What's the difference between "1080i" and "1080p"?

Question

When trying to set up the HDMI cable with my new PS3, I used 1080p at first and my HDTV went blank and said "Not Supported." Then I tried 1080i and it worked fine.

I was wondering what the difference is between the two and why my HDTV doesn't support 1080p.

My HDTV is a Samsung LCD TV.

Answer 1

1080i means interlaced, where 1080p means progressive. 1080p is considered better. Because it is not as choppy.

Answer 2

As the previous answerers said, i=interlaced and p=progressive and p is considered better.

What wasn't explain though is exactly what the difference is, so here we go:

In an interlaced signal, every 'field' that is sent to the TV from the source contains only half of the image information.  The first 'field' will contain all the information for the odd number rows of pixels, and the second 'field' will contain the information for the even rows.  Your TV will then wait for 2 'fields' to be recieved, combine them (to get the information for _all_ rows of pixels on the TV) and then display the complete 'frame'.

In a progessive signal, each 'field' is actually a full 'frame'.  so there is no need for the TV to wait for the second 'field' to arrive, it already has the information for every row of pixels.

In reality, there is very little difference between them.  The deinterlacing process will happen so fast that you usually won't notice any degradation, especially if your TV is a reputable brand.