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It is all an issue of Image Resolution

There are currently a number of different HDTV formats as adopted by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC), based on 720p, 1080i, and 1080p – using refresh rates that vary between 24 Hz and 60 Hz.

The main difference between these HDTV formats is one of image resolution.

The 720p is on the lower-end of the scale with an image resolution of 1280 pixels by 720 lines. The other two formats both support 1920 pixels by 1080 lines. In other words, both support the same image resolution but there is a significant difference in the way the 1080i (interlaced) and the 1080p (progressive) formats build up the image.

Surely, image resolution in fixed-pixel displays is a very HOT topic with many HDTV buyers. For many, the obvious choice is to opt for the latest 1080p HDTV – also referred to as ultra-HD or full-HD by some manufacturers …but there is a price to pay to get the latest in HDTV technology.

On the other hand, the way the 1080i and the 720p formats build up the image may render the lower resolution 720p format more suitable to display certain image content.

In other words, do not simply jump to conclusions as to which HD format is best. As we will see in this article, each of these different HDTV formats has got its strengths and weaknesses.

1080i: Up to a few years ago, this was considered as the reference standard in HDTV. Nearly all first-generation HDTVs were rear-projection sets that supported this standard.

This format boasts a picture resolution of 1920 pixels by 1080 horizontal lines that are painted on the screen in two interlaced halves (hence the ‘i’ in the ‘1080i’ format) – by first painting all 540 even-numbered lines on the screen (also referred to as the even-field), and then proceed with the painting of the odd-numbered lines (odd-field). These two fields together form a single frame of 1080 lines.

In the process, the screen is painted 60 times per second (50 times in a PAL signal) – each time painting only half of the lines per frame, with the entire screen being painted in two passes 30 times every second.

Because of the way the interlaced process paints the screen, all picture information contained in adjacent odd and even lines in an interlaced image is 1/60th of a second out-of-synch with the next or previous line. This difference between the two halves of the picture would show up in what are referred to as ‘interlaced artifact’. This in itself will impact on the type of image content that is best displayed on an interlaced display.

720p and 1080p HDTV: In contrast, in all progressive-scan formats – 480p (EDTV), and 720p and the 1080p HDTV displays – all scanning lines in a single frame are displayed sequentially in a single pass. This means that a progressive scan image is complete in itself. This also explains why progressive images look better when objects in the pictures are in motion.

The Bottom Line

The 1080i format is more widely supported by manufacturers and broadcasters; broadcasters however would normally broadcast only in either 720p or 1080i but not both. This should not be much of an issue in that any HDTV set you buy should be able to display pictures in any HDTV format by up-converting or down-converting to its native format, i.e. the one in which it’s designed to produce a picture.

Theoretically, from a pixel-count perspective, 1080i supports better spatial resolution than a 720p HDTV. In theory, 1080i supports a pixel count of over 2 million pixels as against the 0.92 million pixels supported by 720p HDTV, but due to limitations associated with interlacing, the actual difference in effective resolution between 720p and 1080i is almost negligible. What’s more, a 720p display is capable of a better flicker-free picture when it comes to fast moving action movie scenes and sports.

The situation with 1080p HDTV is totally different than that of 1080i. 1080p supports the full 1920 x 1080 pixels (2.07 million pixels) while at the same time, enjoys the added benefit that all 1080 lines are displayed in a single pass.

In other words, 1080p HDTV combines the superior resolution of the 1080 format with the smooth stable image of a progressive scan format.

N.B: It is worth mentioning here that interlaced formats aren’t really an option in fixed-pixel displays (DLP and LCD rear-projection as well as plasma and LCD flat-panel). This also explains why display manufacturers are shifting away from the 1080i and instead moving directly from 720p to 1080p HDTV.

And What about 1080p HDTV Sets?

Surely, 1080p HDTV represents the latest developments in HD Television technology. A few of these sets have already started to hit the market.

Not surprisingly, there is a premium one has to pay to get the latest and best in the HDTV world. 1080p HDTV sets do not come cheap but the price gap between a 720p and a 1080p has already fallen below the $500 mark from an average of $1,000 to $2,000 a year ago.

Should you opt for a 1080p HDTV Set, and are these sets worth the extra expense?

