Can 1080i plasma handle 1080p signals?

[alvag20]

I have a pioneer elite pro 1540 HD 60" plasma and running a pioneer elite BDP 94 HD blu ray player and an 80G PS3. Now if I am correct the plasma can handle up to 1080i which is the case when I play a blu ray form the pioneer player which is set to ouput at 1080i. I can confirm this by hitting the display button for the plasma which displays the resolution and size of the picture.
However when I play a blu ray from the PS3 the plasma keeps trying to go to a 1080p resolution. The image will flicker in about 3 second intervals (picture comes on for about 3 seconds then it goes black) and the display on the plasma shows 1080p.
Can anyone explain how this may be happening. I would have thought that if plasma is at best 1080i how could it display a 1080p image even if it is only for 3 seconds. Does this mean the plasma can handle 1080p or is this just fail safe to inform the user the signal coming in is 1080p and it can not handle it therefore it blacks out.
Any ideas?