WireItRight
home theatre installation and pre-wire services
What is HDTV?
High-definition television (HDTV)
Advantages of HDTV
Recording and compression
Blu-Ray
HD DVD
Dolby
What is
High-definition television (HDTV)?
The popularity of large screens and projectors makes the limitations of conventional broadcast video, especially compressed digital video, very visible unless viewed far from the screen. An HDTV compatible television set or projector does not improve the quality of the conventional TV channels. They require a different tuner to acquire entirely different signals from new signal sources, sometimes at an additional cost.
These are typically over the air over an antenna. Most cities in the US with major network affiliates broadcast over the air in HDTV. Tuners can also be fitted to computers to receive this signal. Some televisions have a HDTV tuner built in. Monitors often lack a tuner, but a tuner is not needed for digital cable.
Cable television companies often offer HDTV broadcasts as part of digital broadcast service. HDTV will not work with an analog service. For example, if channel 4 is ABC, channel 104 might be offered in HDTV. For clearest signal, the monitor should be connected with an HDMI cable rather than composite or component cables. Some cable carriers also offer HDTV on-demand playback of free and for-fee movies and programming of commonly viewed shows.
Satellite-based TV companies, such as Optimum, DirecTV and Dish Network, offer HDTV to customers as an upgrade. New satellite receiver boxes and a new satellite dish are often required to receive HD content.
Video game systems, such as the Xbox (NTSC only), Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, can output at an HD resolution.
Two optical disc standards, Blu-ray and HD DVD, can provide HDTV signal.
