Rookie56, who told you the resolution was the number of dots per square inch? That is completely wrong! The resolutions you see listed such as 480i, 480P, 720P, 1080i and 1080P are the number of verticle lines displayed on your screen, or how the source was recorded. The i and P at the end of the number stand for interlaced and progressive. When the picture is displayed on your screen it "draws" the lines then re draws them (refresh rate). Interlaced draws half the lines first then comes back and adds in the second half. Progressive draws them all in one shot (from to top to bottom I think). Most can't tell the difference between interlaced and progressive because it scans faster than we can see. Technically Progressive should have less flicker though with fast moving action.
480i is standard television, dvd and standard satalite. 480P is progressive scan dvd and some gaming systems. Keep in mind dvds are recorded in 480i and these players convert it to progressive. Same resolution, both have 480 lines of verticle lines, just one draws the image in two stages and the other draws it in one. These are called "standard" definition. If you get a tv or digital converter box that says "standard" definition it is 480 lines.
720P, 1080i and 1080P are all high definition signals. Most stations broadcast in 1080i but a few like FOX use 720P for their high def signals. As far as I know no one currently broadcasts in 1080P, Blu Ray is about your only source for this. And again, the only difference between 1080i and 1080P is how the lines are drawn. I honestly can't tell a difference between the two. Your eyes only see between 30 and 60 fps so if the scan rate is faster than this either in interlaced or progressive technically your brain won't know the difference. And sometimes a slower fps actually looks more fluid, hence 24fps "movie" playback options.
Ok, so now we beg to ask which is better 720 or 1080? Standard thinking would be obviously 1080 since it has a higher resolution. But it actually depends on a few things. These would be what will you be using the tv for? How big is the tv? How far away will you be from the tv? Remember these tv's display the material in their native resolution, not what it was recorded in. So if most of your tv viewing is standard cable, satalite and normal dvd then it has to up convert the 480i to 720P or 1080P. With a smaller tv at a good viewing distance both would still look ok, but obviously the 720p might look a bit better because it doesn't have to blow the image up as much. Also keep in mind its a wide screen tv and it will stretch the 4:3 image to fit the screen as well. One of the up sides to having more resolution (1080) is that you can get a larger tv and sit closer to it and it still looks good. PROVIDING it is getting a good signal! If you take this big 1080 tv and feed it a poor 480i cable signal it can look like crap because of all the processing it has to do to the signal.
I have a new Samsung 42 inch 720P widescreen in my bedroom. I also have an older hitachi 32 inch 4:3 high def tv in my living room. As much as I hate to say it the older 32 inch CRT tv looks much better with basic cable than my new plasma tv does. This is because it doesn't have to upconvert or stretch the signal, and its a smaller screen. My old tv being a crt will display whatever you feed it, 480i,480P,720P and 1080i and has a widescreen mode. I honestly can't tell 720P from 1080i on this tv. What I do know is when you feed my larger plasma tv a high def signal or watch a blu ray it makes my old tv look like the 7 year old tv it is. When fed the correct signal this plasma tv looks stunning.
So if most of your tv viewing is not high def material or blu ray movies you may have wasted $200 or more on the 1080P tv. When I got my TV the salesman at BB was nice enough to actually show me the difference and you could notice it for sure. Does a 1080P tv look better than a 720P tv, sure it does depending on the size of the tv, the distance and the the signal it gets. However the 720P look pretty darn good and it is hard to tell the difference on hi def signals unless you get close and really look. Its much easier for the 720P tv to downconvert 1080 than it is for the 1080 to upconvert everything.
So the 720P tv looks pretty close on high def tv and is actually better on standard def tv than the more expensive 1080P tv. For most people right now a 720P tv is plenty and will look great. However if your a videophile nut and have accesss to lots of over the air hi def, or have hi def cable or satalite and watch mostly blu ray movies the 1080P tv might be worth extra money for you and will look slightly better with those sources. Especially once you get into the 50 inch or bigger screens. I had the same problem when big screen rear projection tvs came out. I got a 60 inch big screen tv. Looked fantastic with my pioneer dvd player. However over the air tv and basic cable was almost unwatchable unless you were pretty far from the tv. There is such a thing as getting too big of a tv trust me lol.
My advice for someone looking to get a tv is to go to the store and ask them to show you the difference. Most of the time they will be happy to. When I got my tv the guy actually told me not to waste the money on a 1080P tv and showed me why. Saved me a ton of cash and I was very happy. These guys don't get paid off from sales so it doesn't matter to them if you buy a 600 dollar tv or a 3,000 tv. What they care about is you walk out of there happy and don't come back whining or badmouth them to other people.
Paul
