As you search for the perfect HDTV, you'll come across dozens of different terms that explain different types of technology, different styles of display and different levels of quality. One term that you will need to be familiar with is the screen resolution. An HDTV picture is made up of many small dots, or "pixels", and the amount of pixels that are used to make the picture is referred to as the resolution. In general, the more pixels, the better, and since an HDTV has more pixels than a regular TV, that's one of the things that makes it better.
There are two different levels of resolution commonly used in modern HDTVs. The lower one is called "720p", which means that there are 720 rows of pixels and it's a progressive display. In a typical widescreen HDTV, each row has 1280 pixels. The higher resolution, 1080p, means 1080 rows of pixels, usually with 1920 pixels per row.
What, you may ask, is a progressive display? In a progressive display, 30 times a second, the screen shows the full picture, then erases it to make room for the next frame. The other way to show a picture is with an "integrated display". That's where the TV draws the even rows of the picture on the screen, then the odd rows, then the even rows of the next frame, and so on. This technique has been used in regular TV sets for decades, because it takes about half as much effort and looks almost as good as a progressive display. Now that we have better technology, though, we can make every HDTV with a progressive display and bring picture quality up to the highest possible level. TV shows are still usually broadcast in an integrated format because it takes less bandwidth, but an HDTV will always "de-interlace" these shows to display progressively onscreen.
If you want to get a really big HDTV, you'll want to seriously consider 1080p resolution. In any set larger than 50 inches, a lower resolution will look choppy, since you'll be able to see individual pixels.
So, it would seem that 1080p is clearly better, and 720p is not really worth considering. But, there are actually some good reasons to choose 720p over 1080p:
Input source.
You will only get the full benefit of a 1080p HDTV if you are watching 1080p content. Almost all TV broadcasts are still in 720p or 1080i, so a 720p set will handle them fine.
Screen size.
If the screen size is smaller than 50 inches, it will be very hard to tell the difference between 720p and 1080p. At a normal viewing distance, they will look essentially the same.
Cost.
A 1080p set will almost always cost more than a similar set built with 720p resolution. If you can't see much difference in picture quality, why spend more?
Other factors.
When looking at the big picture in your HDTV purchase, the screen resolution is only one factor. Contrast ratio, black level, likelihood of problems and even customer service can all be more important factors than screen resolution. Don't let one exciting feature convince you to buy an inferior set.
The best way to get that big picture is to do research on the internet, look at HDTV reviews, see the sets in person if possible, and think about the factors that are really important to you. Using an online HDTV tutorial can also help point you in the right direction.
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