Key difference: qHD stands for quarter High Definition, and is one fourth of full high definition, or full HD, hence the name qHD. Both these resolutions differ in terms of their measurement as well.

High definition or HD, as it is popularly known, has come to define the viewing experiences of an average television viewer. Simply put, any video image which has more than 480 horizontal lines (America) or 576 lines (Europe) is deemed to be an HD or a high definition image. An HD image presents its users with a crystal clear viewing experience, made possible by its resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels in a 16:9 aspect ratio. Along with providing a true-to-life expression to its viewer, HD also eliminates the distortion of images, by making them crisper and tighter as compared to the normal video images.

High definition technology has set new benchmarks in the film, television, internet and gaming industries alike. More and more film crews, directors, producers, etc. are investing in this technology to present the viewers with a surreal viewing experience. Trends acquired from the gaming industry show a clear inclination of the gamers towards the HD enabled gaming consoles and games. HD is all about an immersive viewing experience, which has been showcased by the sheer demand of this technology from people all over the world.

HD has also served to bring to the fore, background technical information of broadcasting such as pixels, aspect ratio, et al. Information of this kind has made consumers more aware and knowledgeable about technology, and helped them stay at pace with its constant innovations. Further, it has helped the consumers while buying electronic products which are purely marketed by using technical terms such as HD, HD ready, etc. Reasons like these have made HD popular among the masses and led it to branch out as full HD, qHD, QHD, UHD, etc.

Full HD or FHD as it is known, simply means Full High Definition. True to its name, an FHD image promises a complete HD viewing experience. Developed as a format for HDTV transmission and storage purposes, full HD has a screen resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels in a 16:9 aspect ratio. Due to this resolution, full HD is also sometimes known as 1080i or 1080p. The ‘i’ in the 1080i stands for ‘interlaced’, whereas the ‘p’ in the 1080p stands for Progressive Scan, which basically means non-interlacing. Full HD has been made use of filming many major motion pictures, producing video content for the television audiences and for web users as well. Full HD features in some video games as well, depending upon the configuration of the platform that they’re run on. Of late, full HD has made forays into mobile phone screens as well.

qHD is the abbreviation for quarter High Definition. As the name suggests, qHD is called so because it is precisely one fourth of the standard full HD screen. A typical qHD image will measure 960 x 540 pixels in a 16:9 aspect ratio, which exactly amounts to a fourth of 1080p, the size of one full HD frame. This format is mainly popular in the high-end mobile phones and tablet sections. Since early 2011, many phone companies have started incorporating qHD into the making of the screens in their devices and gadgets. Phones such as the Sony Xperia P, HTC Amaze 4G, HTC Sensation, HTC Evo 3D, HTC Desire 600, Motorola Droid RAZR, etc. comprise of a qHD screen. Moreover, Sony’s portable handheld gaming device, the PlayStation Vita also features a qHD display in it.   

Comparison between qHD and full HD:

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