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Five Benefits of Owning an HDTV
High Resolution
HDTV offers a higher resolution than most conventional television sets. In addition, HDTV’s can display full HDTV and DTV signals, which results in a sharper picture.
Analog televisions have approximately 480 active scanning lines.
This results in a resolution of about 330 lines. A VHS VCR has approximately 240 lines of resolution. This is why VHS doesn’t look as clear as the original picture. DVD’s provide about 480 lines of resolution. HDTV’s, on the other hand, provide about twice as much resolution as an analog television.
HDTV is part of the DTV specifications set forth by the FCC. Many video resolutions fall within the umbrellas of DTV. The two main resolutions are 1080i and 720p. The “I” means interlaced and the “p” means progressive. For both, every second has 60 frames of video. Interlaced resolution transmits 30 frames of even lines, then 30 frames of odd lines every second. Progressive resolution, on the other hand, puts 60 entire frames on the screen every second.
An HDTV with 720p resolution has 1280 x 720 pixels, for a total of 921,600 pixels. The 1080i has a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, which totals 2,073,000 pixels. Some people prefer the 720p resolution because it provides a more “stable” picture, claiming the 1080i resolution can cause a flicker effect. The 1080i resolution, however, provides a far greater number of pixels. HDTV receivers are capable of receiving both types of resolution and converting them to the format used by the television display. Either way, the resulting resolution on an HDTV is far supreme to the picture found on an analog television.
No Scanning Lines
The 720p resolution provides a crystal clear image and almost completely eliminates scanning lines. This is because, as explained above, the 720P resolution produces all 60 frames of video every second. Despite the fact that the 1080i rotates 30 frames every second, it, too, has much less visible scanning lines because of its use of interlace scanning.
Better Sound
HDTV offers digital audio and CD quality surround sound, creating a much clearer listening experience. Just like CD’s produce a better sound than audiocassette tapes, the digital audio sound of HDTV is better than the sound provided by an analog television. In addition, Dolby Digital 5.1 included in many HDTV programs. To take advantage of the surround sound, however, it is necessary to have 5.1 speakers.
Panoramic View
High Definition TV’s provides a much larger viewing area than regular analog television. The majority of analog television sets are produced with a 4 by 3 aspect ratio. This means that the screen is 4 units wide by 3 units high. Theatrically released movies, however are generally produced in a much wider aspect. This is down in order to take advantage of the field of vision, which is wider horizontally than it is tall. Because HDTV signals are transmitted in a 16 by 9 aspect ration, it is more like the screen used in movies. Therefore, HDTV viewing is more realistic and panoramic.
Wave of the Future
The FCC has passed a multitude of regulations regarding HDTV. Among these regulations is that all television broadcasts must be transmitted in HDTV by 2006. Analog televisions, however, will not be able to take advantage of this technology.
Consequently, HDTV allows the viewer to view his favorite television shows in HDTV format, creating a more “real life” experience, with a clearer, crisper picture. In addition, most cable companies now offer HDTV as a standard part of their cable package. Therefore, consumers don’t have to purchase a special HDTV television or an HDTV-ready television with an HDTV set-top-box.
In addition, new videogame system consoles are taking advantage of HDTV, claiming the graphics of the games themselves will be clearer when played on an HDTV television. HDTV tube televisions are also better than plasma televisions for the videogame player because plasma televisions will experience what is called “color burn” on their plasma televisions. Color burn is when an image is permanently “burned” into the television, just like what can happen to a computer monitor if it doesn’t utilize a screen-saver.
With all of the benefits of HDTV, it is little wonder most consumers are making HDTV television sets their next television purchase.
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