1080p this, 1080p that. We keep saying 1080p as if it were some magic incantation that transforms dull TV into wondrous HDTV.

Well, it kind of does, especially if you have a Blu-ray player such as LG's BH200, which also plays HD DVD discs. Blu-ray, capable of outputting Full HD at 1080p, coupled with an HDTV capable of displaying full 1080p resolution, results in a picture that seems other-worldly.

Blu-ray and HD DVD are the only ways to take full advantage of 1080p technology. Broadcast TV shows in HD, whether transmitted over-the-air, via satellite or through cable, are no more than either 720p or 1080i.

But what exactly is Full HD 1080p? There are actually three components to Full HD 1080p: progressive scanning, lines of resolution and frame rate. When all three are combined in a combination of Blu-ray player and HDTV, you can be assured you're getting the best possible picture.

'P' is For Progressive
In case you haven't guessed by now, "P" stands for progressive, as in progressive scanning.

A TV picture, analog or digital, is created in a series of lines. In an interlaced signal, the even numbered lines in a picture, which make up a "field," are flashed every 60th of a second. The odd-numbered lines, a second "field," are then flashed in the next 60th of a second. These two fields equal a frame. These fields and frames flicker so quickly that your eye and brain perceive them as continual motion, often referred to as persistence of vision.

In a progressive scanned picture, such as on a computer screen, both even- and odd-numbered line fields are flashed as a single frame every 30th of a second.

Without the even-odd line interlacing, a progressive scanned picture has none of the flicker you often see on interlaced images, creating a smoother flowing picture with fewer artifacts and less jagged edges and lines. Your eyes and brain don't have to work as hard to perceive this persistence of vision, leaving plenty of neural resources to enjoy the cinematography, direction, plot, story-telling, acting and characters.

Millions and Millions of Pixels
"Full HD" 1080p also refers to the number of lines comprising a digital video picture – 1,080 to be exact. But a 1080p set is more accurately identified as 1920 x 1080, indicating there are 1,920 pixels in each of the 1,080 lines. Multiply 1,920 by 1,080, and you'll find a Full HD picture consists of 2,073,600 pixels. For purists, it ain't HD if it ain't more than two million pixels.

One advantage of these two million-plus pixels is how close you can sit to your 1080p HDTV. If you sit too close to a 50-inch 480p or even a 720p panel, you begin to notice the individual pixels. More pixels means smaller pixels, which means you can conceivably sit less than six feet away from a 50-inch 1080p HDTV and still see a solid, smooth image.

The benefits of Full HD really begin to accrue as you move up in screen size. A 32-inch 1080p LCD has as many pixels as a 60-inch plasma LCD. But two million-plus pixels squeezed into a 32-inch screen means really tiny pixels. Almost any picture source, even analog VHS, looks good in such a compressed array of pixels.

At 50-inches and higher, however, the differences between plain old 720 x 480p DVD and 1920 x 1080p Blu-ray really begin to show. The larger the HDTV screen, the more the deficiencies of those mere 480 lines and 345,600 pixels of a standard definition DVD begin to show themselves. Details become smudgier, edges and lines get jaggier, and as the digital processing of your display work harder, the more digital artifacts begin to appear.

That's not to say a standard DVD doesn't look good on a 50-inch 1080p HDTV. It does, twice as good as soon-to-be obsolete analog broadcast TV. But standard definition DVD pales in comparison to broadcast 1080i programs and especially to Blu-ray.

With its 2,073,600 pixels, a Blu-ray movie flourishes on a big screen HDTV, retaining all its crystal detail and smooth flow. There is no comparable movie-watching experience.

But to really get your mind blown by the astounding picture Full HD is capable of, there's one more HDTV attribute you need to consider.

Rating Frame Rates
If you own an HDTV, you've probably noticed that not all 1080p content looks the same. You're not quite sure why, but movies in HD somehow look different from HD sporting events which look different from HD prime time programs.

This is because not all 1080p content is created equal. Aside from the recording media used by the producers – film or video – what you see and how well you see it depends on how the original content was shot.

There are three varieties of 1080p:

• 1080p/60 indicates that each frame is repeated twice every 30th of a second, a format increasingly found in high-definition camcorders;
• 1080p/30, the standard frame rate for live or recorded HD video; and,
• 1080p/24, which displays the same 24 frames per second as standard movie film, and the standard Blu-ray frame rate used to preserve the film frame rate the filmmakers intended.

However, all LG Full HD 1080p LCD and plasma HDTVs are capable of displaying all three 1080p frame rates via either HDMI or component video connections without the digital flim-flam found on lesser-endowed HDTVs. Plus, LG's 24p Real Cinema processing further enhances the reproduction of films on Blu-ray when connected to the 1080p/24-capable LG BH200.

The combination of a Full HD 1080p LCD or plasma with a Full HD 1080p Blu-ray player creates a home movie-watching experience that will consistently amaze.

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