When did companies start selling 720p TVs as “HD”?

Posted by BringBackFatMac@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 5 comments

Always used to be that 720p TVs were called “HD Ready” (whatever that means), and 1080p TVs were called “HD” or “Full HD”. Now everywhere I look, 720p TVs are being sold as “HD”, whilst 1080p TVs are being sold as “Full HD”. It’s been making things annoying af whilst shopping for a TV recently.

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5 Comments

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SquidsAlien@reddit

That started well over a decade ago - probably close to 15 years ago!

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LukasKhan_UK@reddit

"ready" just means "I can do this when you need me too" So *any* HD Ready TV was ready for HD Don't forget. When HD Ready was a thing, the majority of content still wasn't HD.

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Plumot@reddit

They've always done that. 720p is classed as HD so I think it'd be unfair to call it misleading With how cheap 1080p and 4k has got, I'm surprised they're still making 720p TV's though

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anonymouse39993@reddit

I think it is HD just poor quality ? I’ve got a 4K tv for the first time with a 120hz refresh rate this seems like a massive step up

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HistorikalGroov@reddit

720p is and always has been HD, with 1080p as Full HD. "HD Ready" was a marketing term which just meant it was an HD-capable TV, so you can plug in your PS3 or Sky HD box and get HD content. Shopping for a TV in 2023, I really recommend getting a 4K TV. They've dropped in price massively now, and there's enough 4K content to justify it.