Make A
Firm Resolution:
Find
The Sharpest Plasma TV!
•
Plasma
TV resolution may sound like a complicated subject, but it’s
really simple . . . how sharp is the picture on your new Plasma TV
screen?
•
A TV
picture is made up of hundreds of thousands of tiny colored dots
called PIXELS. Look closely at your TV screen and you can see the
tiny dots. Pixels are arranged on the screen in rows called LINES.
The sharpness (RESOLUTION) of the image on your Plasma screen is
measured by counting the number of lines.
•
Geek
Alert! Let’s
simplify this . . . suppose you had 480 colored blocks in a tray
arranged to form the picture of a cow. Daisy Cow might look a
little blocky, but the picture’s good enough to tell the tail
from the horns. Now dump out the blocks and use 1,080 smaller
blocks to draw the same picture in the same
tray.
•
Now
you can see a lot more detail, shades of colors, blades of grass
and the sparkle in Daisy’s eye. The picture contains a lot
more information . . . it’s sharper . . . it has more
RESOLUTION!
•
In a
TV showroom or on a retailer’s website they’ll throw
around terms like 480p and 1080i when selling you a TV. Next time
that happens, smile . . . and remember this moment. You’re
about to find out what all that Geek stuff
means!
Top 10
Secrets Of
Geek
Speak Revealed!
•
There
are two main types of video used in a Plasma TV; in other words,
there are two ways the TV might display a picture.
PROGRESSIVE
video
puts the full number of lines on the screen every time,
while INTERLACED
video
only puts up every other line; or half the picture each time. Both
systems would do this 30 to 60 times a
second.
•
Obviously
a PROGRESSIVE
scan
TV is going to produce a better picture than one with an
INTERLACED
picture.
This is the “p” and “i” in the resolution
figure TV salesmen will try to bamboozle you with: 480i means 480
lines of resolution interlaced, while 1080p means 1080 lines
progressive.
•
1080p is the
sharpest resolution, designed for use in High
Definition TV. The
screen produces 1080 lines of progressive video; meaning it truly
shows 1080 lines per frame. This produces the best possible image
with today’s technology; displaying digital cable and HDTV
DVDs. It’s more than twice as sharp as a standard DVD or
EDTV. If your budget allows, make sure you get a 1080p Plasma
TV.
•
1080i is
1080 lines of interlaced video or 540 lines per frame, delivering
half a frame every 1/60th of second. Meanwhile 1080P delivers a
full frame.
•
720p is 720
lines of progressive video, a lower resolution than HD (High
Definition TV). Your Plasma should have a converter allowing it to
accept HD, ED or standard TV signals and display
them.
•
480p is 480
lines of progressive video. Television broadcasts will be on this
standard (called Enhanced Definition or EDTV) by 2009. A standard
DVD uses 480i or 480p. While this is higher resolution than
broadcast TV, it’s nowhere near the resolution of high
definition (HDTV).
•
480i produces
480 lines of interlaced video or 240 lines per frame. This is half
a frame every 1/60th of a second, while 480p delivers a full 480
lines.
•
TV Salesmen will
sometimes hit you with terms like 720p60 or 480i30. The extra
numbers tell you the number of frames per second. The term 720p60
means 720 progressive lines shown at 60 frames per second, while
480i30 means 480 interlaced lines shown at 30 frames per second.
The higher the frame rate number, the better.
•
The Standard Tube Television that
you grew up with running broadcast or regular cable TV signals has
a resolution of less than 300 lines.
Samsung 63 High Definition Plasma TV - 63 - NTSC -
16:9 , 4:3 - 1366 x 768 - Stereo Sound - HDTV
Samsung HPT4264 
123
Guide
To Plasma TV
•
The
sharpest Plasma TV screen is the one with the highest resolution
number: 1080p. This is the sharpness required by HDTV broadcasts;
as a consumer this is the resolution you want in your new Plasma
TV.
•
Any
resolution lower than 740p is not acceptable, you shouldn’t
buy a TV with a resolution as low as 480. Your new crystal sharp
Plasma TV will thrill your family for years to
come!
It’s
as easy as 123!
