1080p
Encyclopedia
1080p is the shorthand identification for a set of HDTV high-definition video
modes that are characterized by 1080 horizontal lines of resolution
and progressive scan
, meaning the image is not interlaced as is the case with the 1080i
display standard.
The term usually assumes a widescreen
aspect ratio
of 16:9
, implying a resolution of 1,920 pixels wide by 1,080 high. This resolution is similar to that of 2K digital cinema
technology. The frame rate
can be either implied by the context or specified after the letter 'p', such as 1080p30, meaning 30 progressive frames per second.
1080p, sometimes referred to in marketing materials as Full HD, typically refers to the capability to accept 1080p signal and display it with native resolution of at least 1080 lines, as well as the capability to upscale
lower-resolution material to 1080p.
The HD ready 1080p logo program by DIGITALEUROPE requires that certified TV sets support 1080p24, 1080p50, and 1080p60 formats, and feature a native resolution
of at least 1920×1080 pixels, among other requirements.
The filmmaking
industry has embraced 1080p24 (i.e., 1080p displayed at 24 frames per second) as a digital mastering format in both native 24p form and in 24PsF
form. 1080p24 has become an established production standard for digital cinematography
and there is plenty of equipment capable of capturing and processing 1080p24 signals. This may be the first universal video standard, transcending continental boundaries, putting it in a category with 24-frame film.
For live broadcast applications, a high-definition progressive scan format operating at 1080p at 50 or 60 frames per second is currently being evaluated as a future standard for moving picture acquisition. EBU
has been endorsing 1080p50 as a future-proof production format because it improves resolution and requires no deinterlacing
, allows broadcasting of standard 1080i25 and 720p50 signal alongside 1080p50 even in the current infrastructure, and is compatible with DCI distribution formats.
1080p50/p60 production format will require a whole new range of studio equipment including cameras, storage and editing systems, and contribution links (such as Dual-link HD-SDI
and 3G-SDI
) as it has doubled the data rate of current 50 or 60 fields interlaced 1920 × 1080 from 1.485 Gbit/s to nominally 3 Gbit/s using uncompressed RGB encoding. Most current revisions of SMPTE 374M and EBU Tech 3299 require YCbCr
color space and 4:2:2 chroma subsampling
for transmitting 1080p50 (nominally 2.08 Gbit/s) and 1080p60 signal.
Recent studies show that for digital broadcasts compressed with H.264/AVC, transmission bandwidth savings of interlaced video over fully progressive video are minimal even when using twice the frame rate, i.e., 1080p50 signal (50 progressive frames per second) actually produces the same bit rate as 1080i50 signal (25 interlaced frames or 50 sub-fields per second).
In July 2008, the ATSC standards were amended to include H.264/MPEG-4 AVC
compression and 1080p at 50, 59.94, and 60 frames per second (1080p50 and 1080p60). Such frame rate
s require H.264/AVC High Profile Level 4.2, while standard HDTV frame rates only require Level 4.0.
This update is not expected to result in widespread availability of 1080p60 programming, since most of the existing digital receivers in use would only be capable of decoding the older, less-efficient MPEG-2
codec, and operator bandwidth limitations do not allow for broadcasting two simultaneous streams on the same broadcast channel (e.g. both a 1080i MPEG-2 stream alongside a 1080p MPEG-4 stream).
s such as JPEG 2000
, high-bitrate MPEG-2
, or H.264/AVC and HEVC.
Since September 2009, ETSI
and EBU
, the maintainers of the DVB suite, added support for 1080p50 signal coded with MPEG-4 AVC High Profile Level 4.2 with Scalable Video Coding
extensions or VC-1
Advanced Profile compression; DVB also supports 1080p encoded at ATSC frame rates of 23.976, 24, 29.97, 30, 59.94 and 60.
EBU requires that legacy MPEG-4 AVC decoders should at least not crash in presence of SVC and/or 1080p50 (and higher resolution) packets. SVC enables forward compatibility
with 1080p50 and 1080p60 broadcasting for older MPEG-4 AVC receivers, so they will only recognize baseline SVC stream coded at a lower resolution or frame rate (such as 720p60 or 1080i60) and will gracefully ignore additional packets, while newer hardware will be able to decode full-resolution signal (such as 1080p60).
