HDTV Beginner’s Guide

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So you want to get an HDTV?

With that beginning sentence out of the way… seriously, you want a brand new HDTV? And you don’t know the difference between 720p and 1080p? Or the difference between 16:9 and 4:3? Or the difference between DVD and VHS? As a salesperson attempting to sell the best HDTV to customers for a year now, I am here to help you. In this random blog post I’m going to try to teach you what to look for in an HDTV, along with some basic reading and video watching you need to do to choose the best TV to fit your lifestyle.


Technical Jargon

If anything in the HDTV world, there are many technical terms that are thrown around, both as specifics to describe the technology, and as marketing jargon to confuse the everyday consumer. Here’s a basic rundown of what you’ll see when you step into your local retailer or big-box store.

HDTV: High Definition Television. Any television that displays a resolution of 720 lines (720p) or higher.

HD Display/Monitor: A television that requires an external source, like a DVD player, HD-DVD/Blu-Ray player, or cable box, to drive the picture to the screen. There is no tuner built-in, so simply screwing in the coaxial cable from the wall to the TV is not possible. Few HD Displays/Monitors are out on the market anymore, so rarely is this a concern.

LCD: Liquid Crystal Display. Flat panel technology now seen in most sizes, ranging from 13″ up to 52″. Typically less than 7″ deep. Wall mountable.

Plasma: Flat panel technology ranging in size from 40″ to 60″. Typically less than 7″ deep. Wall mountable.

DLP: Digital Light Projection. Advancement in technology from “traditional” projection televisions. Sometimes called “microdisplays”.

CRT: Cathode-Ray Tube. The type of television display that has been around for 50 years. Heavy, glass sets. Typically only seen for traditional analog televisions.

Contrast ratio: The ratio, or difference, between a fully black screen, versus a fully white screen.

Aspect ratio: The ratio, or difference, between the height and width of a television screen. Typically either 4:3 for traditional fullscreen televisions, or 16:9 or 16:10 for widescreen televisions.

Interlaced: Seen as the “i” following “1080i”. Refers to how the lines on the television screen are drawn; has been used in television since the 1960’s. Interlaced means that every 1/30th of a second, half the picture is drawn.

Progressive: Seen as the “p” following “720p” or “1080p”. Refers to how the lines on the television screen are drawn. Originally seen in computer monitors, Progressive means that every 1/30th of a second, the whole picture is drawn.

HD-DVD: High Definition Digital Versatile Disc. Next generation movie disc format. Capable of screen resolutions up to 1080p. At “war” with Blu-Ray.

Blu-Ray: Next generation high definition movie disc format. Capable of screen resolutions up to 1080p. At “war” with HD-DVD.

Cable Confusions

The following is referring to the different cable connections that can be found on the back of HDTV sets.

Coaxial: The standard “screw-in” cable for over-the-air antennas and standard cable television. Combines both audio and video signals into a single cable. Can support HD signals, if connected to an HD source.

Composite: The yellow cable standard for VHS tape players, DVD players, and most set-top boxes. Dedicated video cable. Not HD. Lowest quality video. Analog signal.

S-Video: Dedicated video cable supported by most DVD players and set-top boxes. Not HD. Low quality video. Analog signal.

Component: Dedicated Red, Blue, and Green video cables supported by DVD players and some set-top boxes. HD capable. Great quality signal. Analog signal.

VGA: Video Graphics Adapter. Dedicated video cable/connector supported by older PC/Macintosh computers. HD capable. Great quality signal (if PC/Mac is set to a HD resolution). Analog signal.

DVI: Digial Video Interface. Dedicated video cable/connector supported by PC/Macintosh computers. HD capable. Great quality. Digital signal.

HDMI: High Definition Multimedia Interface. Cable/connector supported by most HD sources. HD capable. Best quality video. Digital signal. Combines video and up to 5.1 digital audio into a single cable.

Resolutions

The following is referring to screen resolution, or the number of lines the television produces every 1/30th of a second.

480i: 480 Interlaced. Equivalent of traditional 4:3 fullscreen broadcast television on over-the-air or cable. “480″ refers to the number of lines the television produces every 1/30th of a second; “i” refers to how those lines appear on the screen (see “interlaced” above).

480p: 480 Progressive. Equivalent of traditional DVD quality. “480″ refers to the number of lines the television produces every 1/30th of a second; “p” refers to how those lines appear on the screen (see “progressive” above).

720p: 720 Progressive-scan. The “minimum” resolution for a display (or source) to be called High Definition. “720″ refers to how the number of lines the television produces every 1/30th of a second; “p” refers to how those lines appear on the screen (see “progressive” above). All HD sets are capable of displaying this resolution.

1080i: 1080 Interlaced. Refers to the number of lines the television produces every 1/30th of a second; “i” refers to how those lines appear on the screen (see “interlaced” above). Most all HD sets that support 720p also are capable of displaying this resolution.

1080p: 1080 Progressive-scan. The de facto standard currently for high definition sets.

Updated 10/10/07.