You have heard about the wonders of HDTV, but maybe you are confused by all the new terms and statistics. In this article we cut through the complexity of HDTV and give you a simple introduction. First, we take a quick look at analog TV technology. Then we will explain what HDTV is, why it is better and what to buy. Finally, the broadcast flag will be explained, along with how it may prevent you from recording shows in the future.
Old TV
How do our older analog televisions compare with HDTV? First let’s look at the different ways you can receive analog TV signals. There are three ways to pump a signal into your analog TV: antenna, cable and satellite. Antenna is probably the worst way to go as you have to move the antenna constantly to get a good signal. In addition, for maximum gain, it should be mounted externally, perhaps on the roof. A large antenna stuck on your roof, probably wouldn’t look too great, either.
Cable and satellite give you the best signal quality as most have moved to digital. The broadcasting station will send the signal digitally, and this is then converted to analog after it reaches your converter box.
In all three cases the maximum resolution on a standard analog TV is 720 X 480 pixels, which is about 337,000 total pixels.
HDTV Specs
Video
HDTV is actually part of the DTV (Digital Television) specifications, which has many different video resolutions. The two main resolutions to be concerned about are 720p and 1080i. The "p" means progressive and "i" mean interlaced. In both resolutions, every second has 60 frames of video. Progressive resolution puts 60 full frames on the screen every second. Interlaced resolution puts 30 frames of only odd lines and then 30 frames of only even lines up every second. Some people complain about the flicker produced by interlaced video.
The 720p video resolution is 1280 X 720 pixels, which gives 921,600 total pixels and the 1080i video resolution is 1920 X 1080, which gives a whopping 2,073,000 pixels.
Which resolution is better? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and future battles may be fought over this question. Some people like the slightly more "stable" picture of 720p, while others prefer the greater resolution of 1080i. The best way to figure this out is to run down to your local TV store and see for yourself.
Sound
Just as your CDs sound better than your old audiocassette tapes, HDTV’s digital audio signal sounds better than standard television’s analog sound. Also, some HDTV programs include Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. Of course this means you need 5.1 speakers to take advantage of the better sound.
What Equipment Do You Need?
TV
You will have to buy a new HDTV. Some HDTVs come with built-in tuners, while others do not. The tuner converts the signal into something that your TV can recognize. HDTVs that do not come with a tuner are commonly called "HDTV Ready." An HDTV without a tuner is worthless.
There was a big legal fight between Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and the FCC about including tuners in all HDTVs. The FCC wanted tuners to be included, while the CEA did not. FCC reasoned that the including tuners would increase adoption of HDTV. The CEA said that tuners are only for people who want to receive signals via antenna and is worthless for people who want to use digital cable or satellite, which have built-in tuners.
Another reason that the CEA argued against including tuners into HDTVs is that it would drive up the costs of manufacturing the HDTV. It looks like the FCC won, and as of July 2004 HDTVs with screens of 36 inches or more must be sold with a tuner included. Smaller sizes will be phased in over the next three years.
HDTV Card
If you want to use your computer to view HDTV, you can buy the upcoming ATi HDTV Wonder. It comes with an antenna to pick up airborne HDTV signals. It also has inputs for cable/satellite signals. If you already have a decent monitor, it might make sense and will save you lots of money to get an HDTV card for your computer.
There is another big reason why you might want to get a computer-based HDTV card. You will be able to play and record any show you want. This will be explained further in the broadcast flag section of this article.
{sidebar id=3}
{mospagebreak title=page 2}
Antenna, Digital Cable Or Satellite
Should you pick an antenna, Digital Cable or Satellite to pick up HDTV signals? Only the antenna is free of monthly charges, but you will only be able to receive the "broadcast" channels. You will also have to perform antenna gymnastics to receive different channels. While being the free option, if you can afford an HDTV then you can afford cable or satellite.
Whether you pick Digital Cable or Satellite depends on cost and amount of HDTV programming. If you want to go with satellite then you should see if you could get line of sight to the satellite. You don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars on a dish, only to find out that your neighbor’s gigantic oak tree is blocking your beam. In some areas digital cable may win over satellite, but in other areas the opposite may be true. Don’t trust the companies to tell you the whole truth, but go visit your neighbors and ask to watch their HDTV.
Quality Comparisons
Just because you can find an HDTV channel, doesn’t necessarily mean that you will get full HDTV quality. Some shows are not broadcasted in native HDTV mode, so you will get a cropping effect along the sides. This is because the show is being broadcast in 4 by 3 aspect ratio, versus the 16:9 native HDTV aspect ratio. This is shown below with a screenshot taken from CBS’s "Who Wants to be a Millionaire".
For shows that are broadcasted in native HDTV, the video, in 16:9 aspect ratio, will fill up the whole frame of your TV or computer tuner window. The following screenshot was taken from Navy CIS, also from CBS. It is a native 1080i or 1920 x 1080 pixels format. For shows and sporting events that are in native HDTV format, pictures do not do them justice. You must see it live to appreciate the quality.
HDTV content uses MPEG-2 compression. A properly compressed HDTV signal delivering 1080i content is about 19.2 megabits per second, but the actual rate can vary. Some content providers compress the signal to a greater degree, so you may see attempts to deliver HDTV streams as low as 5-6 megabits. Image quality would definitely be worse than at full bitrate.
Unfortunately, there’s no easy way for a consumer to determine the actual bitrate, other than by seeing decreased image quality. In fact, many HDTVs don’t even tell you the active display mode (1080i, 720p). When you’re shopping for HDTV products, make sure they support either 720p or 1080i natively.
Can You Record It? The Broadcast Flag
With traditional television and cable, you can record any show using a VCR or Digital Video Recorder (Tivo, All-in-Wonder). These recordings can be kept for as long as you want. This changes with HDTV. The FCC has ruled that content owners (movie studios, broadcasting companies, etc.) can implement a "Broadcast Flag" into their programming. This flag will instruct the HDTV device to either prevent the program from being recorded or to prevent the device from playing back a previous recording.
The Broadcast Flag is used when you receive HDTV from an antenna. Things are different when you use digital cable or satellite TV, as the copy protection is built into the cable box or the satellite box. It appears that Hollywood did a run around the FCC by doing its own copy protection.
Until July 2005 you can buy an HDTV tuner card that will ignore the broadcast flag. However, all cards made after July 2005 will not be able to record as they will have circuitry that reads the broadcast flag.
Conclusion
Obtaining HDTV is not difficult at all, if you break everything down methodically. You first start with a TV. Then you get a tuner, which may be included with the TV. Finally you connect an antenna, cable or satellite.
The quality of the sound and video are definitely better, but only with shows that are broadcasted in native HDTV format. Some stations such as CBS have switched all of their prime-time shows to HDTV, while other channels are playing catch-up. HDTV is visibly exciting technology, if you can put up with the relatively high prices and limited availability of programming.
{sidebar id=3}