, XstreamHD, and Dish Network
) utilize the 1080p/24-30 format with MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 encoding for pay-per-view
movies that are downloaded in advance via satellite or on demand via broadband internet only. At this time, no pay service channel such as USA, HDNET, etc. nor premium movie channel such as HBO, etc., stream their services live to their distributors (MVPD) in this format because many MVPDs, especially DBS and cable, do not have sufficient bandwidth to provide the format streaming live to their subscribers without negatively impacting their current services and because of the high "cost" of using more bandwidth for one 1080p/24 channel than what would be used for a 1080i or even a 720p channel and for only those relatively few subscribers who have HDTV devices that can display 1080p/24 as not being an efficient use of their limited bandwidth.
For material that originates from a progressive scanned 24 frame/s source (such as film), MPEG-2
lets the video be coded as 1080p24, irrespective of the final output format. These progressively-coded frames are tagged with metadata (literally, fields of the PICTURE header) instructing a decoder how to perform a 3:2 pulldown to interlace them. While the formal output of the MPEG-2 decoding process from such stations is 1080i60, the actual content is coded as 1080p24 and can be viewed as such, using a process known as inverse telecine, since no information is lost even when the broadcaster (as opposed to the receiver) performs the 3:2 pulldown.
s are able to hold 1080p HD content, and most movies released on Blu-ray Disc
produce a full 1080p HD picture when the player is connected to a 1080p HDTV via an HDMI
cable. The Blu-ray Disc video specification allows encoding of 1080p24, 1080i50, and 1080i60. Generally this type of video runs at up to 40 megabits per second, compared to the 3.5 megabits per second for conventional standard definition TVs.
. A couple of showcases include Apple QuickTime Trailers in QuickTime
HD 1080p format and the Microsoft WMV HD Content Showcase. Another example of 1080p content is the MacBreak
1080p podcast created by Leo Laporte
and Alex Lindsay
. This podcast is distributed via the BitTorrent method of distribution because of the large file sizes resulting from the high bit-rates. BitTorrent is also used to distribute many 1080p movies that have been copied from Blu-ray Disc or broadcast sources. Microsoft Silverlight can offer 1080p smooth streaming via IIS
media services.
s being sold provide 1080p inputs, mainly via HDMI
, and supporting full high-def resolutions. Now 1080p resolution is available in all types of television, including plasma
, LCD, DLP front and rear projection, and LCD projection
.
For displaying film-based 1080i60 signals, a scheme called 3:2 pulldown reversal (reverse telecine
) is beginning to appear in some newer 1080p displays, which can produce a true 1080p quality image from film-based 1080i60 programs. Similarly, 25fps content broadcast at 1080i50 may be deinterlaced to 1080p content with no loss of quality or resolution.
The AV equipment manufacturing industry has adopted the term Full HD as the consumer-friendly marketing term to mean the set is a safe purchase because it can display all available HD resolutions up to 1080p. The term is misleading, however, because it does not guarantee the set is capable of rendering digital video at all frame rates encoded in source files with 1080 pixel vertical resolution. Most notably, a "Full HD" set is not guaranteed to support the 1080p24 format, leading to consumer confusion.
DigitalEurope (formerly EICTA) maintains the HD ready 1080p logo program that requires the certified TV sets to support 1080p24, 1080p50, and 1080p60, without overscan/underscan
and picture distortion.
(LCD), most widescreen cathode ray tube
(CRT), and all QXGA monitors can natively
display 1080p content. Widescreen WUXGA monitors for example support 1920×1200 resolution, which can display a pixel for pixel reproduction of the 1080p (1920×1080) format. The resolution is rare, but increasing in popularity amongst laptops in 2009; some laptops have a 13", 15", 17" or even a 18.4" display that run a resolution of 1920×1200 or 1920x1080. Additionally, many 23, 24, and 27 inches (685.8 mm) widescreen LCD monitors use 1920×1200 as their native resolution, 30 inch displays can display beyond 1080p at up to 2560x1600 (1600p). Many 27" monitors have native resolutions of 2560×1440 and hence operate at 1440p. Other 1080p-compatible LCDs have lower than 1920×1080 native resolution and cannot display 1080p pixel for pixel, relying on the display's internal scaler to produce an image resized to suit the display's actual resolution.
's PlayStation 3
and Microsoft
's Xbox 360
can display games and video content in 1080p. Nintendo
's Wii U, with a release expected in 2012, will support 1080p via HDMI. For all of the consoles this is done through HDMI connections (in the case of the Xbox 360, HDMI is only available on consoles manufactured after June 2007). Additionally, 1080p video is available on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 via an analog component
/D-Terminal (YPBPR
) connection, as well as the VGA connection on the Xbox 360. On the PlayStation 3, developers must provide specific resolution support at the software level as there is no hardware upscaling support, whereas on the Xbox 360 games can be upscaled using a built in hardware scaler chip. Most games on both consoles however do not run at a native 1080p resolution and only a select few allow this option due to other constraints (such as graphical memory), which most developers prefer to invest in different areas.
