Angry over the discovery, Harvey Norman has written to TV vendors demanding certification that screens being sold in their stores as full HD are in fact capable of delivering a full 1080p signal. It is believed that less than 50 per cent have so far responded to Harvey Norman demands.
The risk that retailers face is that a consumer who has purchased a 1080i TV believing it to be a full HD TV could in fact lodge a complaint over the transaction.
David Ackery General Manager of Electrical at Harvey Norman said: "We have written to vendors qualifying the definition of HD TV sets that we are selling. I believe we and vendors have a moral and legal obligation to not mislead consumers. As I understand it full HD is 1080p and the industry has to reach a consensus on this which is what we have asked them to do".
Industry expert Len Wallis of Len Wallis Audio in Sydney said: "We were of the belief that the Hitachi 50" Plasma was in fact 1080p which is full HD. 1080i is not full HD. I will have to investigate this as we have advertised the Hitachi screen as full HD and this now appears not to be the case. It is also what Hitachi told us and what is in their own advertising".
He added, "1080i is not full HD and to say so is wrong".
