Is 1080i considered High Definition (HD)?

A quick breakdown for you. SD (Standard Television) is 480i@60hz so 60 times a second half of the picture is being drawn in odd and even fields. So that is 2 fields of 240 resolution to make up 1 frame thats what the 'i" in 480i stands for..interlaced. 1080i is the same only a higher resolution..hence HD it works much the same way every second 2 frames at 540 each are displayed on your screen. Combined these two fields form a single frame. 720p is "Progressive" meaning a single image is displayed every other second to make it 30fps. Instead of two seperate fields alternating between frames you get a steady image at a resolution of 720. Although 1080i has a higher resolution its an interlaced image instead of a steady progressive image. Your TV is FULL HD depending on your TV the 1080p is meaningless and you should have a complete HD experience with HD-DVD/Blu-Ray. Just remember that the native resolution of your display is what matters, if its 720p native then 1080i will look pretty much the same as 720p with a 720p source looking slightly better. If your display is 1080 native (newer plasmas and LCDs) then even if it doesnt say 1080p your still getting 1080p since your display automaticaly displays content in its native resolution. On a score of 1 - 5 and 5 being the best here is how they rate. 480i = 1 480p = 2 1080i = 3 720p = 4 1080p = 5 Please ignore the poster below me as he is very mistaken. 720p is 16X9 and will not leave black bars on the side of your TV. 720p is also better then 1080i under almost all circumstances. Progressive does not mean "Top-Down" it means a single image displayed at time instead of interlaced fields. Dregun Follow this link for your TV http://www.hitachi.us/tv/browse/projection/16-9digital/51F59.shtml Your TV is a CRT therefore its fundamentaly different then LCD's and Plasmas since its highest resolution is 1080i. A 720p signal i"should" get changed to your TV's native 1080i resolution. Don't worry though 1080i is far superior then 480i and if your wondering if you can get HD through your cable provider..GO FOR IT! Your tv or cable box (if its an HD box) should automatically convert a 720p signal to 1080i for you..you have nothing to worry about unless you get a PS3...but thats another topic

That simply means that any of those resolutions mentioned will look good on your TV. Depending on what the resolution your cable provider, or satellite provider broadcasts in, your TV is compatible with the range you listed.

1080i is HD the lowes you can get but still be HD is 720i not 720 p does not and it depends on you service provider if you are getting 1080i or 720p the i means it is refreshing every other part of the screen at a time and p means its refreshing the whole screen at a time but 720 means t is playing the picture in 720 lines vertical and 1080 lines horizontal and 1080 means 1080 vertical lines by 1440(im not 100 percent sure on this number 1440) lines horizontal

The short answer is yes. If the tv displays in an actual ratio you will be able to see that the 720, and 480 s do not fill in a 16:9 ratio tv. The letter i represents interlace, which is updating alternating lines. The letter p represents progressive, which is updating every line top to bottom. Any broadcast in 480 is still the analog video. Broadcasts in 720p is the "low" high definition. Broadcasts in 1080i is "mid" high def. Any that is found in 1080p is "high" high def. Most all digital broadcasts are either 720p or 1080i. Example CBS is 1080i in my local area, and ABC is only 720p. When watching those channels on my tv, the 1080i fill in my entire screen (16x9 ratio). The 720p leaves "bars" along the sides. But both have a clear HD look.

Yes for your 1st question. 1080i is a better resolution than 720p, but the effect of watching in progressive scan (the p) is often considered better because of reducing motion blur. Also, it displays more lines on the screen at any given moment. When it says it supports those formats, it means it will accept a signal being transmitted in one of the above. Mainly you are only missing out on 1080p with is relativly new. Depending on what type of tv you have it will upconvert any signal to its native resolution. This is only true for non CRT and standard rearprojection tvs. For CRTs and standard rearprojection, they just display what is given to them. Although, everything may into interlaced, i forget what happens if it gets a 720p signal.

SURE! 1080i is HD. 1080i is better than 720p. 1080p is just a little better than 1080i