1080P vs 720P

Ah, the 1080P vs 720P question that is gaining in popularity as more and more 1080P televisions become available. What is the difference? Which one is better? What does the cable and satellite company provide? And of course which one should you buy? We provide all the 1080P vs 720P details below.

What does the P stand for?
‘P’ stands for progressive scan or non-interlaced. Progressive scan will convey all of the lines of resolution sequentially in a single pass, which makes for a smoother, cleaner image, especially with sports and other motion-intensive content. Interlaced on the other hand will convey every other row in a single pass.

What is 720P
The number 720 stands for 720 lines of vertical display resolution, therefore 720P provide 1280x720 pixels of resolution.

What is 1080P
The number 1080 stands for 1080 lines of vertical display resolution, therefore 1080P provide 1,920x1,080 pixels of resolution. This format will display every pixel of the highest-resolution HD broadcasts. Also every pixel of the new Blu-Ray and HD-DVD formats.

So what is the difference?
Biggest difference is the resolution. You have more pixels in the 1080P vs the 720P format. This will provide more clarity allow you to get the most out of the next generation video games and Blu-Ray or HD DVD movies.

What does my local cable or satellite company provide?
Today's high-def broadcasts are done in either 1080i or 720p, and because of bandwidth issues, we do not expect them to upgrade to 1080p in the near future. All HD sports broadcasts from Fox, ESPN, and ABC are in native 720p. Therefore for the majority of HDTV, 1080P will provide nothing in image quality that the 720p projectors don't already give you.

How do Blu-Ray and HD-DVD fit in the picture?
Both players have titles release in the native 1080p source. Blu-Ray can output this as is, however the first generation of HD DVD players can only output the content at 1080i resolution. We expect future generations of HD DVD players to be able to output 1080P and catch up to the current Blu-Ray players.

Also the new Playstation 3 game console will provide 1080P output.

Which should I buy today?
As we mentioned above, we do not expect the local TV stations to broadcast in 1080P anytime soon. However, with Blu-Ray, HD-DVD and the next generation game consoles (Starting with Playstation 3) providing 1080P output we suggest purchasing a TV or Projector that can display this natively. Anything less then that will quickly make you want to purchase a better option. We believe the Blu-Ray format is really going to change the television viewing experience for the better and this will impact your 1080P vs 720P decision sooner or later.

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