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When choosing a high definition television set you must have some general knowledge of what a HD television signal is and what you can receive at your home. Knowing these two things Will help you get the most bang for your buck.
First lets go over some terminology 1080p, 1080i, and 720p. What do all these different numbers mean? These are not skate boarding tricks my kids attempt. Instead they are numbers that refer to the amount of lines you have for the vertical display.

1080 is the number of lines that your television set "draws" from top to bottom across your screen.
The "p" and the "i" refer to the way your television set draws them across the screen. The "p" or progressive mode the entire picture is drawn at once. In the "i" or interlaced format the picture is actually split in half, the odd lines being shown first then the even lines being shown last. Getting in to the whole reason for this would be to in depth for this article, however seeing is believing. So the next time you are watching your favorite show and you see a television screen blinking, and it looks as though there is a rolling of the picture. You are actually experiencing that "i" or interlaced drawing of the two pictures. The blinking or rolling is caused by the blank space in between the two pictures which is not noticeable to the human eye, but as I am sure you have heard cameras don't lie. By the way less technical people are not at all impressed with this fact. The usual response from my wife on technical knowledge like this is akin to a seen from the "Exorcist" involving a lot of eye rolling.
So now that your head is full of information lets spend it! OK you have chosen the baddest best 1080p HD set. Was it worth the extra money. That depends on two things. Is 1080p the real native format for your TV? Does your receiver have a 1080p signal it is receiving, and is that the native format for your television.
Native what does that mean? Simple does your TV have to convert the signal you are receiving into something else. You see every television has a native format that requires no changing of the signal. Remember the 1080 and the 720. Well the way some television are able to take in any format and display it is they actually convert the signal to that type of resolution.
Every time a signal is converted data and time is lost. You can see this process take place as well. If you have a cable box that has an audio red and white output run that directly to a separate audio receiver. Now take your RF output and plug it in to to your TV. Turn your TV volume down and hook up your audio output to an AUX input on your audio receiver. Does that audio come through first? This can be checked by looking at someone clapping and seeing if the audio happens at the same time as the hands coming together. That lag if there is one is the amount of time it takes to process the Television signal.
Now find out what kind of signal you are receiving and purchase a HD television that has the same NATIVE format as that signal. This will give you the best quality picture you can afford.

Learn more about this author, Michael Johnson.
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