Plasma resolutions vary; they typically come in 1024x1024 or 853x480. The difference between these two is the manner in which they display pixels. The main objective is to match the original pixel resolution to the display resolution. Most plasma displays have a 16x9 aspect ratio (wide-screen format), therefore based on their resolution, they will need to convert or interpolate the incoming signal to match with the display resolution. For example, a 42-inch plasma display with a 1024x1024 resolution will need to convert an incoming HDTV signal of 1080i, which has a native pixel resolution of 1920x1080. In order to match the HDTV signal with that of the 42” 1024x1024 and produce a 16x9 aspect ratio, the plasma display will create rectangular pixels. The resulting image will be softened because the converter has to do more interpolating on the horizontally stretched pixel; however it will create better depth. Conversely, an 853x480 display has square shaped pixels; therefore, it will have much less horizontal conversions to produce a 16x9 aspect ratio and its resulting image will be much crisper.
