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Before the introduction of HDTV, no one paid much attention to resolutions, picture quality or basically, the overall experience of watching television. This was solely because all televisions broadcasted on the same resolution. But high definition televisions have changed all of this. Now one of the main concerns of a person buying a new television, especially if it is a HDTV, is the HDTV resolution and the overall picture quality of a particular set.
Resolution can be correctly defined as how closely or finely detailed is the pictures quality or image on a television. Technically, it is the number or encoded lines per mm (or inch), horizontally and vertically. Taking the subject a little deeper, the number of lines is nothing but rows and columns on the screen consisting of tiny dots.  These are called scan lines and according to the actual images captured, the brightness and darkness is varied on particular areas of the screen, forming various images on the screen with various intensities.

A standard CRT television has about 480 scan lines across the screen. Usually the vertical resolution is listed when referring to the resolution of a particular television as it is fixed. Horizontal lines can be varied. On the other hand, an HDTV has one of the three standard resolutions – 720p, 1080i or 1080p. The ‘i’ and ‘p’ are short for interlaced or progressive scan.

It is this resolution of a television which decides the level of picture quality that a particular television will output. A higher resolution usually ensures that the picture quality remains crisp and uniform and this is also the main distinction between an HDTV and a standard direct view TV.
Care must be taken by consumers while choosing an HDTV. Many retailers and uninformed sales executives tend to classify Digital TVs and HDTVs as the same type of television which is not the case. The most important thing is to look for is at what resolution does the TV function – 720p or 1080i or higher. A digital TV is nothing but a standard television which scans the signal progressively or in an interlaced manner, increasing the quality. However the same resolution, that of 480, does little to give a better viewing experience overall.

There is definitely more scope for development in the field of High Definition media, HD televisions and HD players to make them more readily accessible to the mass market, and not just the elites.