| What does 1080p mean? | | | | It's almost like going back to black and white. To get |
| High Definition Television, or HDTV, was first | | | | your money's worth from the new HDTV you must |
| announced with two major standard high definition | | | | receive High Definition programs. You have five broad |
| resolutions to choose from - 720p (Progressive) and | | | | choices for High Definition programming but limited |
| 1080i (Interlaced). Progressive displays painted or | | | | 1080p programming at present: |
| scanned all of those 720 lines on the screen in | | | | - OTA (also known as Over the Air using an antenna) |
| sequence to present one complete picture in each | | | | Some of us are old enough to remember when OTA |
| scan. With Interlaced screens, only half of the picture | | | | was the only way to get a television signal. We also |
| displayed at one time, scanning every other line. | | | | remember why the second option, Cable, became so |
| Therefore it took two scans to paint a complete | | | | enormously popular - Over the Air is unreliable in all |
| picture. | | | | kinds of weather and interference can be a problem. |
| As it painted more complete pictures in the same | | | | TV antennas are also directional and what is best for |
| amount of time, the 720p Progressive displays | | | | one channel may not be good for another. For HDTV |
| showed action scenes with less blurring than 1080i. | | | | you may even need to get a special new antenna. It all |
| 1080i showed more detail because it has more lines in | | | | depends on the signal strength in your area. As if that |
| each picture or frame. Therefore people were advised | | | | were not bad enough, there are only a handful of |
| to choose 720p if they watched a lot of fast action | | | | channels to choose from in even the largest markets. |
| such as sports or action movies or 1080i if they liked | | | | This is just not a reasonable choice for most |
| the super high resolution pictures which are standard | | | | Americans. |
| fare on the nature and travel shows. | | | | - Cable companies |
| The networks needed to standardize their equipment | | | | Most of us have dealt with the cable company and |
| so they broadcast according to their program bias. | | | | don't like the pricing and service we have experienced. |
| ABC and ESPN broadcast in 720p because they are | | | | Older cable installations can also suffer from signal |
| heavy into sports programming while PBS and | | | | degradation leading to poor quality and interrupted |
| Discovery use 1080i due to their more detailed yet | | | | pictures. Whoever said that digital signals mean no |
| sedate programming. | | | | more bad picture quality has never had a digital cable |
| With 1080p you get the best of both 1080i and 720p. | | | | box. Still, this may be the most viable solution in your |
| When there isn't much motion on the screen, 1080p | | | | area and, now that the phone companies have gotten |
| and 1080i will not look much different. When there is | | | | involved, cable companies will compete for your |
| fast motion, you start to see blurring on the 1080i but | | | | business. |
| not on the 1080p. Some of the newer 1080p HDTV's | | | | - Telephone companies |
| have much higher scan rates, up to 240 HZ from the | | | | An emerging technology is the service offered by the |
| old standard 60HZ, to display motion even better. | | | | phone companies - IPTV. So far these services are |
| Is 1080p something should I be concerned about? | | | | offered in only a few areas and compete primarily |
| The television industry seems to have standardized on | | | | with the cable companies. Both Verizon and |
| 1080p for the larger flat panels of 40 inches and up. If | | | | AT&T originally offered only about 25 HD |
| you do not already have one, your next large screen | | | | channels but that has all changed now with both |
| HDTV will probably be a 1080p model. Unlike the | | | | offering far more HDTV channels. |
| original 1080p sets which only upscaled 720p or 1080i | | | | - Satellite companies |
| resolution signals, the new ones accept 1080p inputs. | | | | As with the other three choices, there are pros and |
| Just as Black and White gave way to Color and | | | | cons to consider. For most Americans, satellite TV is a |
| analog TVs are giving way to digital, so too are lower | | | | new choice and you may not be sure where to start. |
| resolution televisions giving way to 1080p. And it is a | | | | Both Dish Network and DIRECTV offer lots of HD |
| good thing! Whether you get Plasma, LCD or DLP rear | | | | programming. Some Dish Network Video on Demand |
| projection, the colors are vivid and the picture detail is | | | | (VOD) offerings are already broadcast in 1080p, a first |
| impressive. In general, HDTV's are larger than what | | | | for any broadcast medium! |
| you had before. Even with the poor video feeds in | | | | - DVD Players |
| some stores, they still look better than any other TV | | | | Now that the high definition DVD wars are over with |
| you have ever had. | | | | Blu-Ray being the winner, you can confidently invest in |
| Last but not least, 1080p appears to be the highest | | | | a Blu-Ray player. The new Blu-Ray HD DVD players |
| resolution we are going to see for quite some time. If | | | | show content in 1080p and will give you the very best |
| you get a 1080p HDTV today it should be the | | | | picture available today. |
| standard for a fair number of years before the next | | | | What does the future hold? |
| inevitable change occurs. | | | | In the next few years we should see more and more |
| Where do you get 1080p Programming? | | | | 1080p programming available coming from all of the |
| Reality hits as soon as you get that big beautiful | | | | major sources listed above. No one knows how |
| widescreen is in your home. The old Standard | | | | rapidly this will happen but the genie is now out of the |
| Definition TV programs simply do not look very good. | | | | bottle and the future is bright for 1080p HDTV! |