Well, there is no straight answer here. It all depends on what are your requirements, yet there are a few facts you should know before making any decision:

Surely, these sets are capable of producing spectacular results with ultra sharp images. But whether you will be able to see the difference in image quality between a 720p display and a 1080i signal displayed on a 1080p HDTV display depends on your TV viewing distance and screen size, more than on the screen native resolution. (It is not the scope of this article to discuss the TV viewing distance but more info in this respect is available at our site at http://www.practical-home-theater-guide.com/Tv-viewing-distance.html)

In reality, it would be very difficult to detect any difference in image detail between 720p and 1080i/p HDTV material on the smaller sets from 10-feet away. Sit closer and feed your 1080p HDTV set with a good quality HD source, and you will start to see the difference.

Further more, with most of today HD broadcasts, you will be hard pressed to see a difference in picture quality when you compare the image on current 720p sets versus the latest 1080p HDTV models. Surely, if you are thinking of going really big, then the extra image resolution would make the difference. But keep in mind that at present, true 1080p HDTV material is almost non-existent. What’s more, none of the major networks has announced 1080p broadcasts – and it is unlikely that they will make such a move in the near future considering the bandwidth requirements.

Nevertheless, one cannot but remark that the whole equation in favor of 1080p HDTV sets has started to change. There are a number of factors that are pointing towards the latest in HDTV – and it is not just the marginal difference in price between 720p and 1080p HDTV sets. In particular, there is the advent of high definition movie players; these will be taking a dominate role in the distribution of off-air HDTV content. It is true that present day first generation HD-DVD do not output in 1080p but first generation Blu-ray will offer it, so HD-DVD will surely have to follow suit at some point in the near future. Meanwhile, 1080p is quickly becoming the new de-facto gold standard for HDTVs, and while – ironically – most pre-2006 1080p HDTV sets did not support a 1080p connection, 1080p inputs are set to become among the basic common supported features in nearly all 2006 HDTVs.

(c) 2004/2005 www.practical-home-theater-guide.com. All rights reserved.

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When you are serious about building the best home theater you can build, then, sure, it is important that you pick a great high definition screen or a powerful projector, a great stereo system. But what many forget is the proper acoustical design of the home theater room. In this short article we’ll give you two secrets to a great home theater experience, and give you reasons why they have an excellent ROI, return on investment, compared to all the other expensive equipment that you bought. The two secrets to a great home theater experience are: Soundproof flooring and Acoustic foam. Let’s see why.

Soundproof flooring

Even if there is no one living below your home theater room, it is still important to have soundproof flooring or acoustic flooring in your media room or home theater. The reason is not so much for preventing the sound to come in or go out through the floor but to prevent the sound reflections from the floor. The reflections are especially strong with tiled floor, or hard wood floor, or in general any hard floor. You will be able to reduce reflections significantly by carpeting your floor with a thick, heavy carpet. The other option is to use underlayment, below the carpet, such as cork underlayment, or special acoustic plastic underlayment.

Acoustical foam

You can place acoustic foam on the walls, and on the ceiling of your media room. Acoustical foam is a specially designed foam, made of just the right size bubbles, and the right materials to maximally absorb the range of frequencies from the lowest bass to the highest audible pitch. The best of foams are shaped with outwards protruding spikes or acoustic foam pyramids which increases the surface area of the foam, and thereby increase the absorption of the sound.

If you feel acoustic foam is an overkill for your home theater, you can substitute with acoustic curtains, but you will likely not achieve the same sound dampening effect. Plus, it is difficult to hang curtains on the ceiling!

So why is soundproof flooring and acoustic foam so important?

Two reasons, first, prevent the sound to escape the room. Why is that important? Well not so much for the sake of your experience but rather for the experience of others. You will want to have loud sound in your home theater for a better immersive experience, at least in some films. But then, without soundproofing, the sound will leak out and will adversely affect the people who are not watching the film at the time. So you want to prevent that.

Second, you want to prevent the sound to be reflected off the walls, the ceiling and the floor. Why is it important to prevent as many sound reflections in your home theater room as possible? Think about your HDTV screen. Think about your large screen projector. Think about why you are putting money into them. The reason is accurate reproduction of the experience that was intended by the director, the actors, and the whole crew. There are millions of dollars worth invested in creating the experience, and making it believable. This is especially true with the today’s assault of 3D movies such as Avatar, Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore 3D, and others. The 3D effects and the accurate reproduction is just as important for the sound. There are significant efforts invested in generating a movie sound that is realistic, and 3D. So you want an accurate reproduction of that sound. And you want to allow the sound producers to achieve the maximally accurate reproduction of the sound in your room. So therefore, you want to minimize the uncontrollable reflections inside the room. So you want to add soundproofing to allow sound producers to maintain the maximal control of the sound experience in your room.

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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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