HD Hubris

Of all the annoying phrases and pieces of marketing-speak that I've been exposed to over the years, the winner for the silliest (right above "reputable internet vendor") is "FullHD" (sometimes inaccurately referred to, but not to be confused with Dolby's audio format "TrueHD"). Just what is "FullHD?"

Let me help.

"FullHD" is Sony marketing at work. Period. Sony developed that phrase to infer that anything less than 1080p is not high definition. This is news to those that have owned beautiful 1080i high-def RPTVs and 720p flat panels, most of whom today still have no objection over their sets.

Here's the interesting part, and the one that needs to be spotlighted. Although 1080p existed in various types of televisions for awhile, it wasn't until Sony introduced their 1080p LCD sets to market that "FullHD" as a slogan was seen. Ironically (although not surprisingly) the release of the PS3 also carried this logo, in an attempt to infer that the 720p-based Xbox 360 was also deficient. The thrust of these statements is that even 1080p isn't good enough; it has to be Sony's iteration of 1080p. Let's ignore the other 18 versions of high-res formats. Nonsense.

Why is this an issue worth taking umbrage over? The idea that one company's definition of what constitutes the state of a certain technology is highly egotistical, and factually incorrect. As I've said many times on previous posts, the last thing the industry needs is to create more confusion in the marketplace. "Leaders" like Sony have a history of taking advantage of their name brand recognition to manipulate the buying public and influence the followers in the industry to warp what defines an established set of standards.

And people wonder why marketers aren't trusted.