OK what is the difference between a 1080P and a 1080I..........my daughter said stay away from any 720 TV, it has to be at least 1080.....put I do not know why some have P’s and some have I’s after the number......also 60hz or 120 hz, what is the difference?
You can get a good 1080p flat screen at 240hz for around a grand nowadays.
Your daughter is not entirely correct, 720p is better than 1080i.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-JXfyvlPh0
http://www.highdefforum.com/showthread.php?p=180536#post180536
Here is a short description in order (see attached 6 min youtube):
1) 1080P
2) 720P
3) 1080i
4) 480p
5) 480i
I = interlace (this is how traditional televisions have always worked)
picture is scanned zig-zag left to right from top to bottom 540 times across, then rescanned in between those “lines” 540 times again creating 1080 horizontal lines in 2 passes
P = progressive - this is better performance
1080 scans in one single continuous swipe
60, 120 240hz (hz = times per second) is the “refresh” frequency or how often the screen is scanned from top to bottom - higher is better
A TV works by displaying a series of still pictures, fast enough that you can’t discern them - your brain fuses them together for an illusion of motion.
Each picture is made up of a set of horizontal lines.
720 means there are seven hundred twenty lines making up the picture.
1080 means there are one thousand eighty lines making up the picture.
The “p” means the screen will display all 1080 lines at once.
The “i” means every other line will be displayed at once, then the missing lines will be filled in next: 540 lines shown, then the other 540, letting your brain fuse them into one picture.
1080i is a cheap shortcut.
60Hz means the screen is redrawn sixty times per second.
120Hz means the screen is redrawn one hundred twenty times per second.
The faster the screen is redrawn, the smoother the apparent motion looks. Some people can discern the flicker between redraws at 60Hz; nobody can discern the redraws at 120Hz.
720p @ 60Hz will do, and you will probably not notice what’s missing. Some of us can tell the difference, and it bothers us; most people have no idea*.
1080p @ 120Hz will ensure there is nothing to miss.
(* - videophiles: remember that most viewers can’t even tell that a 640x480 image stretched to 1080p is “wrong”; they won’t recognize any benefit from a proper setup.)
“OK what is the difference between a 1080P and a 1080I..........my daughter said stay away from any 720 TV, it has to be at least 1080.....put I do not know why some have P’s and some have I’s after the number......also 60hz or 120 hz, what is the difference?”
I replaced a 42” 720 LCD made about 2005, with a 42” 1080 LED last year.
The picture on the old set was much better, with supposedly inferior specs.