HDTV top to bottom
"Broadcast in HDTV" is a promise that's coming true today. The term "High-definition" is synonymous with "crisp and clear" and as promised, HDTV broadcasts deliver stunning improvement in the picture quality. You know that you're in for a treat when you see these magic words broadcast before the show beings, and no self-respecting football fan would be caught dead watching a game in standard definition. More than just the hype of bigger and better TV, the standard will become de facto in the U.S. when analog broadcasting is shut off, the current deadline has been set for April 2009. Although there are plans to provide digital to analog tuner/converters for those that plan to keep their old standard definition TV, if you're visiting out site, you're most likely a proud owner or a shopper looking for the best deal in a brand new HDTV.
Before you run out the door, study the HDTV Primer below. Several providers are on the scene today to deliver TV, and what you purchase should meet the needs of that provider. Don't make a costly mistake and rely on solely on sales person to drive your purchase decision, do a little homework before you pull that trigger.
The source
You need to identify how your HDTV source will be delivered. Not including up-converting DVD players, summarized below are your options.Over-the-air with antenna
If you live in a typical midsize market, there should be several TV stations that will offer over-the-air (OTA) HDTV broadcasts. These include the nationals like ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, and PBS as well as a few independents. By next year, nearly every digital TV sold will have OTA HDTV tuner built in. Free public broadcasts are accessible by connecting an antenna to your set.Cable
Slowly gaining momentum on some HDTV sets are cable card slots. Still in the early development stages, the local cable company simply issues a card for activating the QAM Tuner built into the set. Otherwise, cable service providers generally lease their Set-top-boxes on a monthly basis with a subscription, but be sure to ask for a model that decodes HDTV. Also popular with cable customers are HDTV Digital Video Recorder models.Satellite
Finally, we have two satellite service providers, DirecTV and Dish Network, each using proprietary digital format not compatible with cable or OTA. The set-top-boxes can be leased or purchased, the advantage being that satellite service is available virtually anywhere in the country with installation of a small dish.
HDTV Connection Type
In the early stage of HDTV Broadcasting, there was not much dissent on the kind of connection that would be used. Borrowing from the early progressive DVD Player market, Component Video (a.k.a. Y-Pb-Pr) was the de facto standard and millions of HD-Ready and HDTV sets were shipped with this analog type connector as the primary cabling method. We've come a long way in the digital world where every content producing studio has waged a war on digital media distribution and the fear of music and video piracy rules the market.
Although Component Video connection still comes standard with all HDTV sets sold today, and there are few models of VGA/RGBHV based displays on the market, the move is to digital format of which there are two today, DVI and HDMI.
DVI is the most common connection type used on sets using digital matrix displays such as plasma, LCD, DLP, and LCOS. It can also be found in CRT based displays, but unlike the digital displays, there is a final digital to analog conversion on these sets.
Why the move to the digital type connections? Simply put, it is easier to add copy protection on these sets, and the ultimate goal of the major studios and the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) members is to make the analog sets obsolete, otherwise known as plugging the analog hole.
Due to the lack of agreement between the studios and the equipment manufacturers, there are millions of sets used by consumers today that can't decode the new crop of content protected digital connections. When making a new purchase, it is critical that this type of connection is available on your set otherwise you may end up with crippled or obsolete equipment.
Digital Connection and Content Protection
During the transition time, all sets will still be sold with Component Video inputs which majority of HDTV owners still use, but make sure that your set also includes one of the following inputs:
DVI with HDCP
DVI is most common on today's flat panel PC monitors and front projectors. In the transition period, DVI also became the standard in HDTV sets, however there has been one crucial difference in the format that cannot be distinguished by looks alone, and we caution you ask and confirm one question. Is the DVI input HDCP Compliant? Make sure that the sales person understands this question and can provide documentation to the fact when you are making the purchase as it is not always a term understood even today by many in the industry.
