HDTV Demystified
HDTV is the hottest item in consumer electronics today and with an estimated 88 million sets expected to be sold over the next 3 years, there is no sign of slowing. With the picture quality and sleek look (especially flat panel models), it is no surprise. While extremely popular, much of the terminology and technology behind that beautiful picture and amazing sound can still be confusing.
What Do All These Numbers (and Acronyms) Mean?
DTV is the new standard for delivering spectacular picture and sound via digital television broadcasts. It will replace television broadcasting, as we know it, in 2009 completely.
Most displays capable of showing digital broadcasts will show true High Definition (HDTV) while some offer a lower resolution picture labeled as Enhanced Definition (EDTV).These are labeled based on their capability to show lines of resolution such as… 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i and 1080p. The number you see literally identifies how many lines run horizontally across the screen in order to make one complete picture; the higher the number, the more detail you will see.
The “i” stands for interlaced, meaning the lines of resolution are drawn odd first, then even (1, 3, 5, 7, etc then 2, 4, 6, 8, etc). When ending in “p” or progressive, the lines are drawn in order, yielding a smoother, more detailed picture compared to an interlaced version with the same number of lines. So, if you purchase a set capable of displaying 1080p that means it can show up to 1080 lines horizontally across the screen, drawn progressively in chronological order from top to bottom thus yielding a better picture than the interlaced 1080i. True HDTV starts at 720p while EDTV sets cannot display greater than 480p resolution. Anything broadcast to EDTV sets at a higher level will be down-converted (digitally down-graded) to 480p.
