720p Vs 1080i HDTV

is 720p vs 1080i worth being concerned about? Yes and no. If you are a consumer looking for a new TV, you can happily ignore the 720p vs 1080i debate because every TV which is described as HDTV or HDTV Ready should support both formats.

NOTE: You should be aware that although a lot of TVs which support 1080i have fewer than 1080 lines and so scale the 1080 signal down. This is not a big problem and scaled down 1080i is far ahead of regular NTSC signal. It should be borne in mind that more expensive HDTVs tend to have better standards than cheaper ones, and this can be a problem.

, however, for broadcasting to a live problem. If the broadcast 1080 lines of interlaced video or 720 lines progressive scan? They could just broadcast two signals, one in each format, but will use a huge chunk of bandwidth and be very expensive for very little benefit.

To answer the question, it is important to understand the difference between 720p vs 1080i.720p signal consists of 720 horizontal lines. Each frame is displayed in its entirety on-screen for 1/30th second. This is known as progressive scan (hence the 'p'), the quality is like watching 30 photographic images on the second TV-u.1080i signal consists of 1080 horizontal lines but all lines are not displayed on the screen simultaneously. Instead, they are interlaced (hence the 'I'), ie every other lines is displayed for 1/60th second, then alternate lines are displayed for 1/60th second. Therefore, the speed is still 30 frames per second, each frame is divided into two fields, which your brain puts together subconsciously.

Most of the time interlacing works fine, but for fast moving images like sports such as baseball and hockey it can cause problems which manifest themselves as a "stepping" effect on screen. Progressive scan signals do not have this problem and thus a better sport.

ESPN puts this: 'Progressive scan technology produces better images for quick orientation of sports television. Simply put, with 104 mph fastballs in baseball and 120 mph shots on goal in hockey, line-by-line basis of progressive technologies better captures the inherent fast action sports. For ESPN, progressive scan technology makes perfect sense .'

Bottom line? For us, as consumers 720p vs 1080i debate is not worth worrying about, so you can relax and focus on all the other criteria listed when you buy your next HDTV.