Well... video is very forgiving. If you scale a 1080i input or a 720p input to some other resolution, it tends to maintain a lot of clarity and great detail.
Know what does LOUSY and isn't forgiving at all? Computer signals.
So, plasma manufacturers typically make plasmas in a 16:9 format with a horizontal line rate that is equal to a very common computer resolution: 768 lines. Most often this is 1024x768 from the PC, or XGA.
In the 42" plasma size, the most common HD resolution is indeed 1024x768 in a 16:9 format - in which they actually use RECTANGULAR pixels (???) to make the image appear 16:9 in format. It never, in fact, is truly a 16:9 matrix of square pixels to do this. Even moreso, you find some 42" plasmas that use 1024x1024 pixels! Those use very rectangular pixels to create the image.
When you step up to 50" and larger plasmas it is much more common to find that the display resolution is 1365x768 - which is known as WXGA or Wide XGA. This format truly uses a 16:9 array of square pixels to create the image and is an excellent compromise resolution that displays computer signals beautifully as well as HD programming exceptionally well.
This year we will see a shift as more and more 16:9 displays start coming out with 1920x1080 resolution (1080p) which is not only a true 16:9 ratio using square pixels, but does not match up perfectly with the PC standard of 1920x1200 resolution. Good! In the 42" size though, it is likely that 1024x768 will hang around a while more as the 'HD' format that is offerred. IMO it is a bit of a waste at that size since you lose the square pixel and don't pick up a lot of resolution over the 853x480 plasmas that are quite a bit less money.
