The Far Side of Tech

I am what most would call a TV addict. For someone like myself, HDTV, or high-definition television, was supposed to be the biggest home entertainment advancement since color television. It was supposed to offer window-like clarity, multiple viewing angles, and make digital surround sound the standard for all television programming. Basically, it was supposed to make my television viewing experience totally sweet. It took a while, but eventually standards were drawn, and the FCC made plans to convert all of our television signals to HD in the near future. Now that HDTV is readily available in the US, another problem remains—users. Despite the fact that HDTV-ready TVs have been around for a while now, the general adoption of the technology has been abysmal. This isn’t surprising.

Traditional TVs, unlike most consumer electronics, tend to have a fairly long lifespan. Many users are loath to purchase a new TV when their current set works just fine. The system of HD standards also isn’t very user-friendly. This issue is multifold; there are only a few “true” HDTV resolutions, not all sets support all resolutions, and the wide variety of new television technologies all add to the confusion for the average consumer who simply wants HDTV. While I can’t do much to help with this problem on a grand scale, I can take some time to educate you, my dear readers.

First things first, DVDs aren’t HDTV quality; let’s just clear that up right now. While DVDs do offer a significant improvement over VHS tapes and standard cable broadcast, they are essentially half the resolution of true HDTV signals. DVDs run at a resolution of 720×480, which in geek-speak is often referred to as “480p”. While DVDs will look much better on an HDTV set, especially if your DVD player converts the resolution to something HD friendly, they don’t do much to stress the capabilities of an HDTV. Full HDTV signals can come in one of three types, 720p, 1080i, or 1080p. These numbers represent the lines of resolution in a given HD signal. Higher is better, except in the case of 1080i as you will soon learn. Understanding the differences between these resolutions is essential for anyone interested in HDTV, so brace yourself for technical jargon.

720p and 1080p are the highest quality HDTV resolutions. They are “progressive scan” resolutions (hence the p), which means that they are displayed on the screen all at once, the same as your computer monitor. 1080i is the lowest quality HD resolution because it is “interlaced”—instead of being displayed all at once, the signal is split in half when it shows up on screen. Because of this, 1080i is theoretically the same as a “540p” signal, putting it far behind 720p and 1080p. Despite being a weak HD resolution, 1080i is still a marked improvement over what we’re used to, it simply isn’t the biggest improvement.

I know that these numbers are very difficult to resolve into standards of quality, as they are concepts best experienced in person. If you are interested in HDTV and want to get a better idea of what I mean, visit an electronics store and compare the HDTV feeds on display. The Best Buy in Hampshire Mall is a good candidate for this; their TVs are close together and easily comparable.

If you are looking to buy an HDTV set today, I recommend that you choose one with a minimum resolution of 720p, which is sometimes referred to as 1280×720. 1080p, though superior, isn’t as affordable or available as 720p TVs. Stick with 720p for now and you’ll be set for all there is to come. Speaking of what’s to come, there are many products coming out in the near future that will take full advantage of HDTV sets. All of the upcoming video game consoles, and next generation DVD formats are being created with HD in mind, and more HD channels are becoming available over satellite and digital cable daily.

Next time, I’ll look into the various types of HDTV displays, and how the technology will affect our notions of home entertainment. If we’re getting a cinema quality picture at home, why go to the movies?

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