You may have heard a lot about HDTV recently, but like many people, you may still be wondering what an HDTV really is. If you are in the market for a new TV, you may be interested in getting an HDTV, but before you head out to buy one, it might help to take a few minutes to find out a little more about them.
HDTV is and acronym that stands for high-definition television. This means it uses a television picture format that is made possible by using digital television (DTV) signals. HDTV can provide viewers with images that are six times the resolution seen on traditional televisions, as well as crystal-clear digital sound. Surprisingly, a digital broadcast uses the same amount of bandwidth (6 megahertz) as used in current analog signals. However, the efficiencies of DTV allow for the transmission of far more information than the analog system can deliver which makes for higher quality pictures and sound.
In the past, watching a regular television involved analog signals and a cathode ray tube (CRT). The analog signal is made of continually varying radio waves that a TV can translate into pictures and sound. A digital signal, like the ones that come from DVD players, are converted to analog when they are played on traditional TVs. This system has worked pretty well for a long time, but it has some limitations in regards to the resolution and overall picture quality.
The CRT television pictures are made up of 480 lines that are scanned horizontally. HDTV pictures are created by scanning 1,080 lines. CRT television sets have what would be the equivalent of 300,000 pixels, while an HDTV screen is composed of more than 2 million pixels.
Obviously, having so many more pixels on your screen will greatly improve the sharpness and quality of your pictures. HDTV sets also have much wider screens that can more closely approximate human peripheral vision, which can make it a lot easier to watch.
Keep in mind with HDTV that it is more than just the picture quality that is optimized using digital signals. HDTV can use the 5.1 channels of Dolby Digital surround sound, whereas the CRT televisions can only offer two channels of audio. HDTV can deliver true surround sound to front speakers on the right, center and left, along with two back speakers and a subwoofer. You do not have to have an audio system set up this way, but having the option to go with surround sound is definitely a plus.
You do not need to worry about receiving HDTV signals, as anyone that owns a high-definition (HD) television can receive HD content. You can use over-the-air HD signals, which are the ones that a typical rooftop antenna would receive. These signals are free to receive with the only cost being the equipment. However, the selection of HD channels would likely be very limited. You can also receive HD programming from your cable or satellite provider, but of course, you would need to subscribe to their HD package, and this would not be free. However, they would be able to offer you a huge variety of channels
If you have found an HDTV that you want, you should make sure that all the other equipment you already own will work with it. If you already have a DVD player, DVR, game consoles, or other video equipment, make sure that they can be connected to the HDTV directly or through an audio/visual receiver. Some HDTVs have High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) connections, which can transmit audio/visual signals to the HDTV. In other cases, you may be able to use adapters to make your equipment compatible with your set, but it is something you should work out before your bring the new set home.
The prices of HDTVs have dropped considerably over the past few years, and they are expected to continue dropping. You can buy an HDTV set at any electronics store, so you can do a lot of comparison-shopping before you buy one. Plasmas, DLP, and LCD are some of the more popular types of HDTV, with many pros and cons to each. They differ in quality and in the way that they project the picture onto the screen, and of course, they differ in price as well. Before deciding which of these you would like, you should do your homework to make sure you are getting the set that suits you best.