What 24p refers to is twenty four frames per second. Frames per second is in reference to video/film formats of the motion picture and video industries. Hollywood studios usually film and edit material in 24p, and they transfer their movies to discs as 24p. In reality it's not 24p, but 23.976p, but for simplicity the number to rounded up to 24.

DVD, HD DVD and Bluray support 24p. This has enabled manufacturers, such as Sony, to develop home cinema systems which support 24p. Sony's BDVE370 system is one such model. Therefore, Sony have advertised their machine as allowing viewers to enjoy a movie just as the filmmaker intended them too.Cinema systems that do not support 24p, usually deliver images quicker than twenty four frames per second. A rate of twenty five frames a second is common place amongst these systems.

If you are intending to purchase a 24p cinema system, then you should be fore warned that it's not enough just to have a home cinema system that supports 24p. You will also need a television set which supports twenty four frames per second. Sony, for example, have a range of televisions advertised as 'True Cinema', which you'd assume do support 24p.

Some people have questioned whether 24p is a gimmick dreamt up by manufacturers to make people upgrade their systems. While it's true that the standard in the movie industry is 24p, this may not result in a noticeable superior home cinema experience. Some videophiles would advise sticking to the fundamental, a resolution of 1080p and a refresh rate of 120 Hz. The other features may be handy to have, but are far from essential.