I'm sure the 36x zoom adequately compensates for any lack of resolution.
I was using some hd to analog converter the other day, and viewing that downconverted 1080 signal on a small sdtv it certainly looked like 720p. Way better than analog that used to come over the pipe. So, I'm sure it can be useful and with the zoom you can crop into the needed details. Even though you may have to zoom in more, than with let's say a 3mp 12x zoom, to capture the same exact detail.