A1 shoots in 1080i? Confused by menu
 

The comp out menu has 2 options : 480i and 1080i/480i

What does that mean exactly? Does the camera film in 1080i? Or can it? Does it output it as 1080i? I have a guy who wants me to film for him which will eventually be exported to 35mm and he said he absolutely needs 1080i.....no 480 allowed. So can this camera do what he is asking?

Of course it does;) It wouldn't be HD if it didn't.

The captured frame size to the computer is 1440x1080.
I believe that TV or film size HD is 1920x1080. I can get that size by creating a 1920x1080 comp in After Effects then outputing it. I think you can also choose those setting when you export in Adobe premiere pro too.

Hmmm so does that mean its only 1080i on export of HDV? If you use DV Downconvert that puts it out at 480i? Do I have that right?

It's not HDV coming out of the component video output -- it's uncompressed analog 1080i, which is what component video is (unless you have it switched to 480i, in which case it's only standard definition, but still uncompressed analog video).

It's HDV coming out of the FireWire jack.

You need to think of those component video output menu options as either SD only, or HD / SD. That's what it means by 480i, or 1080i/480i. The component video output choice is up to you.