"1920 X 1080i or 1080p....as I understand it...if 65" plasma has pixels of 1366X 768 is HD?"
A quick rule of thumb, as it was explained to me a long time ago. In your example '1920x1080', look at the '1920' number/position of it as the number of interlaced count the display can produce, eg 1920i or 1080i. Look at the '1080' number/position as the "progressive scanned" pixel count the display can produce, eg 1080p or 768p.
To answer your question, the 768 does fall above the 720p figure to constitute HD. So, yes the display can produce a HD 720p signal in true HD.
"Does it take advantage of Blu Ray, HD DVD properly?"
As long as the number is above 1080, then it can display the 1080p HD signals BluRay and HD-DVD can produce. As for the display you mentioned, the answer would be no, because it can only display a signal of 768p or below.
"But wanted to ask the question as the dealer kept insisting it would do full HS of 1080i....is this not the same as pixel count. Am I missing something here?"
The dealer is correct and so are you. The mentioned display (1366 x 768) can handle the 1080i HD signal. This is the pixel count, yes. However, it can not handle the 1080p signal of BluRay and HD-DVD because the second number is not 1080 or above.
I hope this makes sense and explains things alittle better.
A quick rule of thumb, as it was explained to me a long time ago. In your example '1920x1080', look at the '1920' number/position of it as the number of interlaced count the display can produce, eg 1920i or 1080i. Look at the '1080' number/position as the "progressive scanned" pixel count the display can produce, eg 1080p or 768p.
To answer your question, the 768 does fall above the 720p figure to constitute HD. So, yes the display can produce a HD 720p signal in true HD.
"Does it take advantage of Blu Ray, HD DVD properly?"
As long as the number is above 1080, then it can display the 1080p HD signals BluRay and HD-DVD can produce. As for the display you mentioned, the answer would be no, because it can only display a signal of 768p or below.
"But wanted to ask the question as the dealer kept insisting it would do full HS of 1080i....is this not the same as pixel count. Am I missing something here?"
The dealer is correct and so are you. The mentioned display (1366 x 768) can handle the 1080i HD signal. This is the pixel count, yes. However, it can not handle the 1080p signal of BluRay and HD-DVD because the second number is not 1080 or above.
I hope this makes sense and explains things alittle better.