I'm having a slight problem an I though someone on this site may be able to help me so here I go.

My parents just recently got a brand new HD T.V for a very cheap price($400) from my dad's friends store. I was very happy cause We've ahd the same old SD T.V 8 years. So when I hooked up my PS3 to it I found out that the only resolutions my T.V played was 480p 720p and 1080i and Id efinetly don't wanna ask my parents to buy a newer HD T.V for a much higher price.

My questions here are:

1.) What is the difference between 1080p and 1080i is 1080p is the difference extremly significant and if so If I play a Native 1080p game will it scale to 1080i and would the graphical difference be significant?

2.) Why do some people keep saying that 720p is better than 1080i is it really better or is there just one thing about it that's better, also can I set it so that all game automatically upscale to 1080i or is that impossible.

Sorry if the questions seem dumb, I don't know a lot about HD T.V's just the very bare minimum. 

Depends if you have an LCD or not. 720p LCD panels will accept 1080i but you should always try to use the native resolution of your TV. Most games are 720p anyways.

You don't want a cheap TV scaling 1080i to 720p.

Yea its an LCD T.V sorry for not specifying that.

Set your PS3 to only output 720p. It will look the best on your TV versus 1080i or 480p. Cheap LCD's don't scale well so just give it the signal it wants.

1080p games are rare so I wouldn't really worry about it.

Yes, do what demacll said and set your PS3 to output only in 720p. Your games will look better, and the PS3 randomly decides to put everything in 1080i otherwise. Now it is possible that Blu-Rays look better in 1080i, but that is only if your TV deinterlaces properly, and it is older, so there is a good chance it doesn't. Don't mind the jargon if you didn't understand that.

1080p is better, but most games don't support it. You really aren't missing out on very much, and it would only make that much of a difference if you had a 120hz or 24hz outputting television set anyways and could take advantage of it on the Blu-Ray end

IMO 1080i looks a lil sharper than 720p but also gives me a headache( interlaced image) so I'd say stick to 720p.

Most games are 720, on a TV under 42" your probably not going to be able to tell the difference anyway...

If I bought a new tv, and my non-existent child told me to get a better one, that child would be slapped across the mouth every hour on the hour for the next 2 months. Not kidding.

I have a 40" T.V for anyone that wants to know.

The reason i'm asking about the Native 1080p games is because of an upcoming game that i'm highly anticipating White Knight Chronicles which is supposed to run in Native 1080p, I was just wondering if the graphical difference was going to be that big if I didn't have 1080p.

So, Why is 720p better than 1080i???

720p is 720 horizontal lines per frame, 1080i is 540 lines each refresh redraws every other line alternating.