The percentage of sales people that recommend Samsung HDTVs.
Salespeople are also becoming less likely to recommend LCD sets over plasma sets, which goes against the industry trend.
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It is my understanding that no Plasma or LCD tv can display 1080i because it is interlaced. The tv can certainly accept that signal, but it will only down convert it to the tv's native resolution (usually 720p or close).
It would seem to me that the major advantage of a 1080p television is not so much the better picture from 1080i to 1080p, but the fact that the plasma or lcd can display 1080 lines of resolution. It is the upgrade from 720p to 1080i that you are going to be able to see.
Granted, a lot of content on cable or satellite (ESPN HD for instance) outputs their shows in 720p. In this case, the picture wouldn't look any better as the 1080p tv would just upconvert the picture to 1080p. But for the stations that output in 1080i (no 1080p yet), your tv will be able to display the full 1080 lines of resolution by merely deinterlacing the signal. A 720p tv would take the 1080i signal and downgrade it to 720p thus losing the extra resolution.
Someone please correct me if I am wrong, but this is my understanding of the issue. I have never heard anyone state that the difference between 720p output and 1080i output is what makes 1080p so great. I currently own a 42" Westinghouse 1080p monitor and the picture is stunning.