What is HDTV? HDTV, High Definition Television, is a new digital television format that is slated to become de facto U.S. broadcast standard by 2007. As its name implies, HDTV offers a sharper picture that can range from much better to mesmerizing. How does HDTV differ from standard television? Conventional, analog color television, dubbed NTSC (National Television Standard Committee) in the U.S., South America and Japan, and PAL in Europe and SECAM in other parts of the world, features a resolution of 480 vertical lines (525 lines in PAL/SECAM), which are displayed in an interlaced format, hence its 480i designation. Interlacing refers to a technique that shows only half of a TV picture on screen at a time, with one frame displaying odd lines, while the next displays even lines. This happens so fast, the human eye sees only one picture. HDTV, dubbed ATSC (Advanced Television Standards Committee), is part of a set of next-generation DTV (Digital TV) standards that feature three improved resolutions: 720p, 1080i and 1080p. As the appendices suggest, one is interlaced and two are “progressive.” Progressive shows all lines on screen at once. Because HDTV boasts many more lines of resolution, TV images tend to be far more detailed than conventional, or NTSC, television. Another major difference between conventional TV and HDTV is that the former has an aspect ratio, the width of the television vs. the height, of 4:3. HDTV features one widescreen format: 16:9 (explaining the naming of this publication).

What is DTV? DTV, Digital Television, is a set of 18 standards for transmitting digital television signals. DTV encompasses the two most popular HDTV broadcasting standards: 720p, and 1080i. An even higher quality standard, 1080p, is already beginning to show up in avant-garde display equipment and will one day be the de facto, worldwide broadcast standard. 

What is digital cable? Digital cable refers to a cable company transmission that surpasses the old analog transmission by providing far more channel capacity. While digital cable is required to transmit HDTV signals (also see CableCARD), most digital cable systems merely broadcast regular analog TV in digital format. 

What is EDTV and SDTV? EDTV, Enhanced Definition Television, is the 480p digital broadcasting format, used by DVDs and, inexplicably, for FOX’ digital broadcasts. While superior to conventional TV, 480p is visibly inferior to the 720p and 1080i HDTV formats. SDTV, Standard Definition Television, and represents the broadcast format of 480i. This is the television that we have come to know as regular old television. SDTV is considered the lowest resolution of all television formats, except for black and white. EDTV and HDTV are of higher quality. When will all TV broadcasts be HDTV? The FCC has mandated that all TV broadcasts be in some digital format by May 2006. Currently, XXXX of the U.S.’ XXXX TV stations broadcast some programming in digital format, XXX shy of the stations that were supposed to be on-air today. While compliance is lagging, it’s clear that as hardware prices continue to decline, HDTV’s popularity will rocket leading to a conversion acceleration. How are most people receiving their HDTV broadcasts today? According to recent poll of HDTV aficionados, 51% received CBS’ HDTV broadcast of the Super Bowl using an over-the-air (OTA) antenna. Another XX% received the game via DirecTV, while 22% saw it via a cable. DISH, at 3%, served the rest. 

