| High Definition (HD) TV |
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| High Definition (HD) TVs display noticeably more detailed and more colourful pictures at a level that approaches cinema quality. There are a number of [different types of TV < //direct.asda.com/buying-guides/tv-buying-guide/tv-types/>] all of which are available in HD, however there are a variety of HD TV standards to be aware of: |
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| 720p |
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| The picture is made up of 720 horizontal lines, displayed on the screen progressively The 'p' means that the horizontal lines appear one after the other, but to the human eye it looks like one solid picture. |
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| 1080i |
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| The picture is made up of 1080 horizontal lines. The 'i' stands for interlaced, meaning the horizontal lines that make up the image aren’t displayed one after the other. The odd numbered lines are displayed first followed by the even numbers. |
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| 1080p |
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| The picture is made up of 1080 horizontal lines, but the lines that make up the image are displayed one after another (p = 'progressively scanned'). The 1080p option is the sharpest and most detailed HD picture available. The clarity of fine details on the screen like pebbles, grass and skin pores really shows the difference. |
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| HD Ready |
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| A TV screen that will display images at a quality between 720p and 1080i. While they may be compatible with 1080i or 1080p TV these images will be downscaled in order to fit a lower resolution screen. HD Ready is an older HD format and can be expected to be complete replaced with HD Ready 1080. |
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| HD Ready 1080 (also known as Full HD) |
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| The screen will display the highest quality images without any need to downscale image quality. |
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| HD Compatible |
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| HD Compatible TVs are not actually HD TVs, but will be able to display HD images from your set top box or Blu-ray player at a lower resolution. Typically, an HD Compatible screen will feature HDMI inputs compatible with high definition set top boxes or content sources (such as Blu-ray or HD video recorder). |
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| Blu-ray |
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| Blu-ray is now an established home movie format, and production of Blu-ray discs is set to eclipse and eventually replace DVD. Blu-ray discs reproduce movies in 1080 pixel High Definition (the highest existing standard of HD image), and like DVDs come with extra digitally encoded information such as subtitles and audio commentary.
Blu-ray players read optical discs with an incredibly fine blue laser (hence ‘Blu-ray’), that can decode a much higher amount of information than standard DVD lasers.
Blu-ray players are currently the best way to watch home movies, and to make the most of them, a good-sized Full HD TV is necessary, as well as an HDMI cable to connect the two.
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