1080i vs 1080p, what is the difference between them?

1080i vs 1080p, many people that looking for a brand new HD TV(High-Definition TV) would be very interesting to know what they mean, which one is better?

Let me explain, 1080 means the video source resolutions is 1920 x 1080(horizontally 1920 pixels, vertically 1080 pixels).

i and p stand for two different scan way.

i is short for Interlaced Scan.

p is short for Progressive Scan.

First of first, I must state 1080i or 1080p property may apply on two things, one is the display equipment like plasma and LCD TV, or the video source like TV broadcast, DVD player, Playstation 3.

Technically 1080p is better than 1080i.

The concept of Interlaced Scan originated from the CRT TV. It displays the 1080i sources line by line in two passes. To be exact, odd numbered line by odd numbered line, then even by even. The scan speed is very quick which is done in less than 0.03 second, due to the image holding effect of human eye, we will still see a integrated image. While progressive scan only needs one pass to display all the lines which result in a sharper image, especially when you watch sport matches, action movie and other fast moving videos. Nowadays all HDTV in the market supports 1080p, actully the plasma TV and LCD TV doesn’t need to scan at all, every pixels on the screen emit lights at the exact same time. With such inherent property, HDTV is able to display 1080p video even the resolution of video source is 1080i by utilizing it’s built-in convey system.

So now we can stop discussing this question on HDTV level, instead we should refer 1080p vs. 1080i to the video source resolution, in other word, it is about what scan mode the HD camcorder use to shoot the video. I should make a note that the HDTV broadcast is using either 1080i or 720p for the sake of saving the bandwidth. Anyway you would watch the genuine 1080p video on Blue Ray DVDs and Playstation3 games, or filmed by an 1080p camcorder.

In conclusion, there is nonsense to compare 1080i and 1080p at display level or compare HDTV based on 1080i and 1080p, because 1080P is a build-in feature for most HDTV now, and you shouldn’t even worry too much about the resolution of video source, HDTV still can display 1080i source with 1080p resolution. So a 1080p vs 1080i comparison can only be made on video source level or a HD camcorder.