Both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 provide 1080p video services. Sony provides both the PlayStation Store
VOD
service and Blu-ray Disc
playback. Microsoft provides the Zune Video Marketplace for "instant on" 1080p video content but does not have Blu-ray disc playback capability. It does however support the now-defunct HD DVD
disc standard via the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player
add-on. Both consoles also offer support for streaming 1080p content in various formats over home network from other computers, and also via USB connection to external storage devices.
Due to potential copyright issues, when an analog component connection is used, only system menus and gameplay are available in 1080p; video content is displayed at a lower resolution or in 1080i.
While 1080p analog component output is supported by the consoles, most display hardware will only accept component connections up to 1080i.
s and professional video and DSLR
photo cameras can capture 1080p24, 1080p25, or 1080p30 video, often encoding it in progressive segmented frame
format.
As of 2011, there are a few consumer AVCHD
/NXCAM camcorders that can capture 1080p50 and 1080p60 video, including the Panasonic
HDC-TM700/HDC-HS700/HDC-SD700/HDC-SD600, the Sanyo
Xacti VPC-HD2000, and the Sony Handycam NEX-VG20/NEX-FS100. Professional digital cinema
cameras capable of capturing 1080p60 include the Sony
CineAlta
F23 camera and Sony SRW9000 camcorder (with optional 60p processing boards installed), Sony PMW-F3 camcorder, as well as RED One camera (in 2K and 3K capturing modes). The new Apple iPhone 4S is also capable of recording in 1080p HD video, using the back-facing camera.
High-definition video
High-definition video or HD video refers to any video system of higher resolution than standard-definition video, and most commonly involves display resolutions of 1,280×720 pixels or 1,920×1,080 pixels...
modes that are characterized by 1080 horizontal lines of resolution
Display resolution
The display resolution of a digital television or display device is the number of distinct pixels in each dimension that can be displayed. It can be an ambiguous term especially as the displayed resolution is controlled by all different factors in cathode ray tube , flat panel or projection...
and progressive scan
Progressive scan
Progressive scanning is a way of displaying, storing, or transmitting moving images in which all the lines of each frame are drawn in sequence...
, meaning the image is not interlaced as is the case with the 1080i
1080i
1080i is the shorthand name for a high-definition television mode. The i means interlaced video; 1080i differs from 1080p, in which the p stands for progressive scan. The term 1080i assumes a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9, implying a frame size of 1920×1080 pixels...
display standard.
The term usually assumes a widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
aspect ratio
Aspect ratio (image)
The aspect ratio of an image is the ratio of the width of the image to its height, expressed as two numbers separated by a colon. That is, for an x:y aspect ratio, no matter how big or small the image is, if the width is divided into x units of equal length and the height is measured using this...
of 16:9
16:9
16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ...
, implying a resolution of 1,920 pixels wide by 1,080 high. This resolution is similar to that of 2K digital cinema
Digital cinema
Digital cinema refers to the use of digital technology to distribute and project motion pictures. A movie can be distributed via hard drives, optical disks or satellite and projected using a digital projector instead of a conventional film projector...
technology. The frame rate
Frame rate
Frame rate is the frequency at which an imaging device produces unique consecutive images called frames. The term applies equally well to computer graphics, video cameras, film cameras, and motion capture systems...
can be either implied by the context or specified after the letter 'p', such as 1080p30, meaning 30 progressive frames per second.
1080p, sometimes referred to in marketing materials as Full HD, typically refers to the capability to accept 1080p signal and display it with native resolution of at least 1080 lines, as well as the capability to upscale
Video scaler
A video scaler is a device for converting video signals from one size or resolution to another: usually "upscaling" or "upconverting" a video signal from a low resolution to one of higher resolution A video scaler is a device for converting video signals from one size or resolution to another:...
lower-resolution material to 1080p.
The HD ready 1080p logo program by DIGITALEUROPE requires that certified TV sets support 1080p24, 1080p50, and 1080p60 formats, and feature a native resolution
Display resolution
The display resolution of a digital television or display device is the number of distinct pixels in each dimension that can be displayed. It can be an ambiguous term especially as the displayed resolution is controlled by all different factors in cathode ray tube , flat panel or projection...
of at least 1920×1080 pixels, among other requirements.
