What does 1080i mean and is it similar to 1080p?

What exactly does it mean if a tv "supports" 1080p, 1080i, 720p, 480p, 480i?

• Answer:

  Nearly all the hd tv's will support all of these standards except 1080p . The p means progressive and the i means interlaced. Progressive is better 480 p means 480 horizontal scan lines. 480 i is really only 240 horizontal scan lines with 240 scanned back to try to simulate 480. It turns out that broadcast HDTV is usually 720p or 1080i . The 480p is the standard of DVD and is actually Enhanced Definition Television, not HDTV and 480i is standard definition TV of the kind we have had since TV was introduced in the 1940's . The same is true with 1080 i, it is really about 540 but is considered, since it simulates 1080, to be approximately the same quality as 720 p 1080p is the REALLY unique HDTV standard among all of these. It is not on broadcast TV and is not on cable TV systems, however it is used by BLU RAY disks. 1080p may be a broadcast standard in the near future, but does not exist, to my knowledge right now except on BLU RAY.. 1080 p is important for TV's of size 37 or larger IF you are going to use BLU RAY disk technology with it now, or in the future, OR if you wish to use the TV with a computer and display a 1920 by 1080 screen. The 720 p TV's usually can only display 1366 by 768 or 1280 by 720. If your only use for the TV is over the Air TV, most cable TV or DVD watching, you don't need the 1080p support.