Friday, May
8, 2009
What constitutes HDTV?
I
have a fairly new Panasonic 50-inch plasma
high definition TV. It has 720p resolution.
Does the 720p limit my ability to benefit
from HD? Would I waste money upgrading my
Dish satellite programs to HD? Would I
benefit from Blu-ray? What about purchasing
HD movies?
James in Levelland, TX, listening on
KGNC 97.9 FM
High
definition television can be confusing,
can't it? You have to worry about the
different types of TV. You have to think
about digital vs. analog. And you have to
struggle with resolutions. Sheesh!
Well, let me set your mind at ease. Your
720p set will work fine. It is a high
definition resolution. Some broadcasts are
done in 720p, others in 1080i. High
definition discs come in both of those, plus
1080p.
The signal's resolution is not really
important. Televisions automatically adjust
them. So a 1080i broadcast will be adjusted
to 720p by your TV. That is true for 1080p
discs, also.
Before we go any further, let's explain
these resolutions. The 720 means you have
720 horizontal rows of pixels. The 1080
stands for 1,080 rows of pixels. The high
number of pixels makes both high definition.
The p stands for progressive; i stands
for interlaced. P is televisionese for
non-interlaced; you may have seen that term
in old monitor ads. It refers to the way
rows of pixels are refreshed electrically.
Row one is refreshed, then row two, row
three, etc. This happens many times per
second.
On interlaced monitors, row one is
refreshed, then three, then five, etc. When
the bottom is reached, the process starts
over. Row two is refreshed, then four, then
six, etc.
Those HDTV resolutions can be
confusing.
I have all the info here!

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