High-definition television

High-definition television (or HDTV, or just HD) refers to video having resolution substantially higher than traditional television systems (standard-definition TV, or SDTV, or SD). HD has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD

HDTV broadcast systems are identified with three major parameters:

• Frame size in pixels is defined as number of horizontal pixels × number of vertical pixels, for example 1280 × 720 or 1920 × 1080. Often the number of horizontal pixels is implied from context and is omitted.
• Scanning system is identified with the letter P for progressive scanning or I for interlaced scanning.
• Frame rate is identified as number of video frames per second. For interlaced systems an alternative form of specifying number of fields per second is often used.

While referring to HDTC Specifications, we usually 1080p, what does it mean here....

1080 horizontal lines with Progressive scanning...(Another type of well known scanning Interleaving..)

High-definition display resolutions

Video format supported	Native resolution (W×H)	Pixels		Aspect ratio (W:H)		Description
		Actual	Advertised (Mpixel)	Image[clarification needed]	Pixel[clarification needed]
720p 1280x720	1024×768 XGA	786,432	0.8	16:9[clarification needed]	4:3[clarification needed]	Typically a PC resolution (XGA); also a native resolution on many entry-level plasma displays with non-square pixels.
	1280×720	921,600	0.9	16:9	1:1	Standard HDTV resolution and a typical PC resolution (WXGA), frequently used by video projectors; also used for 750-line video, as defined in SMPTE 296M, ATSC A/53, ITU-R BT.1543.
	1366×768 WXGA	1,049,088	1.0	683:384 (approx. 16:9)	1:1 approx.	A typical PC resolution (WXGA); also used by many HD ready TV displays based on LCD technology.
1080p/1080i 1920×1080	1920×1200	2,073,600	2.1	16:10	1:1	Standard HDTV resolution, used byFull HD and HD ready 1080p TV displays such as high-end LCD, Plasma and rear projection TVs, and a typical PC resolution (lower than WUXGA); also used for 1125-line video, as defined in SMPTE 274M, ATSC A/53, ITU-R BT.709;

[hide] v • d • e Digital video resolutions Designation Usage Examples Definition (lines) Rate (Hz) Interlaced (fields) Progressive (frames) Low; MP@LL LDTV, VCD 240; 288 (SIF) 24, 30; 25 Standard; MP@ML SDTV, SVCD,DVD, DV 480 (NTSC,PAL-M) 60 24, 30 576 (PAL,SECAM) 50 25 Enhanced EDTV 480; 576 60; 50 High; MP@HL HDTV,Blu-ray Disc,HD DVD, HDV 720 24, 30, 60; 25, 50 1080 50, 60 24, 30; 25 This table illustrates total horizontal and vertical pixel resolution via box size. It does not accurately reflect the screen or pixel shape (aspect ratio) of these formats, which is either 4:3, or 16:9.