What's the difference in picture between 480p, 720p, and 1080i?

Question

Can someone perhaps show me screenshots of the same picture but under the different qualities?

Answer 1

I don't know about that, but here's a lot of info regarding HDTV which will give you some ideas about the different resolutions...
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Answer 2

The most CONFUSING thing about this question is the "p" and the "i" next to those numbers (480, 720, 1080)

The "p" means that 60 times a second, your TV will draw said number of lines, from top to bottom, over and over again.

The "i" means that 30 times a second, your TV will draw HALF said number of lines and THEN the other half, over and over again...This does NOT mean the top half and THEN the bottom half...To make things MORE complicated, first it draws the ODD lines (1, 3, 5, 7, etc.), and then it draws the EVEN lines (2, 4, 6, 8, etc.)

What does all this mean? With the "p", when it says "480" you ACTUALLY see ALL 480 at once...When it says "i", you only see HALF that at once (240 lines)...So the "p" is SLIGHTLY better than the "i".

So in theory, your "1080i" is ONLY showing you 540 lines at a time...And your "720p" is showing you 720 lines at a time...Does that make sense?

The other factor, which is MUCH simpler, is the NUMBERS themselves...The HIGHER the number the MORE lines you have...The MORE lines the BETTER the picture looks...That's why "1080" is everyone's favorite...A step up from "1080i" is the COVETED "1080p".

480i - Only 240 lines at a time
480p - Always 480 lines ALL the time
720p - Always 720 lines
1080i - Only 540 lines at a time
1080p - Always 1080 lines ALL the time

Note* - 1080p is ONLY available on BLU-RAY and HD-DVD discs.

Answer 3

It describes the the resolution and how an image is displayed on the screen.

Resolution - the amount of horizontal lines on the screen. 720p has approximately 50% more lines than 480p, therefore 720p provides a high resolution and clearer picture.

Image Display - there are two ways lines are painted on a screen. Progressive and interlaced. Progressive is from top to bottom in sequential order. Interlaced is painting odd lines and even lines in alternating fashion. Without going into too much detail, progressive will provide a smoother, more fluid and sharper picture than interlaced. Interlaced will have jagged edges and choppy image in fast action scenes. Remember, progressive is always better.

Now, let's look at your listed resolution. I will list from best to worst.

1) 1080p - high resolution and progressive.
2) 720p - high resolution and progressive.
3) 1080i - high resolution, but interlaced.
4) 480p - low resolution, progressive
5) 480i - low resolution, interlaced

Unfortunately, I could not find screenshot comparisons. I have seen them before though. If you search between SDTV vs. HDTV, you might come across screenshots.

Answer 4

No I can't show you some screenshots but I do know the difference between i and p on those. One i means interlaced picture and p means progressive scan picture. In my oppinion and from what I saw during the short time I was a satellite installs tech the p picture is better then the i or you might want a combo picture on that. The #'s are the screen resulution and the lines of pixels or some thing like that.

Answer 5

Something to add is that if you have a new 1080p tv set, that does a good job of 'manipulating' the signal coming into it, then you won't see much difference between a 1080p and 1080i source.

Answer 6

the quick answer is the smaller the large style the bigger the writing seems on an Analogue television exhibit making use of an SVid out on your computing gadget Vid card. on a digital like foxtel the writing is larger photo remains sharp at 420 and 720 and at 1080 the writing is smaller and clearer. it is the way it seems to me.

Answer 7

those are different resolutions the higher the number the better the picture looks

Answer 8

480p - standard definition
720p - enhanced definition
1080p - high definition

Answer 9

the quality of the picture, nothing eles. it just more pixals per inch.