Broadcasting standards
Filmmaking
Filmmaking is the process of making a film, from an initial story, idea, or commission, through scriptwriting, casting, shooting, directing, editing, and screening the finished product before an audience that may result in a theatrical release or television program...
industry has embraced 1080p24 (i.e., 1080p displayed at 24 frames per second) as a digital mastering format in both native 24p form and in 24PsF
Progressive segmented Frame
Progressive segmented Frame is a scheme designed to acquire, store, modify, and distribute progressive-scan video using interlaced equipment and media....
form. 1080p24 has become an established production standard for digital cinematography
Digital cinematography
Digital cinematography is the process of capturing motion pictures as digital images, rather than on film. Digital capture may occur on video tape, hard disks, flash memory, or other media which can record digital data. As digital technology has improved, this practice has become increasingly common...
and there is plenty of equipment capable of capturing and processing 1080p24 signals. This may be the first universal video standard, transcending continental boundaries, putting it in a category with 24-frame film.
For live broadcast applications, a high-definition progressive scan format operating at 1080p at 50 or 60 frames per second is currently being evaluated as a future standard for moving picture acquisition. EBU
European Broadcasting Union
The European Broadcasting Union is a confederation of 74 broadcasting organisations from 56 countries, and 49 associate broadcasters from a further 25...
has been endorsing 1080p50 as a future-proof production format because it improves resolution and requires no deinterlacing
Deinterlacing
Deinterlacing is the process of converting interlaced video, such as common analog television signals or 1080i format HDTV signals, into a non-interlaced form....
, allows broadcasting of standard 1080i25 and 720p50 signal alongside 1080p50 even in the current infrastructure, and is compatible with DCI distribution formats.
1080p50/p60 production format will require a whole new range of studio equipment including cameras, storage and editing systems, and contribution links (such as Dual-link HD-SDI
SMPTE 372M
SMPTE 372M is a standard published by SMPTE which expands upon SMPTE 259M, SMPTE 344M, and SMPTE 292M allowing for bit-rates of 2.970 Gbit/s, and 2.970/1.001 Gbit/s over two wires. These bit-rates are sufficient for 1080p video....
and 3G-SDI
SMPTE 424M
"SMPTE 424M" is a standard published by SMPTE which expands upon SMPTE 259M, SMPTE 344M, and SMPTE 292M allowing for bit-rates of 2.970 Gbit/s and 2.970/1.001 Gbit/s over a single-link coaxial cable. These bit-rates are sufficient for 1080p video at 50 or 60 frames per second...
) as it has doubled the data rate of current 50 or 60 fields interlaced 1920 × 1080 from 1.485 Gbit/s to nominally 3 Gbit/s using uncompressed RGB encoding. Most current revisions of SMPTE 374M and EBU Tech 3299 require YCbCr
YCbCr
YCbCr or Y′CbCr, sometimes written or , is a family of color spaces used as a part of the color image pipeline in video and digital photography systems. Y′ is the luma component and CB and CR are the blue-difference and red-difference chroma components...
color space and 4:2:2 chroma subsampling
Chroma subsampling
Chroma subsampling is the practice of encoding images by implementing less resolution for chroma information than for luma information, taking advantage of the human visual system's lower acuity for color differences than for luminance....
for transmitting 1080p50 (nominally 2.08 Gbit/s) and 1080p60 signal.
Recent studies show that for digital broadcasts compressed with H.264/AVC, transmission bandwidth savings of interlaced video over fully progressive video are minimal even when using twice the frame rate, i.e., 1080p50 signal (50 progressive frames per second) actually produces the same bit rate as 1080i50 signal (25 interlaced frames or 50 sub-fields per second).
ATSC
In the United States, the original ATSC standards for HDTV supported 1080p video, but only at the frame rates of 23.976, 24, 25, 29.97 and 30 frames per second (colloquially known as 1080p24, 1080p25, and 1080p30).In July 2008, the ATSC standards were amended to include H.264/MPEG-4 AVC
H.264/MPEG-4 AVC
H.264/MPEG-4 Part 10 or AVC is a standard for video compression, and is currently one of the most commonly used formats for the recording, compression, and distribution of high definition video...
compression and 1080p at 50, 59.94, and 60 frames per second (1080p50 and 1080p60). Such frame rate
Frame rate
Frame rate is the frequency at which an imaging device produces unique consecutive images called frames. The term applies equally well to computer graphics, video cameras, film cameras, and motion capture systems...
s require H.264/AVC High Profile Level 4.2, while standard HDTV frame rates only require Level 4.0.
