What is HDTV?

TV

What is HDTV? TV/Audio/Video Buyers' Guide

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Find out more about HDTV below.

HDTV: The Future of TV

High-Definition Television, or HDTV, is the highest form of digital television (DTV). What’s more: We're in the midst of a national transition from fuzzy old analog TV to crystal-clear HDTV.

In the new digital era, broadcasters will be able to offer HD’s higher resolution for free, over-the-air—theater-quality pictures and CD-quality sound far surpassing anything possible under the current system. Networks may continue to broadcast in multiple resolution formats at the same time (called “multicasting”)—but with all the new DTV programming on-air, there'll be no shortage of breathtaking digital entertainment to enjoy exclusively via your new HDTV.

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Important Things to Know:

• There are five types of High-Definition TVs: standard shaped direct-view tubes, LCDs, plasma monitors, and rear- and front-projection units that require separate screens. Variations aside, remember that high definition refers to resolution—the number of horizontal lines that can be displayed on the screen—not the screen technology upon which the TV is based.

• Virtually all TV stations are now broadcasting digitally, with analog broadcasts expected to end in early 2009. To aid in the transition, manufacturers and service providers are producing reasonably priced converters to “down-convert” digital signals to analog, so that analog TVs can continue to receive over-the-air signals even after analog is a thing of the past. Nonetheless, upgrading to a digital TV is the only way you’ll be able to get all the great benefits of digital broadcasts (like theater-quality sound and additional digital services and perks, as soon as they’re released).

• Digital Cable is generally not HDTV. This is a common misconception. Digital Cable is usually analog-grade TV that’s been digitized and sent, via cable, as a digital signal. Digital cable’s video and picture quality is superior to standard analog cable, but it’s still far inferior to the luster of high definition. That said, some cable systems do offer a handful of HDTV channels.

• There are currently more than 200 hours of HDTV available per week, including 70 hours of free, over-the-air programming from the major networks, with new programming being added all the time.

What is the difference between Digital TV and HDTV?

Digital Television packs 5x the picture detail as analog within the same broadcast channel space, and it eliminates snow, ghosts, and interference. Televisions (the combination of a display and a receiver) in the digital world are known as DTVs. DTVs come in three levels of performance: standard definition (SD), enhanced definition (ED), and high definition (HD). All the DTVs on the market today can receive all DTV signals—and can adjust a signal to match the performance capacity of a TV’s display. In other words, an HD signal can be received by a digital television and be “down-graded” or converted to a lower performance signal to allow it to be viewed on a digital TV’s lower performance display.

SDTV

TVs that receive all DTV broadcasts and display 480 interlaced lines of resolution presented in 4:3 aspect ratio (today's square-shaped analog TVs). This is the same resolution (picture detail) as today's analog TV systems.

EDTV

TVs that receive all DTV broadcasts and display less than 720 lines (for example, 480p) are called "enhanced definition," or EDTVs. These TV's may come in either widescreen (16:9) or standard (4:3), but the image displayed is widescreen—the same resolution as today's DVDs.

HDTV

TVs that receive all DTV broadcasts, and display 720 or more progressive lines (rows of pixels, as measured vertically), are called "high definition," or HDTVs (including 720p, 1080i, and 1080p). HDTVs may be widescreen (16:9) or standard (4:3), but the image displayed is always widescreen. HDTV is the fastest-growing segment of its market—delivering the best performance, and matching the quality of most broadcaster signals.