Differences between the two may affect the TV you buy and your viewing experience.
What 720p Is
720pis a picture containing 720 rows of 1,280pixels.
The entire image refreshes every 60th of a second (or twice every 30th of a second).
Video Resolution Chart - 480i to 1080p.mage via Wikimedia Commons - Public Domain
What 1080i Is
1080iis a picture containing 1,080 rows of 1,920 pixels.
However, only about 1,036,800 pixels are sent every 60th of a second.
However, that does not mean you are seeing those resolutions on your HDTV screen.
However, they are usually advertised as 720p TVs.
Don’t get confused; these sets will all accept 720p and 1080i signals.
What the TV has to do isscalethe incoming resolution to its built-in 1366x768 pixel display resolution.
Plasma and DLP TVs have been discontinued, but many are still in use.
1080p and 4K TVs upscale 720p for screen display.
Some processors do this very well, and some don’t.
The Bottom Line
Don’t get bogged down with all the numbers and tech terms.
With just a few exceptions, 720p TVs have been relegated to 32-inches and smaller screen sizes.
