Questions for our tv's resolution

In the US, the longtime, but slated to be replaced NTSC (National Television Standards Committee) television broadcast standard calls for screen resolution of 648 x 486 with a 4:3 aspect ratio and 525 interlaced, alternately scanned horizontal lines - thats what you see from analog broadcast or cable TV. Actually, of the 525 available scan lines, only 480 carry video information. 1/2 the lines are scanned in 1/60th second, the other half in the next 1/60th second, yielding a frame rate of 30 full images per second. It works out to a bit under 315,000 pixels-per-screen. The newer ATSC digital television standard, the replacement for NTSC, provides for several resolutions, with 1280 x 720, at a 16:9 aspect ratio with 1,080 interlaced, alternately scanned horizontal lines, designated as full High Definition Television, offering just under 1,000,000 pixels per screen. The frame rate typically is 30 full images per second as well, though other frame rates are supported. There is provision for a yet higher resolution, 1920 X 1080, also with a 16:9 aspect ratio, offering a bit more than 2,000,000 pixels per screen, but with 1,080 non-interlaced, progressively scanned lines and a frame rate of 60 full images per second, but as yet no consumer broadcast or pre-recorded program material is available in the higher resolution.

The short anwer to your question is that a 1280 X 720 LCD TV is capable of providing roughly 3 times the resolution of a standard CRT television. A standard television makes a very poor computer monitor, but just about any LCD TV or computer monitor is capable of doing a fine job with anything TV of any flavor can throw at it.

All that said, High Definition CRT monitors still outperform other display types for resolution, contrast, color fidelity, and freedom from motion artifacts. That edge won't last much longer, but its still there.