SD Is Good But HD Is Better!, Continued
For High Definition, several standards have been established; the two most important being 720p and 1080i. In the first (720p) the image has a resolution of 720 lines by 1,280 columns. The "p" attached to the name indicates "progressive". The image is displayed in one go (full frame) and is exceptionally sharp. The details don't "wriggle" anymore and the backgrounds, normally blurred, are like magic. The second standard (1080i) has a resolution of 1,080 lines by 1,920 columns but is interlaced; the "i" indicating the "interleaving".
Enough said. In the case of a standard resolution of 720 x 576, that's 414,720 pixels. For HD the resolution of 1,280 x 720 comes to 921,600 pixels. The pixel information is, therefore, practically three times more. It's easy to understand, therefore, that the images displayed are exceptionally sharp. Finally, in the case of 1080i, the resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 yields 2,073,600 pixels. That's twice as good as the 720p standard and almost seven times better definition than standard format.
Standard definition (720x576)
High definition (1280x720)
Standard definition - Zoom
High definition - Zoom
The Showcenter 200 can display HD movies in MPEG-2 (720p and 1080i), MPEG-4 (720p) and WMVHD (720p et 1080i) formats. The results are clearly visible. Especially on LCD TVs in native resolution, it's like night and day. Even if, for the moment, there's hardly anything other than commercial channels broadcasting in High Definition, you can, for example, create your own DivX HD by choosing a higher resolution during the compression. Of course, the source material will still be SD, but the compression errors will be less noticeable. HD also allows photo display not just at 720 x 576 but 1280 x 720; even 1920 x 1080. For once, your investment in a top-of-the-range mega pixel camera will be fully justified. A photo displayed in HD on your TV becomes a real work of art! But be warned, in portraits all wrinkles and other skin defects will hereafter be clearly visible.
