Difference between "full HD" and "HD ready".

[mummybookworm]

Got some money for Christmas, and am considering buying a new TV. What is the difference between full HD and HD ready.

Is it mainly price or am I being a true luddite?!

Thanks.

HD Ready usually means that the screen displays at a higher resolution than "normal" TV but not at "proper" high defintion.

What you want to really find out is the actual resolution of the screen.

"Full High Definition" will be labelled 1080p, that means that the screen is actually 1080 dots high.

"HD Ready" is, if I recall correctly, more properly known as 720p so the screen is 720 dots high. So higher than normal TV, but not as high as "full".

Sitting in-between the two is 1080i, this means that the screen is "interlaced" and flashing up two images rapidly that your eye sees as one, the same technique as normal TV signals. The screen is actually "only" 540 dots high but the flashing images make up what seems to be a 1080 dot image.

So you'd think that "full" 1080p is the best.

Well kind of.

BluRay players will output video at 1080p.

However Sky HD is "only" at 1080i, so if that's going to be your only source of HD signals then you may not see the benefit of a 1080p TV.

So have a look at the actual numbers behind the TVs your looking at.

And then look at the numbers provided by what you're viewing.

Personally I'd go for 1080p...

Full HD is 1080p HD ready is 720p and/or 1080i (depending on the model.

Obviously 1080p is higher resolution to 720p and 1080i is the same resolution as 1080p but with a lower refresh rate so is less clear with motion which can appear blurred.

Thank you, I will have a look at some TV's tomorrow.

interestingly we've had the same debate today, and by the end of the day got one of the 'hd ready' ones which apparently shows anything broadcast in HD at hd quality, but the 1080p is presumably irrelevant to most stuff. We've just had to switch it from "'dynamic' (scarily bright) and found 'natural' which doesn't look tooooooo digitaly iyswim. Fortunately DH is a fully paid up Geek so I'm ok

I have a TV which is full HD. I've played 720p stuff through it and 1080p. Unless I'm stood in front of my TV at a distance of around 10cm, I cannot tell the difference. And my screen is 50"

My point is that although technically full HD is superior, in practice it makes practically no difference.

So get the best TV which fits your budget. If you can squeeze full HD into the price then do so. But don't sweat it if not.

In fact, I've found that when watching HD films, once you get past that initial "oooh that looks stunning" response (usually the first couple of minutes) of a film, you don't notice once the plot gets going.

Thanks MrsShrek and Niceguy. I probably will go for the HD ready, I currently have a Panasonic (8 years old approx) and the picture is fine. As long as the new one is no worse then I will be happy! Will now need to source a stand too. This might get expensive!

You'll see the difference on games, Wii looks shit on all but CRT, 360 is 720p so looks way better and is readable, PS3 is the only full HD console and most games on that are not full HD because they are ports but the ones that are, well god help you if you play em in a lesser resolution, it's all about the text size/clarity.

For that matter DVD subtitles for the most part look shit on all HD TVs.