network channels are broadcasting in. so i would make sure it handles 1080i.