This update is not expected to result in widespread availability of 1080p60 programming, since most of the existing digital receivers in use would only be capable of decoding the older, less-efficient MPEG-2
MPEG-2
MPEG-2 is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information". It describes a combination of lossy video compression and lossy audio data compression methods which permit storage and transmission of movies using currently available storage media and transmission...
codec, and operator bandwidth limitations do not allow for broadcasting two simultaneous streams on the same broadcast channel (e.g. both a 1080i MPEG-2 stream alongside a 1080p MPEG-4 stream).
DVB
In Europe, 1080p25 signals have been supported by the DVB suite of broadcasting standards. The 1080p50 standard has been foreseen as a future-proof production format, and eventually a future broadcasting format. 1080p50 broadcasting should require the same bandwidth as 1080i50 signal and only 15-20% more than that of 720p50 signal due to increased compression efficiency, though 1080p50 production requires more bandwidth and/or more efficient codecCodec
A codec is a device or computer program capable of encoding or decoding a digital data stream or signal. The word codec is a portmanteau of "compressor-decompressor" or, more commonly, "coder-decoder"...
s such as JPEG 2000
JPEG 2000
JPEG 2000 is an image compression standard and coding system. It was created by the Joint Photographic Experts Group committee in 2000 with the intention of superseding their original discrete cosine transform-based JPEG standard with a newly designed, wavelet-based method...
, high-bitrate MPEG-2
MPEG-2
MPEG-2 is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information". It describes a combination of lossy video compression and lossy audio data compression methods which permit storage and transmission of movies using currently available storage media and transmission...
, or H.264/AVC and HEVC.
Since September 2009, ETSI
European Telecommunications Standards Institute
The European Telecommunications Standards Institute is an independent, non-profit, standardization organization in the telecommunications industry in Europe, with worldwide projection...
and EBU
European Broadcasting Union
The European Broadcasting Union is a confederation of 74 broadcasting organisations from 56 countries, and 49 associate broadcasters from a further 25...
, the maintainers of the DVB suite, added support for 1080p50 signal coded with MPEG-4 AVC High Profile Level 4.2 with Scalable Video Coding
Scalable Video Coding
Scalable Video Coding is the name for the Annex G extension of the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC video compression standard. SVC standardizes the encoding of a high-quality video bitstream that also contains one or more subset bitstreams. A subset video bitstream is derived by dropping packets from the...
extensions or VC-1
VC-1
VC-1 is the informal name of the SMPTE 421M video codec standard, which was initially developed as a proprietary video format by Microsoft before it was released as a formal SMPTE standard video format on April 3, 2006...
Advanced Profile compression; DVB also supports 1080p encoded at ATSC frame rates of 23.976, 24, 29.97, 30, 59.94 and 60.
EBU requires that legacy MPEG-4 AVC decoders should at least not crash in presence of SVC and/or 1080p50 (and higher resolution) packets. SVC enables forward compatibility
Forward compatibility
Forward compatibility or upward compatibility is a compatibility concept for systems design, as e.g. backward compatibility. Forward compatibility aims at the ability of a design to gracefully accept input intended for later versions of itself...
with 1080p50 and 1080p60 broadcasting for older MPEG-4 AVC receivers, so they will only recognize baseline SVC stream coded at a lower resolution or frame rate (such as 720p60 or 1080i60) and will gracefully ignore additional packets, while newer hardware will be able to decode full-resolution signal (such as 1080p60).
Availability
Broadcasts
In the United States, 1080p over-the-air broadcasts still do not exist as of 2011; all major networks use either 720p60 or 1080i60 encoded with MPEG-2. However, satellite services (e.g. DirecTVDirecTV
DirecTV is an American direct broadcast satellite service provider and broadcaster based in El Segundo, California. Its satellite service, launched on June 17, 1994, transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, Latin America, and the Anglophone Caribbean. ...
, XstreamHD, and Dish Network
Dish Network
Dish Network Corporation is the second largest pay TV provider in the United States, providing direct broadcast satellite service—including satellite television, audio programming, and interactive television services—to 14.337 million commercial and residential customers in the United States. Dish...
) utilize the 1080p/24-30 format with MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 encoding for pay-per-view
Pay-per-view
Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...
movies that are downloaded in advance via satellite or on demand via broadband internet only. At this time, no pay service channel such as USA, HDNET, etc. nor premium movie channel such as HBO, etc., stream their services live to their distributors (MVPD) in this format because many MVPDs, especially DBS and cable, do not have sufficient bandwidth to provide the format streaming live to their subscribers without negatively impacting their current services and because of the high "cost" of using more bandwidth for one 1080p/24 channel than what would be used for a 1080i or even a 720p channel and for only those relatively few subscribers who have HDTV devices that can display 1080p/24 as not being an efficient use of their limited bandwidth.
