No TV Shows at 1080p

Having a 1080p high-definition television is no guarantee of being able to play 1080p content when such content arrives.

Yardena Arar

If you're thinking of getting a 1080p HDTV in anticipation of the day when 1080p content will be available, be careful when you shop--not all such TV sets will accept 1080p content.

Handling 1080p content requires more than a screen capable of displaying 1080 lines of progressively scanned video: The TV's inputs must be able to process a 1080p signal, and not all 1080p sets have such inputs. For example, Sony's KDS-R60XBR1 cannot accept a 1080p signal. These sets merely up-sample, or convert, 720p and 1080i content to 1080p.

Vendors of 1080p sets argue that their products handle existing 1080i content better than 720p TVs, which are the most common HDTVs. Lack of 1080p support doesn't make a 1080p set bad, but it would make it a poor choice for future-proofing.