What is HDTV?

• Television broadcasting is transitioning from an analog signal to digital in 2009. This enhances the viewing experience by transmitting a high-definition picture complete with film style aspect ratio of 16:9, rather than analog television's 4:3 aspect ratio. This ultra-crisp picture is made possible by the way in which high resolution video is captured: 720p, 1080i and 1080p.
  
  

Mind Your p's and i's

• The "p" in 720p stands for progressive. Progressive means we can see the entire video image displayed at the exact same time.
  
  The "i" in 1080i stands for interlaced. This means one frame of video is split into two fields, with one field being displayed first, followed by the second field, in rapid succession. The complete image we see is therefore called "interlaced."
  
  

Getting Down to Pixels

• A picture recorded at 1080 means the number of pixels on the screen is 1920 by 1080 pixels.
  
  A picture recorded at 720 means the number of pixels on the screen is 1280 by 720 pixels.
  
  

So Which is Better, 720p or 1080i?

• This is a huge argument and is generally a matter of opinion. Because 720p is progressive and we see the entire image at once, it would seem that that is better. But in order to transmit a 720p signal, broadcasters would have to break it down and interlace it. Right now, 720p seems to be the best choice for sporting events because it captures swiftly moving objects very precisely. The interlacing of 1080i can cause dropouts in those circumstances. But 1080i takes up less bandwidth, and broadcasters like that.
  
  

Where does 1080p fit into all this?

• 1080p represents "full HD" quality. You get 1,080 progressive scans, no interlacing. Unfortunately, it's still being developed to run at 50 to 60 frames per second. Critics claim "full HD" is misleading when used in context with new TVs. Because even though 1080p can display all HD resolutions up to 1080p, the new TV may not support all the various frame rates associated with different resolutions.