How can you tell if you are watching television in 480p, 720p, analog, etc...?

Question

I just bought a full HD TV. I do not have HD service set up yet. How will I be able to tell if the channel I'm watching is in 480p, 720p, analog, digital, etc?

I saw a review where the user said he was pleased with how an analog channel looked on his tv.... and then he said he watched a channel in 480p and was blown away. I don't get it....Isn't 480p the same as analog?

Answer 1

Your remote may have a button called "info" or 'display" or something similar (check your manual).
Click on it and it should show you the input format.

Your TV will automatically scale/convert all input formats to its native resolution (if it is 1080p, then 1920x1080).
Digital channels will show MUCH better than analog channels, regardless of whether they are 480i or 480p.

480p inputs can be both 'analog' (via component) or "digital' (via HDMI)

Answer 2

You cannot correlate resolution to analog/digital. Any resolution can be transmitted in analog or digital to your TV.

First, you look at which cable you are using. If you are using analog cables (composite, s-video, component, VGA), then you are watching an analog signal on your TV. If you are using digital cables (DVI, HDMI), then you are watching a digital signal.

As for resolution, that depends on the TV station you are watching. Your TV will always upconvert the signal to its native resoution. Full HD is 1080p, then you will see all stations in 1080p. Obviously, some stations will look better than others because the more you upconvert, the more video artifacts you will see. For example, watching a 720p is going to look sharper on your TV, than a 480p because there is less upconverting to go from 720p to 1080p.

How to tell what resolution you are receiving? Most TV's will have an info or display button that will tell you the resolution that it is receiving. If you watch stations 1-80, it's always going to be 480i resolution. If you watch HD stations, then you are going to receive 720p or 1080i. Video game consoles can display the entire gamut depending on the video support of the game and settings within the game system.

No 480p is not the same as analog. 480p can be analog or digital. Progressive signals will sure look better than standard analog channels because those are transmitted in 480i.

Answer 3

How will you tell 480p 720p? Well on my set there is an info button on my remote that pops a window up on the set that gives me that information. Look at your remote and see if it has something similar.


Analog is mostly broadcast in 480i ( interlaced so that 1/2 of the scan lines are broadcast and then the other 1/2 ) 480p is progressive scan - still analog but the picture will be clearer since all lines are drawn at once.

Answer 4

480p is better than analog just because there will be no analog interference. It is hard for me to tell the difference, but usually there is a way on the remote to display which hd you are watching.