For material that originates from a progressive scanned 24 frame/s source (such as film), MPEG-2
MPEG-2
MPEG-2 is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information". It describes a combination of lossy video compression and lossy audio data compression methods which permit storage and transmission of movies using currently available storage media and transmission...
lets the video be coded as 1080p24, irrespective of the final output format. These progressively-coded frames are tagged with metadata (literally, fields of the PICTURE header) instructing a decoder how to perform a 3:2 pulldown to interlace them. While the formal output of the MPEG-2 decoding process from such stations is 1080i60, the actual content is coded as 1080p24 and can be viewed as such, using a process known as inverse telecine, since no information is lost even when the broadcaster (as opposed to the receiver) performs the 3:2 pulldown.
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray DiscBlu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
s are able to hold 1080p HD content, and most movies released on Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
produce a full 1080p HD picture when the player is connected to a 1080p HDTV via an HDMI
HDMI
HDMI is a compact audio/video interface for transmitting uncompressed digital data. It is a digital alternative to consumer analog standards, such as radio frequency coaxial cable, composite video, S-Video, SCART, component video, D-Terminal, or VGA...
cable. The Blu-ray Disc video specification allows encoding of 1080p24, 1080i50, and 1080i60. Generally this type of video runs at up to 40 megabits per second, compared to the 3.5 megabits per second for conventional standard definition TVs.
Internet content
There has been some content released in the 1080p format on the Internet, the most influential currently being YouTubeYouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
. A couple of showcases include Apple QuickTime Trailers in QuickTime
QuickTime
QuickTime is an extensible proprietary multimedia framework developed by Apple Inc., capable of handling various formats of digital video, picture, sound, panoramic images, and interactivity. The classic version of QuickTime is available for Windows XP and later, as well as Mac OS X Leopard and...
HD 1080p format and the Microsoft WMV HD Content Showcase. Another example of 1080p content is the MacBreak
MacBreak
MacBreak is an internet TV show hosted by Leo Laporte, Kendra Arimoto, Alex Lindsay, Justine Ezarik and Emery Wells from the TWiT.tv network and the Pixel Corps. The podcast is dedicated to Apple's Mac computers and other Apple products such as the iPod....
1080p podcast created by Leo Laporte
Leo Laporte
Léo Gordon Laporte is an Emmy Award winning, American technology broadcaster, author, and entrepreneur. A former resident of Providence, Rhode Island, he now lives in Petaluma, California with his wife Jennifer and two children, Abby and Henry....
and Alex Lindsay
Alex Lindsay
For the Scottish footballer see Alex Lindsay Alex Ben Lindsay, founder of the Pixel Corps, has been involved in computer graphics and computer animation for nearly 20 years. Alex has extensive experience in digital production including print, real-time graphics, multimedia titles, forensic...
. This podcast is distributed via the BitTorrent method of distribution because of the large file sizes resulting from the high bit-rates. BitTorrent is also used to distribute many 1080p movies that have been copied from Blu-ray Disc or broadcast sources. Microsoft Silverlight can offer 1080p smooth streaming via IIS
Internet Information Services
Internet Information Services – formerly called Internet Information Server – is a web server application and set of feature extension modules created by Microsoft for use with Microsoft Windows. It is the most used web server after Apache HTTP Server. IIS 7.5 supports HTTP, HTTPS,...
media services.
Consumer televisions and projectors
, most consumer televisionTelevision
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
s being sold provide 1080p inputs, mainly via HDMI
HDMI
HDMI is a compact audio/video interface for transmitting uncompressed digital data. It is a digital alternative to consumer analog standards, such as radio frequency coaxial cable, composite video, S-Video, SCART, component video, D-Terminal, or VGA...
, and supporting full high-def resolutions. Now 1080p resolution is available in all types of television, including plasma
Plasma display
A plasma display panel is a type of flat panel display common to large TV displays or larger. They are called "plasma" displays because the technology utilizes small cells containing electrically charged ionized gases, or what are in essence chambers more commonly known as fluorescent...
, LCD, DLP front and rear projection, and LCD projection
LCD projector
An LCD projector is a type of video projector for displaying video, images or computer data on a screen or other flat surface. It is a modern equivalent of the slide projector or overhead projector...
.
For displaying film-based 1080i60 signals, a scheme called 3:2 pulldown reversal (reverse telecine
Telecine
Telecine is transferring motion picture film into video and is performed in a color suite. The term is also used to refer to the equipment used in the post-production process....
