Graphic Desplay Resolution

• The graphic display resolution is the width and height dimensions of a screen display measured in pixels. The width corresponds with the laptop display's horizontal dimensions, while the height stands for its vertical dimensions. The numbers that comprise the 720p and 1080p modes -- which serve as shorthand for the resolutions -- represent the display's height. In the case of laptops, they are applied to widescreen displays.
  
  

Classification

• At the time of publication, the 1080p video mode is the highest HD standard, while the 720p video mode is the lowest HD standard. A laptop PC with a 720p mode typically uses a resolution of 1,366 by 768 pixels, which falls under the Wide eXtended Graphics Array (WXGA) standard. A laptop PC with a 1080p mode uses a 1,920-by-1,080-pixel resolution, which is classified as a Widescreen Ultra eXtended Graphics Array (WUXGA) standard.
  
  

Width and Height

• A laptop PC with the 1080p video mode, with its width and height dimensions, uses more pixels to create a display than one with the 720p video mode. By multiplying 1,366 pixels by 768 pixels, a 720p laptop uses up to 1 million pixels to create its images. A 1080p laptop, multiplying 1,920 pixels by 1,080 pixels, supplies twice that number. Thus, a 1080p laptop provides sharper and more vivid pictures.
  
  

Progressive Scan

• The letter "p" at the end of the video modes stands for "progressive scan," which describes the ability of the laptops to draw each line of their displays sequentially. This is in contrast with interlaced video, which draws each line randomly by alternating between the odd and the even ones. The result is that 720p and 1080p laptops use twice the amount of data for their screen displays as ones with 720i or 1080i modes.