March 21, 2008
High Definition
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Though HDTV is very sharp and clear in its quality as of today, its quality is bound to improve over the next few months and years. The advent of HD DVD players allowed consumers who already had 1080p High definition television sets to be able to view a full HDTV image. The following standards are considered High definition viewing,
1280×720p @ 24fps (frames per second)
1280×720p @ 30fps
1280×720p @ 60fps
1366×768p @ 30fps
1920×1080p @ 24fps
1920×1080i @ 30fps
1920×1080p @30fps
These numbers refer to the number of pixels on screen , vertically and horizontally and the frames per second which tells us how often the screen is refreshed. This rate is generally so fast that the screen refreshes before the blink of an eye. The curent HDTV’s being sold are of the 1920*1080p models, these being the highest definition possible as of date. This however is leading to some confusion as noone is curently broadcasting in the 1080p format, which means that the first half of the screen gets refreshed before the second half.
1080p refreshes the screens at one go and is available with the new DVD players entering the market. However there are arguments whether 720p which is a progressive scan is better than the 1080i interlaced scan, but this only addresses one feature of the quality issue. The main issue is the pixels, the more the pixels the better the quality. The best resolution till recent times was 1366*768, but the new 1920*1080 offers a better resolution, but that does not imply that they offer better picture quality.
There are other features important to picture quality such as deep blacks, contrast, brightness, color and quick refreshing of the screen which can be decided by the viewer at the time of purchase.
There are many types of HDTV’s in market today which include Plasma, LCD, rear projection front projector, SED, LcoS etc. There are many options in the market, the best advice to the consumer is to do your homework before entering the store.
October 14, 2007
High Definition
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I am sure you’re well aware of the appearance of High Definition Television (HDTV) in electronics retail stores. Wide screen, slim TV size, and crystal clear picture quality – these conclude the public’s general impression on the new technology.
How HDTV really works?
HDTV is so clear because of its flicker free picture quality, produced via a TV scanning method named ‘progressive’.
The ‘progressive scan’ is capable to refresh all 1 million pixels on the TV screen simultaneously, which thus, produce a flicker free picture. Flicker-free image makes text easier to read with human eyes and fast-motion video appears smoother than televisions that use interlaced scanning.
What is the difference between HDTV and analog TV?
HDTV is quite different from the normal analog TV – picture resolutions, motion pictures scanning, as well as the picture ratio.
TV picture resolution is what differentiates HDTV and normal analog TV the most. HDTV pictures quality can be easily goes up to 1 million active pixels – for instant 720p HD resolution is 1280 x 720, while the 1080i HD resolution is 1920 x 1080. The resolution on normal TV is much smaller where it normally takes about 480 resolution lines.
Screen ration is another key comparison point between HDTV and analog TV. Take example on Dish Network HD, Dish broadcasts all HD programs in widescreen (16:9) format. While for standard analog TV, the screen ratio is at (4:3) format. Also, as said earlier, HDTV uses “progressive scanning” method to produce the flicker-free image for smoother motion picture; while analog TV uses “interlaced” scan .
HDTV and HD programming
One must know that owning HDTV system itself is not sufficient to provide the ultimate HD experience.
In order to fully utilize HD features on the TV, you will need High Definition programming as well. Currently both cable (Comcast for example) and satellite TV (namely Dish Network and DirecTV) providers are providing high definition programming.
Comcast, at the time of writing, is the leading cable company that provides the most HD programming. In fact they have cover most of the HD channels from the major networks in their cable TV services, including ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, ESPN HD, HBO HD, Showtime HD, Cinemax HD, Discovery HD, and TNT HD. On the other hand, Dish Network as the leading satellite HD provider has about 30 HD channels in their package. Some of the examples of Dish HD programs include A&E HD, Animania HD, Discovery HD Theater, Equator HD, ESPN HD, ESPN2 HD, Family Room HD, Film Fest HD, Food Network HD, HBO HD, Cinemax HD, HDNet, and HDNet Movies.
October 3, 2007
High Definition
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As U.S. living standards are climbing high and higher, the requirement on better TV entertainment follows. Without doubt TV picture quality is one of the most highly concerned issues. The statement is well proven as we are seeing that high definition television (HDTV) popped up the hottest home electronics appliances for the past two years.
What’s the difference of HDTV and normal TV?
The technical answer is greater TV picture resolution. HDTV pictures are showed with up to 1080 lines of detail; while normal TV takes about 480 in total. In general, we can expect that the HDTV picture quality is about 10 times clearer and more life-alike than the conventional TVs.
So how fast have the paid TV services catch up on such consumer trends in United States? Well, you probably already cleared that both satellite and cable TV had stepped into the high definition world and offering various TV programming in HD quality. The money question is…
Who has the best HDTV service?
With the much trumpeted DirecTV HD system, rumors said that DirecTV can support up to 150 HD channels on each customers. This, however, has yet to be proven as the number of DirecTV HD channels released is quite limited.
Comcast, on the other hand, covers pretty much HD channels with their cable TV service. For instant, their HD channels include major networks ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, PBS, ESPN HD, HBO HD, Showtime HD, Cinemax HD, Discovery HD, TNT HD, as well as tons of on demand HD movies.
So, how about Dish Network?
Although Dish Network came late in the paid TV business, they so far have the most HD channels offered nation wide in the past. What’s even better is that on July 11, Dish Network just launched another eight Regional Sports Networks (RSNs) with high definition (HD) and planned to launch seven new national HD channels in August and September. The HD RSN channels include Fox Sports Network Arizona (Ch. 365), Fox Sports Network Northwest (Ch. 376), Fox Sports Network Cincinnati (Ch. 377), Fox Sports Network Pittsburgh (Ch. 378), Fox Sports Network Detroit (Ch. 380), SportsTime Ohio (Ch. 381), Fox Sports Network North (Ch. 386), and SportsNet New York (DISH Network Ch. 388).
Wrapping things up…
With this, I believe that Dish has the best at current time. This, of course, is subject to their rivals who are always eager to gain back their position in the business.
Need help in ordering your DirecTV or Dish Network deals? Learn more at Satellite TV Issue - the one stop unbias guide for satellite shoppers.