I dont get it. Whats the difference? sorry for the threads this is my last thread on to this day and I make it worthwile unlike my first thread on this day so whats the difference? Myu threads arent flame topic anymore I promise

They represent the number of horizontal lines of pixels on your screen. The more lines you can squeeze onto a screen, the more realistic the image will appear.

Standard definition for US TV's is 480 lines (576 for European TV's). All standard definition TV's, no matter how large, will have the same number of lines but they get spaced further apart or the pixels are bigger meaning the image can look worse with a larger screen.

To fix this problem, they've upped the resolution (number of horizontal lines of pixels) to 720 and even 1,080. Now even on very large TV's the image is incredibly clear.


Now the difference between "i" and "p" has to do with how the TV draws the lines on the TV. It takes a lot of power to draw everything on the TV and to make it easier, TV manufactures use an "i"nterlaced feature. The TV only draws half the lines, alternating, at one time for each frame. On the next frame, the TV draws the other lines. This is done faster than the eye can see BUT....TV's that can render "p"rogressive scan can draw all lines at once per frame. The difference is a smoother animation especially in high speed scenes in movies and games.

I hope that helps.

Do u mean its the same as adjusting your resolution on your computer monitor? Like 640x480 720x1280 and so on to adjust it with your huge pc monitor? So what do you see in your TV if its done in High Defintion? What improvement does it make and what that got to do with graphics?

To add to Viper1's reply:

Most older content - games, television, movies - displays in 480i only, even if you display it on a TV capable of a better resolution. Some games last gen were capable of 480p, and pretty much everything on the PS3 and 360 is capable of displaying in at least 720p. If you display a 720p game on a 480i television, however, it will also only display in 480i.

Therefore...

480i content + 720p/1080p display = 480i output
720p/1080p content + 480i display = 480i output
720p/1080p content + 720p/1080p display = 720p/1080p output

In other words, both the content (the source media) and the display device (your TV) need to be capable of higher resolutions for it to display in HD and/or progressive scan.

Keep in mind, too, that many newer DVD players can "upscale" standard 480i DVDs to display in 720p/1080p. You see the same phenomenon in the X360 and PS3's software backwards compatibility, which can upscale old Xbox and PS2 games, respectively, in the same manner.

Also, to answer your above question: Games that render in 640x480 (or the widescreen equivalent) can only draw lines or textures for that many pixels on screen. 720p and 1080p allow for many more pixels on screen at once, so that games are capable of much more detailed textures and less of the "jaggies" you saw in last-gen games.

1080 means it's a resolution of 1920x1080

720 means it's a resolution of 1280x720

What it has to do with graphics is that more detail and such can be seen. When it comes to television and movies, try watching something like golf (for example) on an SDTV and then try watching it on an HDTV and you'll be able to see much more detail, color, and everything will look much nicer. A quick google search found this image below. 

http://www.erenumerique.fr/images/60/20060710/btv_hd_sd_comparison_big.jpg

My room mate was playing a basketball game on his 360 on our HDTV (720p/1080i), but only with composite cables (480i) and I asked him if he wanted to use my HD component cables to make use of the TV. The second we hooked his 360 up with composite cables, he was shocked. He said things like "Wow! Is that sweat on the guys! Everything looks so much clearer now!". 

Yes, it's exactly the same principle as monitor resolutions.

The improvement is visible in well made games which take advantage of the additional resolution to give you more visual detail. However, a lot depends on how big and good your TV is, how near you sit to it, and a lot of technical stuff which one could write whole books about.

So do you mean that you cant appreciate a HD game with a standard TV then? Thats a bummer :/

Thanks guys. All the info was great!

Wikipedia is your friend.

Actually, wikipedia isnt reliable. The trolls on the internet are more reliable than wikipedia. They edit the articles all the time everyday when they feel like it.