HDMI
This year we saw the introduction of the HDMI connection, soon to be the standard in HDTV connection format. HDMI is backwards compatible with DVI (in theory if HDCP Compliant), and HDCP is a given component of this connection type. HDMI can also carry audio to a TV with speakers eliminating the need of connecting additional audio cables. HDMI can also carry multi-channel audio if connected through a A/V Receiver that has this type of input, and future implementation plans include multi-channel high-resolution audio compatible with DVD-Audio/SACD.
A note on the DVI/HDCP compliance is that while nearly all of today's HD compliant equipment with Component connectors will continue to function, there are some speculation that video on this connector could be down-converted in the future. It is worth noting that DVI/HDCP and HDMI is really recommended when you make your purchase to ensure that this does not occur, or that you're left out of the high-definition DVD market tomorrow when new HD-DVD and Blu-Ray DVD equipment arrives on the scene in 2006. These new formats will have digital connections only (HDMI)
Digital TV Technology Basics
There are variety of technology options used in today's HDTV sets, all have characteristic that are optimal for particular size and environment. A summary of the common technologies commonly used:
Traditional CRT Directview
The later models are often over 28" size with the largest hovering at 38". While the CRT is slowly disappearing to make way for today's latest digital displays like the types below, there are still some development in this field. CRTs are popular for near total blacks and wide contrast range that produces the creamiest of pictures that pleases most eye. Recent breakthroughs include shallow tubes (shown below).
DLP Rear Projection
Range from 40" to 80" with the most utilized being 50". User replaceable lamp and lack of burn-in issues makes this a popular option.LCD/LCOS Rear Projection
Like DLP, ranges from 40" to 80" with the most common in the 50" range. No burn-in and replaceable lamp a plus.LCD-TV
Direct View LCD-TV ranges from 17" to hefty 46" with flat TV depth of 2-4". Price drops have been common in all sizes as the technology quickly develops to include better brightness and contrast ratio as well as newer HDMI inputs, HDTV Tuners and Cable Card slots.Plasma TV
Range from 38" to hefty 62" range, plasma is coveted for the thin profile and brightness/contrast thats ideal even in the brightest room. Also in the flat TV category, plasmas are often wall mounted to maximize living space.Front Projectors
Generally used in larger rooms like home theaters, projected images can look great at up to 130". Front projectors are available in variety of technologies as listed above (CRT, LCD, DLP, LCOS) that exhibit advantages of each in the picture image characteristics and resolutions capability.
4:3 or 16:9, the simple explanation of aspect ratio
With mainstream acceptance of HDTV, virtually all digital sets arriving on the market today are widescreen 16:9 format. What does it mean to the typical consumer? That would depend on your viewing material.
Should I go widescreen?
Once a common question from shoppers, its become a consensus that if you decide to buy a new digital TV, widescreen format is a given. But, while true HDTV broadcasts are the goal of the HDTV owner, much of what is broadcast today is still the older 4:3 square format that can cause havoc on some types of displays that are susceptible to burn-in (uneven wear causing ghost image on the screen). To take advantage of a typical widescreen HDTV set, there are two sources that take advantage of the oblong screen, true 720p/1080i HDTV broadcasts and Widescreen DVD disks.
Standard Definition 480p Digital TV
True HDTV image in 1080i on local CBS broadcast
Unfortunately, much of the available source during this transition time is still 4:3 standard screen images pose a bit of a dilemma to widescreen set owners that need to decide whether they will view this format as normal (with bars on both sides also known as pillarbox), stretched (filled from side to side), or zoomed (stretched in all directions and then cut off on top and bottom to retain the proper aspect). The opposite effect occurs on 4:3 TV sets with widescreen material as shown below.
Widescreen HDTV broadcasts on 4:3 TV
Although no longer a common sight, a 4:3 aspect ratio HD-Ready/HDTV will display widescreen HDTV broadcasts by letterboxing the image and placing bars on the top and bottom, or by zooming into the image and cutting off the sides.
