How does it help to have a Full HD LCD TV?
Hi - welcome to Fixya,
There is no advantage in buying a Full HD (1080p) TV if you are only using it for watching TV. Currently, there are no Full HD television broadcasts and there are no plans to introduce any. All UK HD channels currently broadcast in 720p resolution whether they are on Sky, Freeview, or Freesat. Therefore, any TV that is described as 'HD ready' rather than 'Full HD' will display all HD channels at maximum quality or resolution.
The advantage of Full HD is when using them with Blu-ray DVD players, gaming systems, e.g. Sony Playstation, or for playback of media files from your PC. These systems output at 1080p / Full HD (but only when connected with an HDMi cable) and you would need a full HD TV in order to get the best quality / resolution from these systems. However, you don't need a Full HD TV to connect these devices as they can all display their output on a 720p HD Ready TV.
The main disadvantage of any HDTV (1080 or 720) is when watching standard definition (SD) broadcasts. Full HD TVs have 1080 horizontal display lines, but SD broadcasts only have 540 horizontal lines. When watching SD channels on an HD TV, the other 540 lines, i,e half of the picture, are being created by software within the TV - known as 'Upscaling'. Upscaling requires processing by the TV which takes time and fast motion can seem blurred or blocky/pixellated as a result. Higher end TVs have faster response times (0.5ms or less) which minimises the pixellation so this specification is important when selecting an HD TV for purchase.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
BElectric
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