) is beginning to appear in some newer 1080p displays, which can produce a true 1080p quality image from film-based 1080i60 programs. Similarly, 25fps content broadcast at 1080i50 may be deinterlaced to 1080p content with no loss of quality or resolution.
The AV equipment manufacturing industry has adopted the term Full HD as the consumer-friendly marketing term to mean the set is a safe purchase because it can display all available HD resolutions up to 1080p. The term is misleading, however, because it does not guarantee the set is capable of rendering digital video at all frame rates encoded in source files with 1080 pixel vertical resolution. Most notably, a "Full HD" set is not guaranteed to support the 1080p24 format, leading to consumer confusion.
DigitalEurope (formerly EICTA) maintains the HD ready 1080p logo program that requires the certified TV sets to support 1080p24, 1080p50, and 1080p60, without overscan/underscan
Overscan
Overscan is extra image area around the four edges of a video image that may not be seen reliably by the viewer. It exists because television sets in the 1930s through 1970s were highly variable in how the video image was framed within the cathode ray tube .-Origins of overscan:Early televisions...
and picture distortion.
Computer monitors
Some modern widescreen liquid crystal displayLiquid crystal display
A liquid crystal display is a flat panel display, electronic visual display, or video display that uses the light modulating properties of liquid crystals . LCs do not emit light directly....
(LCD), most widescreen cathode ray tube
Cathode ray tube
The cathode ray tube is a vacuum tube containing an electron gun and a fluorescent screen used to view images. It has a means to accelerate and deflect the electron beam onto the fluorescent screen to create the images. The image may represent electrical waveforms , pictures , radar targets and...
(CRT), and all QXGA monitors can natively
Native mode
The term native mode or native code is used in computing in two related senses.*to describe something running on a computer natively or in native mode meaning that it is running without any external support as contrasted to running in emulation....
display 1080p content. Widescreen WUXGA monitors for example support 1920×1200 resolution, which can display a pixel for pixel reproduction of the 1080p (1920×1080) format. The resolution is rare, but increasing in popularity amongst laptops in 2009; some laptops have a 13", 15", 17" or even a 18.4" display that run a resolution of 1920×1200 or 1920x1080. Additionally, many 23, 24, and 27 inches (685.8 mm) widescreen LCD monitors use 1920×1200 as their native resolution, 30 inch displays can display beyond 1080p at up to 2560x1600 (1600p). Many 27" monitors have native resolutions of 2560×1440 and hence operate at 1440p. Other 1080p-compatible LCDs have lower than 1920×1080 native resolution and cannot display 1080p pixel for pixel, relying on the display's internal scaler to produce an image resized to suit the display's actual resolution.
Video game consoles
Current generation video game consoles such as SonySony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
's PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
and Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
's Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
can display games and video content in 1080p. Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
's Wii U, with a release expected in 2012, will support 1080p via HDMI. For all of the consoles this is done through HDMI connections (in the case of the Xbox 360, HDMI is only available on consoles manufactured after June 2007). Additionally, 1080p video is available on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 via an analog component
Component video
Component video is a video signal that has been split into two or more component channels. In popular use, it refers to a type of component analog video information that is transmitted or stored as three separate signals...
/D-Terminal (YPBPR
YPbPr
' is a color space used in video electronics, in particular in reference to component video cables. is the analog version of the YCBCR color space; the two are numerically equivalent, but YPBPR is designed for use in analog systems whereas YCBCR is intended for digital video. cables are also...
) connection, as well as the VGA connection on the Xbox 360. On the PlayStation 3, developers must provide specific resolution support at the software level as there is no hardware upscaling support, whereas on the Xbox 360 games can be upscaled using a built in hardware scaler chip. Most games on both consoles however do not run at a native 1080p resolution and only a select few allow this option due to other constraints (such as graphical memory), which most developers prefer to invest in different areas.
Both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 provide 1080p video services. Sony provides both the PlayStation Store
PlayStation Store
The PlayStation Store is an online virtual market available to users of Sony's PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable game consoles via the PlayStation Network. The Store offers a range of downloadable content both for purchase and available free of charge. Available content includes full games,...
VOD
Video on demand
Video on Demand or Audio and Video On Demand are systems which allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audio content on demand...
service and Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
playback. Microsoft provides the Zune Video Marketplace for "instant on" 1080p video content but does not have Blu-ray disc playback capability. It does however support the now-defunct HD DVD
HD DVD
HD DVD is a discontinued high-density optical disc format for storing data and high-definition video.Supported principally by Toshiba, HD DVD was envisioned to be the successor to the standard DVD format...
disc standard via the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player
Xbox 360 HD DVD Player
The Xbox 360 HD DVD Player is a discontinued accessory for the Xbox 360 console that enabled the playback of movies on HD DVD discs. Microsoft offered the drive for sale between November 2006 and February 2008....
add-on. Both consoles also offer support for streaming 1080p content in various formats over home network from other computers, and also via USB connection to external storage devices.
