New Hi Def set

[Pwner_2130]

Hi,
I am considering upgrading to a high def set, but i am discouraged by the fact that most do not offer 1080p. I am on kind of a budget, and i have found three tvs i'm interested in but i want to know if 1080p is worth the extra money vs. the cheaper set with only 1080i. Thanks

 

[no. 5]

i'm interested in but i want to know if 1080p is worth the extra money vs. the cheaper set with only 1080i.

Unless you are looking at buying a CRT set, a TV that is labeled “1080i” will be displaying anything it receives as 1080p. The reason being that, only CRT can display an interlaced signal as interlaced; every other display technology must de-interlace.

Also any TV that is 1080i or p should have a native resolution of about two million pixels, allowing it to display any 1080 signal pixel for pixel, so the real question is; do any of these sets accept a 1080p input?

The reason for that question is because if you plain to get HD DVD or Blu-ray, they are native 1080p, the highest resolution HDTV broadcast is in is 1080i.
And depending on how far you sit from your screen, and how much 1080 content you watch, you may be able to get a better quality TV that is 720p for the money of a 1080 set.

 

[MDS]

To further elaborate on what No. 5 said, there is no such thing as a '1080i' TV. If the TV is described as 1080i that means it can accept signals in 1080i format. The image will be displayed in the TV's native resolution which could match a standard HD resolution like 720p (1280 x 720) or may be an odd resolution like 1366 x 768. The image will always be drawn progressively.

You have to carefully read the specs for any TV that is advertised as '1080p' as well. It could mean that it does have a native resolution of 1080p (1920 x 1080) or it could mean that it accepts 1080p input signals but scales them to a different resolution. Some TVs that do have a native resolution of 1080p still don't accept 1080p input - only 1080i. For example, the Toshiba LCDs have 1920 x 1080 pixels but only accept 1080i as input; the Sharp LCDs also have 1920 x 1080 pixels but accept both 1080i and 1080p as input.