Full HD

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What Does Full HD Mean?

Full HD is a term used to describe television display technology that is a standard for high-definition television in terms of video quality and sharpness. It is defined as an image with a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels. Blu-ray discs are capable of producing a 1080 progressive signal, and since 2012 most smartphone screens have been made to display a full HD image/video signal.

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Full HD is also known as 1080 progressive or 1080p.

Techopedia Explains Full HD

Full HD provides 1080 lines of resolution with progressive scanning. In contrast to other conventional methods of displaying images and videos, full HD offers interlaced scanning, where each scan displays alternate lines in the image raster, and two complete scans are therefore required to display the entire image. The full HD standard was introduced after the use of digital television for home and offices became common. In the widescreen aspect ratio, full HD is 16:9, which translates into 1920 by 1080. Modern-day camcorders, smartphone cameras and many other devices can capture 1080p video and encode it in progressive segment frame format.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert

Margaret is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.