Understanding HD Terminology

So you are ready to buy a new TV. Are you confused yet? Sometimes its like listening to another language with all of this talk of HD, HDTV and High Def, do you know what I mean?

Going to Best Buys or Hi-fi Buys and asking one of their sales people seems to confuse you even more as they excitedly go on and on using technical words you never heard of that simply causes your brain to go into informational overload.

So lets discuss things in an easy to follow way so that you can buy the LCD TV that you want without spending any more money than necessary.

What is HD?

HD stands for High Def or High Definition.
All three of these words describe the quality of the signal and picture that you see on your television.

Heres something interesting you may not have known previously...there is a variety of HD quality Signals available to you.

Right nowm there are only three levels of HD picture qualiy to choose from.
1) 720p
2) 1080i
3) 1080p

So What Do The Numbers Stand For??

The numbers are associated with the number of pixels on your tv screen.

First lets discuss the standard TV set that you might have at home right now..

Your existing shows a 480i picture. This means that there are 640 vertical “pixels” or dots x 480 horizontal pixels that make up your picture on your television screen..

Doesn't it make sense that the more dots you have…the the sharper your images will be?

Simple enough so far, right?

Well How Many dots Does An High Definition television Have?

As we shared with you already, there are different levels of Hi-Def viewing available.

1) 720 p has 720 vertical pixels and 1,280 horizontal pixels

2) Both 1080i and 1080p have a resolution of 1,920 vertical dots x 1,080 horizontal pixels

So then a 720p has a sharper picture than a standard 480 TV, and a 1080i TV or 1080p TV has a clearer picture than a 720p TV.

That makes sense doesn't it?

Well Then What Do The “p” And The “i” Stand For?

Simply put, the “p” or the “i” refers to how the image is refreshed on your plasma screen.
The “p” stands for “progressive”, while the “i” stands for “interlaced”.

What do these desciptions mean?

Imagine taking a paintbrush in your hand and with one stroke covering your entire plasma screen. That’s exactly what takes place with a “Progressive” signal. On the other handa 720p or 1080p LCD each one of the 720 pixels or 1080 dots simultaneously are refreshed on your LCD screen at the same time.

Lets pretend now to take that same paintbrush and just paint in every other line. Lets paint the even numbered lines of resolution first.. Then 1/30 of a second after all of the odd lines of resolution are painted in. This will happen again and again and again.Thisis basically how a 1080i or “interlaced” signal is received on your LCD TV..

As you can tell a 1080p picture Will give you a clearer picture then a 1080i television.

However, you may want to know this before you spend the extra money ona 1080p…
Believe it or not... as of today all satellite channels and cable channels are currently issuing a 1080i picture. In other words…a 1080p TV would provide for you no better picture then a 1080i TV.

The one reason you might consider investingh in a 1080p is if you are thinking of investing in a Blueray or HD DVD player since they are the only equipment that can produce a 1080p signal that you can see on a 1080p TV. At a $1000 dollars each for these hi-tech DVD players…its no wonder people are waiting till the prices drop.

Article Source: http://www.mycontentbuilder.com

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