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What is Full HD?

M. McGee
M. McGee

Full HD, or full high definition, is the highest picture quality available on a consumer television. There are three different HD modes: 720p, 1080i and 1080p, but only 1080p is full high definition. The number part of 1080p refers to the number of vertical lines displayed on the screen—the higher the number of lines, the sharper the picture. The "p" means that the screen uses a progressive scan to display images. Progressive scans display images very quickly by completely refreshing the screen with every frame. This allows quick movements to display in sharp detail.

In order to understand why 1080p is considered full HD, it is important to know a little about the other display options. Most standard definition TVs are 480i resolution. That means they have 480 lines of vertical resolution and an interlaced scan display. Interlaced scans refresh the screen half of the lines at a time, first the even lines then the odd lines. This means that for each frame displayed, only half of the lines are new, the other half are from the frame before. The next common resolution is 720p which is both an increase in resolution and an improvement in scan style. 1080i was the next step with an improvement in resolution, but a step backward in scan type. Lastly, the 1080p has both the full resolution and progressive scanning.

Full high definition is the highest picture quality available on a consumer television.
Full high definition is the highest picture quality available on a consumer television.

Only equipment that is designed to run in 1080p creates full HD material. Many low- to mid-range cameras, video recorders and televisions say they are able to display in 1080p, but that isn't exactly true. What these items do is create, read or display materials in a lower resolution or with an interlaced scan and upscale the video to 1080p. The scaled-up result is close to 1080p, but not quite there. The image will stutter a bit, fast motion will blur or certain areas of the screen will appear fuzzy as if they aren't in focus. In many cases, anything designed to run in full HD will have have a label listing 1080p native somewhere on its packaging.

Currently, only a resolution of 1080p or higher is considered full HD.
Currently, only a resolution of 1080p or higher is considered full HD.

There many full HD options available, but most over-the-air TV broadcasts are still in 720p or 1080i. Many satellite and cable providers, however, have moved up to 1080p. The number of televisions, computer monitors, video cameras and DVRs that are native 1080p continues to increase. Many video gaming systems are able to display at full HD as well, and some also can play movies in HD format.

Discussion Comments

anon325664

@heath925: An interlaced display uses less bandwidth.

heath925

I don't really understand why the progression to full HD went the way it did. After 480i it went to 720p, which makes perfect sense. It was better in every aspect. But why did it go to 1080i after that instead of 1080p? I don't understand why they would increase the number of lines, but go backward in terms of scan display.

Was there a specific reason that it happened this way? Was it unusually hard to find a way to upgrade both aspects?

reader888

I don't really see what the big deal is about having a full HD television as opposed to a regular HD television.

My HD television is 720p, and I think the picture is great. I don't see why you would ever need anything better.

calpat

My in-laws have a full HD television and the picture is absolutely amazing! I have an HD television, but it's not full HD. I didn't think there would really be any difference until I saw it.

Now I am regretting not spending the extra money to get full HD. Now that I know how great it is, I'm bothered every time I hear about it.

Oh well, maybe next time.

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    • Full high definition is the highest picture quality available on a consumer television.
      By: .shock
      Full high definition is the highest picture quality available on a consumer television.
    • Currently, only a resolution of 1080p or higher is considered full HD.
      By: iko
      Currently, only a resolution of 1080p or higher is considered full HD.
    • Many modern cameras shoot in a format compatible with 1080i video.
      By: Haider Y. Abdulla
      Many modern cameras shoot in a format compatible with 1080i video.