No, I’m not talking about your New Year’s resolution, I’m talking about the resolution you see when you look at your TV screen. For years we have been trying to achieve a crystal clear television picture, capable of looking like the real thing. Remember when we thought a better picture was purely a function of the picture tube? That seems like so long ago. Let’s talk resolution the way it is looked at today.

I have to start off by apologizing to my nephew Kendall. We had a conversation about this the other day and I defended my opinion in error. Sorry man.

One thing to know right off the bat is resolution can be stated in either lines or pixels.  Fore the purpose of this discussion think lines of resolution and leave the pixel count to your computer monitor.  It is important to not get too caught up in all this though.  I think it is best to understand a little and let your eye tell you the rest since what you see when you watch TV is where pleasure is derived from.

What you see on your TV screen is made up of scan lines which means the whole image isn’t actually put on the screen at one time.  Each line is put on the screen (horizontally) from top to bottom in one of two ways: interlaced scan or progressive scan. 

An interlaced scan is completed when the lines are split into two fields in which all of the odd numbered lines are displayed first and then all of the even numbered lines are displayed next.  This process produces a complete frame.

When progressive scan is used the lines are displayed sequentially instead of being divided into two fields.  This means both the odd and even numbered fields are displayed in numerical sequence.

The number of lines is what you may see on the spec sheet for that new LCD TV you are considering and that is where some of the confusion comes in.  1080i was the big feature virtually every company used to show their product was hi-def (HDTV).  The part of this I had wrong the other day was when I thought DVD was hi-def.  DVDs produce up to 540 lines of resolution.  The lowest resolution considered hi-def is 480p so technically a DVD can produce hi-def, but from what I’ve learned the (storage) capacity of a DVD would only allow about 20 minutes of hi-def video - not quite what you are getting from that DVD you bought at Wal-Mart huh?  So, DVDs aren’t hi-def, at least not the DVDs we buy and watch.

480p, 720p and 1080i were the standards advertised on most HDTVs until recently (the last couple of years).  Now 1080p is the highest standard normally advertised, the “Holy Grail” of hi-def resolution.  The only problem I see is the fact that you need a blu-ray player and disk to get 1080p.  Guess what one of the cheapest blu-ray players is?  Sony’s PS3 gaming system!

So, remember how I said DVDs aren’t really hi-def and they produce up to 540 lines of resolution?  There is something called resolution upscaling which outputs a video signal in the 720p or 1080i format; the DVD player itself does this.  This isn’t the same as watching a blu-ray disk (go to a store and watch a blu-ray disk, they are phenominal) in true hi-def, but it will provide increased detail and color.

With the whole issue of analog TVs not working over-the-air in February 2009 I think this is a relevant subject.  I also hope this helps some wives and girlfriends understand why your significant other wants to buy that new TV before the football season!