A question about 1080i?

Question

So is 1080i supposed to be better than 480p, 720p, or 720i?
Or is it just personal preference?

Answer 1

1080i is definitely better than 480p.
720p vs 1080i depends on content and how 720p was made in the first place.

1080i means you get a 1920x540 field every 60-th of a second
720p means you get a 1280x720 frame every 30-th of a second

so 1080i, less lines, but updates faster.

Answer 2

there is no 720I.

480P
720P
1080P

refer to how a TV makes a picture.

They scan a line of picture across the screen left to right.
a Progressive ( the P after the numbers mean) that the scan will do line 1,then 2, then 3 ECT all the way up to the number.
It's called progressive because it does each line in progression. NTSC (United States) TV's will do a full progressive scan 30 times a second.

480I
1080I

will do something close.

it will scan line 1,3,5,7 ect till it reaches the number 479, or 1079 in 1080I, then it will go back to the top and scan lines 2,4,6,8 ect till line 480 or 1080.

Since the amount of lines to do a full pass is lower with Interlaced ( the I in 1080I) the TV will do a scan twice as fast.
60 scans a second., but will do 2 passes.