Due to potential copyright issues, when an analog component connection is used, only system menus and gameplay are available in 1080p; video content is displayed at a lower resolution or in 1080i.
While 1080p analog component output is supported by the consoles, most display hardware will only accept component connections up to 1080i.
Camcorders and cameras
Many consumer camcorderCamcorder
A camcorder is an electronic device that combines a video camera and a video recorder into one unit. Equipment manufacturers do not seem to have strict guidelines for the term usage...
s and professional video and DSLR
Digital single-lens reflex camera
Most digital single-lens reflex cameras are digital cameras that use a mechanical mirror system and pentaprism to direct light from the lens to an optical viewfinder on the back of the camera....
photo cameras can capture 1080p24, 1080p25, or 1080p30 video, often encoding it in progressive segmented frame
Progressive segmented frame
Progressive segmented Frame is a scheme designed to acquire, store, modify, and distribute progressive-scan video using interlaced equipment and media....
format.
As of 2011, there are a few consumer AVCHD
AVCHD
AVCHD is a file-based format for the digital recording and playback of high-definition video....
/NXCAM camcorders that can capture 1080p50 and 1080p60 video, including the Panasonic
Panasonic
Panasonic is an international brand name for Japanese electric products manufacturer Panasonic Corporation, which was formerly known as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd...
HDC-TM700/HDC-HS700/HDC-SD700/HDC-SD600, the Sanyo
Sanyo
is a major electronics company and member of the Fortune 500 whose headquarters is located in Moriguchi, Osaka prefecture, Japan. Sanyo targets the middle of the market and has over 230 Subsidiaries and Affiliates....
Xacti VPC-HD2000, and the Sony Handycam NEX-VG20/NEX-FS100. Professional digital cinema
Digital cinema
Digital cinema refers to the use of digital technology to distribute and project motion pictures. A movie can be distributed via hard drives, optical disks or satellite and projected using a digital projector instead of a conventional film projector...
cameras capable of capturing 1080p60 include the Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
CineAlta
CineAlta
Sony's CineAlta 24P HD Cameras are a series of professional digital video cameras that offer many of the same features of a 35mm motion picture film camera.- Concept :...
F23 camera and Sony SRW9000 camcorder (with optional 60p processing boards installed), Sony PMW-F3 camcorder, as well as RED One camera (in 2K and 3K capturing modes). The new Apple iPhone 4S is also capable of recording in 1080p HD video, using the back-facing camera.
See also
- 480p480p480p is the shorthand name for a video display resolution. The p stands for progressive scan, i.e. non-interlaced. The 480 denotes a vertical resolution of 480 pixel high vertically scanning lines, usually with a horizontal resolution of 640 pixels and 4:3 aspect ratio or a horizontal resolution of...
, 720p720p720p is the shorthand name for 1280x720, a category of High-definition television video modes having a resolution of 1080 or 720p and a progressive scan...
, 1080i1080i1080i is the shorthand name for a high-definition television mode. The i means interlaced video; 1080i differs from 1080p, in which the p stands for progressive scan. The term 1080i assumes a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9, implying a frame size of 1920×1080 pixels... - Progressive segmented frameProgressive segmented frameProgressive segmented Frame is a scheme designed to acquire, store, modify, and distribute progressive-scan video using interlaced equipment and media....
- High-definition televisionHigh-definition televisionHigh-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
- HD Ready 1080pHD readyThe HD ready is a certification program introduced in 2005 by EICTA , now DIGITALEUROPE....
- Display resolutionDisplay resolutionThe display resolution of a digital television or display device is the number of distinct pixels in each dimension that can be displayed. It can be an ambiguous term especially as the displayed resolution is controlled by all different factors in cathode ray tube , flat panel or projection...
- Blu-ray DiscBlu-ray DiscBlu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
External links
- 1080p and the Acuity of Human Vision Audioholics Home Theater Magazine. April 2, 2007.
- High Definition 1080p TV: Why You Should Be Concerned. Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity. February 28, 2007.
- The Facts and Fiction of 1080p. April 17, 2006.
- High Definition (HD) Image Formats for Television Production (EBUEuropean Broadcasting UnionThe European Broadcasting Union is a confederation of 74 broadcasting organisations from 56 countries, and 49 associate broadcasters from a further 25...
technical publication). December 2004.