What Do the TV Resolutions 360i to 1080p Mean and What Is the Difference Between TV and PC Resolutions?

How sharp and clear your television picture appears depends on your televisions maximum resolution. The resolution depends on the type of TV you have. Resolutions are much higher and better on the new flat-panel LCD or Plasma TV’s versus the “old fashioned” CRT’s (cathode-ray-tube, which is a vacuum tube) TV’s. Keep in mind that the type of device you have connected to your TV and the type of cables you run between them have an effect on the resolution as well.

The following tables will list the resolutions you can expect.

　

Television Picture Resolution:

Resolution is represented by numbers followed by a letter (360i, 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p)

The Numbers represent:  

The number of lines going down the screen horizontally. The more lines displayed the more detail displayed.    

The Letters represent:  

• I = interlaced. The pictures are displayed on your screen in an alternating stripe pattern - odd lines are displayed in the first fraction of a second, followed by even lines in the next fraction of a second. This was the standard on CRT’s.


• P = progressive - the picture is displayed all at once. The quality is better than interlaced. This comes standard on LCD and Plasma TV’s.  

• 360i = standard definition TV available on your vacuum CRT style TV


• 480i - this is also available on your CRT style TV and on standard DVD players


• 480p - this is available on progressive scan DVD players


• 1080p - this is available on Blu-ray DVD players and X-Box 360


• 720p-1080p - displayed on High Definition Flat Panel TV’s　  

PC Resolution

PC resolution is represented by horizontal and vertical pixels. 1280 x 720 would be : 1280 horizontal pixels (number of pixels going across your screen in one line) by 720 vertical pixels (number of pixels going down your screen in one line). Therefore, the 720 vertical pixels match up with the 720p horizontal lines that can be displayed on a 720p HDTV (“720p” is really short hand for 1280 x 720).

So, PC resolutions can match up to TV resolutions as follows:

   PC                                      TV

640 x 480                              480p

1280 x 720                            720p

1920 x 1080                         1080p

Your TV may not show all the lines displayed on your PC monitor with the following resolutions. Your HDTV will match them up as follows:

  PC                                       TV

800 x 600                              480p

1024 x 768                            720p

1280 x 768                            720p

1360 x 768                            720p

Note: If your PC screen size over-runs your HDTV size, and you want or need to see them, you can purchase PC software such as “Powerstrip” to adjust the screen size output to your TV. http://entechtaiwan.com/util/ps.shtm

　

Analog Versus Digital and their Native Devices

Analog: Broadcast television was always analog, which is waves. The audio portion of the signal was sent by FM and the video portion was sent by AM.

Digital: As of Feb 2009, broadcast television it all Digital. Digital converts the physical properties of the original sound and video to the binary number system of 1’s and 0’s.

Devices:

• LCD TV - digital


• Plasma TV - digital


• PC (personal computer) - digital


• LCD monitor for PC - digital.


• CRT(old style) TV - is analog


• CRT monitor for PC - analog

　

Cable Definitions and their Maximum Resolutions

RCA composite cables

Composite or RCA cables   - displays up to 480i, analog format; in a 3 wire grouping, the Red is for R audio, the White is for L audio, and the Yellow is for video - however all the wires are the same and can be swapped around if needed.

s-video cable

S-Video cables - displays up to 480i, analog format; better than Composite because it also separates the Chrominance (color) from the Luminance resulting in reduction of color bleeding and increase in clarity and sharpness.

VGA cable

VGA cables- can display up to 1600 x 1200 on PC’s (you must purchase higher quality cable for higher resolution), these are analog. A graphics cards converts the PC’s digital signal to an analog signal and makes it available through the VGA port. These were used to connect to the old CRT monitors which were analog. You can still use them with LCD monitors - the monitor converts the signal back to digital before displaying it. Note: usually, degradation of signal occurs over lengths longer than 15 feet.

DVI cable

DVI cables - display up to 1080p, digital format. It is better to use a DVI digital cable between a PC and a LCD monitor as it doesn’t have to convert the signal from the computer and to the monitor, resulting in less signal loss. These cables are compatible with the video portion of HDMI cables. Note: usually, degradation of signal occurs over lengths longer than 50 feet.

component cables

Component cables - can display from 480p to 1080p, analog format; Red, Green and Blue connectors on cables; cables can run long distances without degradation of signal. Note: So far, 1080i is the maximum resolution allowed with component HD Television.

HDMI cable

HDMI cables- displays 1080p plus Audio signals as well, digital format; signal can degrade anywhere from 20-50 feet depending on the brand of cable purchased.

　

　

Wireless Connections- Wifi needs a special HD transmitter to display HD