What is CableCARD? While most HDTV broadcasts are received with over-the-air (OTA) antennas, it’s clear that HDTV will catch on faster once broadcasts can be received by the 85% of the U.S.’ 108 million TV households that subscribe to cable. Because HDTV takes up a lot of broadcast bandwidth, and cable and satellite were not included in the FCC’s HDTV mandate, the move to HDTV via cable has been slow. Luckily, in Sept. 2002, an agreement was reached between cable companies and TV manufacturers. How does one receive HDTV signals? There are three ways of receiving HDTV broadcasts, though depending on where you live satellite might currently be your only option… Cable: If your local cable provider currently supports HDTV then you can receive those signals from them. Pricing and the number of channels they carry depends on where you live. You will need to get a HD decoder box from the cable company to watch these signals. Over-the-air (OTA) - To receive HDTV requires an OTA antenna, using either a roof-mounted or, if you live close to a major metropolitan area, an interior antenna. If you are in a large metropolitan area then chances are good that you can already receive free HDTV over the air. You will need to get a separate decoder box to watch these signals and in many cases will have to mess around with the setup a bit before everything is running smoothly. Satellite – Almost anyone can receive HDTV via a satellite company and all satellite companies currently carry high definition channels. You will need to get a special HD decoder from the satellite company to watch these signals and you usually will have to pay a small price increase for this service as well. Cable – Cable providers, like Comcast and Time-Warner, have rolled out HDTV in many markets. However, many cable providers have not made all the upgrades to their network that allow all of their customers to get high defintion channels. Without doubt, these cable companies are working hard to upgrade all of their equipment and most households should be serviced within the next 6 to 18 months. How do I check if I can receive HDTV where I live? Almost always. With one of the three options above you will surely be able to receive high definition signals of some sort. To find out exactly what you can receive, you can visit the HDTV Pub and type in your zip code. What channels are transmitting HDTV? Your local channels may vary when it comes to ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC, but the networks that currently support high definition are: ESPN-HD, HBO-HD, Showtime-HD, DiscoveryHD Theater, HDNet, HDNet Movies, Pay Per View HD, and more are comming soon. Will an old VHF/UHF antenna receive HDTV signals? While a regular VHF/UHF antenna will work for certain HDTV signals, most require an UHF. However, even though a regular old VHF/UHF antenna will pick up HDTV signals, you might need a newer antenna with a pre-amp to actually receive channels. This will depend on three things: (1) How far you live from the local broadcast towers (2) How powerful the signals are that they are actually broadcasting, and (3) What your local terrain is like: Do you have large buildings, big trees, foothills near you? The worse off you are with the above three items the better of an antenna you will need. Why do few HDTV-capable TVs feature integrated HDTV tuners? Because HDTV was virgin territory, most manufacturers so far have chosen to rely on inconvenient outboard HDTV tuners, so-called “set-top boxes” (STB) by cognoscenti. In XX 2002, the FCC came to the rescue of HDTV fans by mandating the inclusion of HDTV tuners in models larger than 36 inches by July 2004, all sets above 20 inches by July 2005 and all TV set over 13 inches by July 2007. As a result, if you buy a late-model plasma, DLP or LCD display over 36 inches later this year, you’ll be getting an integrated HDTV. 

What is DVI/HDCP? DVI/HDCP stands for Digital Video Interface and High Definition Content Protection. Manufacturers of TVs are trying to agree to use DVI/HDCP as a way of protecting copyrighted material that is broadcasted to your home. When using DVI/HDCP you will not be able to copy material that is copyrighted like you can so easily do right now with a VCR. The problem with DVI/HDCP is that ideally you would not be able to watch copyrighted material in its full resolution unless you were using a DVI/HDCP input on your TV. However, only a minimal amount of TVs right now have a DVI/HDCP input and this is not a factor at this time. It could be in a few years, but we will have to wait and see what comes of it. Another thing to wonder is what do producers want to copyright? Most likely public TV broadcasts such as Fox, ABC, CBS and so on will not be protected against copying, but once again we will have to wait and see what comes of it. What are the chief differences between CRT, rear-projection, front-projection, plasma, DLP and D-ILA displays? Each technology has its ups and downs. CRT is cheaper but larger. Rear Projection is fairly cheap these days to and can go much larger then a CRT monitor. Front Projection is great if you want to build a true “Home Theater". Plasma and LCD are the latest craze and both are thin enough to fit anywhere. These flat screens also has a reputation of much higer quality, though you will be paying for these features. DLP and D-ILA are newer technologies that are truly amazing, but most people would rater buy a nicer car then spend $15,000 + on a television set. Does anyone make HDTV video games? Microsoft Xbox can output true HD 720p and 1080i signals. Newer videogame consoles support 480p, like Sony Playstation 2, Nintendo GameCube and Dreamcast support 480p, which looks better then standard-definition games. To find out what games support which DTV resolutions, visit the HDTV Pub to see what Games Support HDTV. 

What is a progressive DVD Player? DVD is encoded in the 480p format. The ‘P’ stands for progressive and ‘I’ stands for interlaced. Regular television is displayed in the 480i format and this is the format for standard, non-high defintion televisions. To get the best possible picture with DVDs you will want to get a progressive scan DVD player as it is a big difference from a non-progressive DVD player. A non-progressive DVD player will only output the standard 480i signal and it will be impossible to watch DVDs in a progressive format with a non-progressive DVD player.