Cheap 42 inch 720p plasma hdtv: 1080i and 1080p

I know how confusing it can be when walking into an electronics section, walking over to the televisions, and being bombarded with numbers, phrases, and "specs." TVs with 1080i resolution use to dominate the HD world, offering the best picture at the time. However, in the past couple of years the new bully on the block -- 1080p -- has made it difficult for the 1080i's to survive. In fact, you will rarely find a new 1080i television -- you will find either 720p or 1080p. This is basically due to the fact that 720p visually looks the same as 1080i in most cases (until you get into the 42″+range). Also, if a person wants to spend more money on a better picture, they will most likely be shopping for a large TV, and will most likely be willing to spend more to get the best. This leaves only a small piece of the pie willing to buy a 1080i resolution set, and manufacturers know this. Keeping this in mind, we'll take a look at both:

1080i:

The "i" stands for interlaced, which means that of the 1,080 lines of resolution, the even lines appear, then the odd lines, then the even lines, etc. This all happens extremely fast, around 0.033 seconds. Although it is fast, it is not as fast as a 1080p display, which shows all of the lines at the same time. The 1080 part comes from the number of horizontal lines in the display, 1920 x 1080. 1080i and 720p are considered standard HD definition.

1080p:

This technology has the same amount of pixels as 1080i, 1920 x 1080. However, the "p" means the display is progressive, meaning all of the lines are produced at the same time, taking about 0.016 seconds to display the image (twice as fast as interlaced) . 1080p can supposedly display over 2,000,000 pixels, double the resolution of a 720p display. 1080p is commonly referred to as "ultra HD," "full HD," or "true HD." This is the latest and greatest technology, and dominates the high-end TV market.

1080p obviously offers a better picture, but also comes with a much higher price. Also, 1080p technology really only applies to Blu Ray DVDs and Blu Ray video games -- everything else (cable TV, regular DVDs, etc) is displayed in regular HD (720p or 1080i). In the future there will definitely be more use for a 1080p set, but that will be years from now. 720p resolution offers a better picture than 1080i when it comes to viewing action movies, sports, video games, etc. This is true up until about 52″ and above, because at that point the image suffers, in which case a 1080i set would be preferred. Lets break down that information one last time:

Quick Summary:

1080p > 1080i if using Blu Ray technology

1080i > 1080p displaying everything else

720p > 1080i on screens under 52″

1080i > 720p in screens over 52″