The Benefits Of Owning A HDTV

A High Definition Television (HDTV) is a digital format for broadcasting and viewing TV programming.  Clearer images are received with HD at a much higher resolution than that viewed on a home screen.  Due to its clarity, widescreen format, and CD quality sound, it will give you the feeling that a movie theater has been placed in your living room.

There are a wide variety of benefits to owning or purchasing a HDTV.  Some of the reasons as to why you should certainly consider making the change to an HDTV are:

•           Digital Audio.

•           A wider viewing area,

•           Increased quality DVD playback,

•           Amazing detail,

•           Digital superiority,

•           Progressive scanning,

•           Elimination of ghost images,

•           The FCC mandating a switch, and many more.

Listed below, in detail, are the main reasons why a HDTV is enormously beneficial.

Quality of Sound

HDTV’s have 5.1 channels of CD quality surround sound:

•           left,

•           right,

•           center,

•           left rear,

•           right rear, and

•           low frequency effects – AKA bass.

It is these multiple channels that supply you with a true surround sound at an excellent quality.

Resolution

An NTSC TV’s normal resolution displays 525 scan lines with only 480 actually being visible.  A normal TV can only display a resolution of approximately 210,000 pixels per image.  HDTV’s can reach up to 1920 (horizontal) pixels x 1080 (vertical) pixels, with an impressive total of 2,073,600 pixels per image.  As you can see, this is an astounding ten times better resolution and picture quality.

No More Ghost Images

Signal quality is not something that is always perfect when viewing a normal television.  This is what is called ‘ghost images’.  An example of this is when you can see two of the same person next to each other, as if there were a ghost of that person present.

A perfect image is something that will always be received with a digital signal, as long as the television is receiving a quality signal.  This results in their being no more fuzz, snow or ghosts.

Progressive Scanning

The signals of an NTSC television are shown as interlaced signals, which means that every other horizontal line on the monitor is shown in one frame, and the other half are drawn in the next frame of the picture.  This works by the eye being deceived and believing that only one picture is being shown. 

Progressive scanning, however, shows the entire picture in one frame.  It is this reason that there is supplied a sharper picture, which is much better than that of an interlaced image with the same resolution.  There are two progressive formats available for broadcasters, the 480p and 720p. 

The 480p provides a much sharper image than a normal NTSC broadcast.  However, it is considered as only a DTV signal and not a true High Definition signal.

The 720p is made up of 720 horizontal scan lines, and is considered to have a true High Definition. 

Aspect Ratio

The aspect ratio of current televisions is 4:3, which means that a television with an aspect ratio of 4:3 is three feet in height and four feet in width.  The aspect ratio of a HDTV is 16:9, which makes it a considerable amount wider than a normal television. 

The new screen is 33% wider, which enables you to view the television as if you were sitting in a theater.  Your peripheral vision is being used when viewing a 16:9 screen television, which can make you truly feel as if you are a part of the program.