HDTV - 720p vs. 1080i vs. 1080p

Okay,
So i was shopping at Costco yesterday and several shoppers, including me were amazed at this HDTV that was playing Pirates of the Carribean movie. The display was 1080P. It really looked amazing! The picture was so amazingly clear and it actually looks like you are standing in front of a movie set watching it.

I'm a little confused on how the 720p, 1080i, 1080p works though :think:

We have an HDTV that is 720p but supports 1080i.
So, if I wanted to see something in 1080i, would I need to buy something to connect to it, or does it mean that if a blue ray dvd is in 1080i format it will be able to play it? I'm confused

The picture quality on a 1080p is almost 3D, it's the best possible picture out there...
Just to give you an idea of how the 1080p tv pictures look like, here are some sample pics:

The images are so clear..it's like you can reach into the screen and grad them.

I went shopping for an HDTV last year and learned quite a bit on that journey. I'll unload some of that information here that might be of help to you.

First off, what's important to remember is that the difference between 1080i and 1080p is really in the eye of the beholder. I have some friends who can spot the difference by looking between the two, but a lot of others who can't. The actual difference between the two formats is in how the resolution of your image generates upon your television... or, rather, in what order your lines of resolution appear.

With 1080i, it follows the traditional path... where lines of resolution are displayed in even's and odd's. So, in other words, you have lines 1, 3, 5, 7, etc which appear first... then you have lines 2, 4, 6, 8, etc which appear second...

In layman's terms, what that really boils down to is that you have one set of lines generating on your screen before the other. Granted, this occurs in a fraction of a second.

With 1080p, on the other hand, all of your lines are shown at the exact same time. So, technically, your getting a better image with 1080p, because instead of going 1, 3, 5 and then 2, 4, 6... you are instead going 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and all at the same time.

However, like I said, when it comes to the actual display picture, it sometimes depends on who is watching as to whether or not people see the difference. But is there a difference? Yes. There's also a huge price difference, if nothing else. lol

As for your question, though, as to whether or not you can watch something in 1080i... I think that would depend on the resolution of your television. When it says "supports 1080i" it may mean it supports a 1080i input... which means your television will pick up a 1080i signal, but convert it into a 720p format... which doesn't exactly mean it will show things in 1080i. So if your resolution is 1280x720, chances are it won't display anything in 1080i, but rather will convert it. That's my guess (and that guess could be wrong).

So, if I'm wrong and you CAN watch your television in a 1080 resolution, something to keep in mind in determining whether or not you want to watch with that resolution is in knowing how big your screen size is. If your screen is around 25 or 30 inches, I honestly wouldn't bother. The reason for that is that chances are you're not going to see a difference between 720p and 1080i/p watching on a screen that size. We're dealing in pixels, which means you need to be sitting from the screen at a certain distance depending on how big your display is in order to see them at their best. So if you have a 25 inch television, you'd have to have your nose pretty close to the screen to spot a 1080p picture.

If you wanted to sit comfortably away from your television and watch something in 1080p, on the other hand, you'd want a large enough screen to accommodate that (50" being an approximately great size for enjoying 1080p at a comfortable distance in a nice-sized living room). I know there's a chart someplace online where they show you how far you should sit from your television to get the "best view" for your chosen resolution... and if I could find that I'd post you a link.

Anyway, that's a small slice of information regarding the formats. I know how hard it can be to find out about this stuff because I had to learn a lot about the differences when I was shopping last year. So hopefully that helps you!

I was going to tell you, Carol, that I would ask my hubby about this, (he has an extra part-time job at Best Buy selling tv's and has become quite the expert over the years), but looks like Jon has you covered! That was nice of you Jon, to take the time to post that info!

Huh? :scratch: :haha:

Thanks Jon & Amy

Yeah, the tv we have in the room is 26 inches so I think everything will be in 720p even if it's 1080i, like you said, it will convert it.
They say you can tell the difference with a 1080i vs. a 1080p in sports, images where you have things going really fast.....

The one I saw at Costco was a 40 something inch and it looks like the bigger the screen, the better the picture.

We have a PS3 which has a blue ray player, but now I'm wondering if I should really buy movies in blue ray as to really enjoy them, I think they would look nicer in a bigger screen size.....

We have a 45 inch projection tv in the living room.... but it doesn't have HDMI support lol

Carol wrote:

We have a PS3 which has a blue ray player, but now I'm wondering if I should really buy movies in blue ray as to really enjoy them, I think they would look nicer in a bigger screen size.....

We have a PS3 too, Carol, and my dear hubby seems to think we need blue ray 'everything' now. It IS nice...it's a beautiful picture, and I don't mind him buying dvds that we don't already have on Blue Ray, because generally we can find them for pretty close to the same price as a normal dvd, especially with our discount. But he's actually bought a couple of movies on Blue Ray that we already have on dvd!!! Ugh, SO not worth it! I don't think he'll be doing that again, after the little hissy fit I threw!

Amy wrote:

I don't think he'll be doing that again, after the little hissy fit I threw!

I'd Say he won't after all who knows how hard you threw your hissy fit probally knock his wallet out of his hands

Amy wrote:

We have a PS3 too, Carol, and my dear hubby seems to think we need blue ray 'everything' now. It IS nice...it's a beautiful picture, and I don't mind him buying dvds that we don't already have on Blue Ray, because generally we can find them for pretty close to the same price as a normal dvd, especially with our discount. But he's actually bought a couple of movies on Blue Ray that we already have on dvd!!! Ugh, SO not worth it! I don't think he'll be doing that again, after the little hissy fit I threw!

What size is your tv screen Amy?

I have decided I will buy movies in blue-ray as in the future, that will be what everyone will be going into. We rented "Juno" on blue-ray and played it on the PS3 and it was very nice.

Amy, I would throw a hissy fit too in regards to buying repeated movies just to have them on Blue Ray... it's okay to do a couple... but not so many lol
I heard that the PS3 is also an upconverter... meaning it will make a regular DVD look a little more HD so that's another reason not to buy too many of the same movies.

We need to get a new DVD player for the living room as the one we have know gets stuck very often. Probably we might invest in a Blue Ray player since that player will play the collection of regular DVDs we have now as well as the new blue-rays that come in....
Even though we don't have an HDTV in the living room, I think a blue ray player is the way to go.... you never know if my luck changes and all of a sudden I'm faced with winning a big screen HDTV.. :haha:

*Although I hear in the next few years the hologriphic discs will be introduced... arrgh! Technology never stops... soon, we will start having conversations w/ people who are not ACTUALLY there... like in StarWars lol
Those will really look awesome though... 3D with no necesity of wearing glasses.




and Jacob

Carol wrote:

Even though we don't have an HDTV in the living room, I think a blue ray player is the way to go.... you never know if my luck changes and all of a sudden I'm faced with winning a big screen HDTV.. :haha:

Guess what...?