What Is HDTV And How Does It work?
In the field of television broadcasting there are plenty of
acronyms to go around and it all can all be very confusing. One
of the most common terms you will read about and hear is "HDTV".
A lot of people use that term in articles and at the consumer
electronics stores and assume that everyuone knows exactly what
they are talking about. But plenty of us are not tech-heads that
know all the latest jargon in the electronics world, so let's go
over just what HDTV is and what it means for you.
First of all HDTV stands simply for High Definition Television.
It is a broadcasting standard for sending television signals in
digital format instead of the old analog way. Back in days past,
the television signal that originated at the tv station was sent
in analog format that ciould only handle so much data for both
picture and sound and once that limit was reached, it didn't
matter how great the television set was that was receiving the
signal, it would only look and sound so great.
However, with the advent of the digital age, electronics
technology has improved to the extent that we can do much better
than analog television signals now, and instead we can record
the signal digitally, braodcast it not only by antenna but by
cable and satellite and display it on greatly superior
television screens. All of this results in picture and sound
that is vastly improved over what we have been used to watching
on television for many years now.
To give you an idea of how much improvement has been made in
television equipment, just consider the screen or monitor
itself. Standard television monitors have only been able to
display about 525 lines of information on the screen, while HDTV
enabled monitors can display up to 1080 lines on the same
screen. That's almost double the detail of analog television.
What that means for you is much improved resolution, color, and
smoothness of action on the screen. And it will also be easier
on the eyes as well.
Since all television broadcasts have been mandated by the FCC in
the US to eventually be shown in HDTV format, that pretty much
makes all analog TV systems obsolete. So if you are looking to
buy a new television, it makes a lot of sense to buy a high
definition television, as that will soon be the standard for all
televisions sold for some to come.