HD Ready vs Full HD

Newaglish

Having gone TV shopping, I noticed most TVs are either "HD Ready" of "Full HD" - not a single store assistant was able to explain it, and didn't seem to think there was a great differential in quality between any of these - can anyone explain what the difference is? I imagine Full HD is better as the televisions are more expensive, though I couldn't really see a difference.

Incidentally, I also can't figure out the difference between LCD and Plasma.

Cheers!

Simi

These are store names for the resolution of the particular televisions. HD ready implies the tv has a resolution of at least 1280x720 (more commonly 1366 x 768). Although in the case of plasmas this can mean 1024x768 which is allowed under the HD ready standard.

Full HD means that the TV supports a resolution of 1920x1080.

I wouldn't worry about being unable to tell the difference between the two. The majority of people can't, in fact most can't tell the difference between SDTV & HDTV unless they're side by side. They may not have had a HD source connected to the TV in the shop either.

So which tv you want is basically determined by what your going to use it for.

First off I wouldn't recommend a plasma screen as they tend to have a significantly shorter lifespan and lower resolution than lcd tv's.

If you own a blu-ray player or intend to buy one a Full HD tv will give you the best picture for your money. For games consoles, Sky HD etc. a 720p (HD ready) television is more than sufficient. If you can't tell the difference between the two when they're connected up to a HD source then you should probably save yourself a bit of money & get a 720p set.

The Ritz

First off I wouldn't recommend a plasma screen as they tend to have a significantly shorter lifespan and lower resolution than lcd tv's.

I don't agree with that recommendation - Plasma tvs (from Panasonic or Pioneer, for instance) are available in full HD and would generally be acknowledged to have better picture quality than comparable lcd tvs. I doubt that the life time difference (if any) is a relevant issue with currently available models. If I was choosing, I'd be looking for a Panasonic plasma - they produce a stunning picture.

Full HD means that the TV supports a resolution of 1920x1080.

Most (if not all) "HD Ready" tvs will display an image from a 1080 interlaced source - they just down convert it to show at their native resolution. Full HD means that the TV has a minimum native resolution of 1920 x 1080.

Details on the differnce between HD Ready and Full HD etc. can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_ready


Ritz.

dmeehan

HD ready = 720p, 1080i
Full HD = 1080p

The number is the number of lines on the screen, the letter p or i is progressive or interlaced.

progressive means all lines are updated at the same time
interlaced means the odd ones are updated first and the even ones are updated in the nest cycle.

dont worry about this though as humans cant notice the changes this fast, eg a 100Hz tv will refresh the screen 100 times a second. so with a progressive display all 720 or 1080 lines will get refreshed 100 times a second, with an interlaced setting it will "only" be refreshed 50 times a second

big_moe

my opinion, plasma all the way.

far better for colours and response times are far quicker for sports. i watch them all day and the plasmas are much better.

this is probably one of the best TVs available at it's value.. and a 5 year warranty as well

http://www.allianceelectric.ie/products/tv/plasmalcd/th42py80.htm

adam