What The Heck Is HDTV?: Oh, Say, Can You ATSC?

Chapter 1
AL
What the Heck Is HDTV?

In This Chapter
RI
Understanding the acronyms

Going wide
MA
TE
Avoiding the pitfalls
TE
ince the transition to color TV in the 1950s and 60s, nothing

nothing!! has had as much impact on the TV world as HDTV
(high-definition TV) and digital TV. Thats right, TV is going digital,
following in the footsteps of, well, everything.
CO
PY
RI
GH
Were in the early days of this transition a lot of TV programming

is still all-analog, for example and this stage of the game can be
confusing. In this chapter, we alleviate HDTV anxiety by telling you
what you need to know about HDTV, ATSC, DTV, and a bunch of
other acronyms and tech terms. We also tell you why youd want to
know these terms and concepts how great HDTV is, and what an
improvement it is over todays analog TV (as youll see when you
tune in to HDTV). Finally, we guide you through the confusing back
alleys of HDTV and digital TV making sure you know whats
HDTV and whats not.
Oh, Say, Can You ATSC?

A long time ago (over 50 years ago longer than even Danny
has been alive!), in a galaxy far, far . . . errr, actually right here in
the U.S. . . . a group called the NTSC (National Television System
Committee) put together a group of technical specifications and
standards that define television as we know it today. Sure, there
have been some changes in those 50 years (such as the addition
of color), but todays analog TVs are built on this NTSC system.
Fifty years is a long time for any technology to dominate. Indeed,
technologies and components used in television-transmission
10
Part I: HDTV Fundamentals
systems, cameras, recording systems, and display systems (the TVs

themselves) have long been capable of doing something more.
In the 1980s, the ATSC (Advanced Television System Committee)
was formed to move TV forward. Many years later (1996), the
ATSCs recommendations for a digital-television system were
adopted by the FCC (Federal Communications Commission the
folks who set standards for TV broadcasts, regulate phone companies, and fine Howard Stern). ATSC standards use newer-than-1953
technology to give you TV like youve never had before:
Widescreen images like those in the movies
Greater detail up to six times more detail
Sharper images
Smoother, more filmlike images with no video flicker
All digital, with none of the ghosts and other image problems found in analog TV
Powerful Performance
HDTV (and digital TV, DTV, in general there are some digital TV
variants that are not high-definition, and we discuss them in this
section) is all about giving you a bigger and better picture, better
audio, and generally making your TV-watching experience more
like a movie-watching experience. In fact, at its best, HDTV is so
realistic that its often described as looking through a window
as if youre really there, not just watching a program.
Video standards
There are three essential concepts to understand when you are
comparing different video standards:
Resolution: the number of individual picture elements that
make up a TV image. The higher the resolution, the more
detailed the image, and the sharper the image will appear.
Resolution is defined by one of two factors:
Lines (the number of left-to-right lines the TV can display). CRT-based TVs (tube TVs) are rated this way.
Pixels (the number of pixels across the screen times the
number up and down). Fixed-pixel displays (plasmas,
LCDs, DLPs and the like) are rated this way.
Chapter 1: What the Heck Is HDTV?
11
Scan Type comes in two forms:

Interlaced scan: These TV images are created by lighting
up every other row of horizontal lines on the screen in
one instant, and then going back through and lighting up
the remainder of the lines in the next instant. It happens
so fast that your eye cant really tell its happening.
Progressive scan: These systems light all the horizontal
lines in the same instant, which can make the image
seem smoother and more like film (or real life).
Aspect Ratio (the shape of your TV picture):
Traditional TVs have a 4:3 aspect ratio (screen shape).
This means that for every 4 units of measure across the
screen, you have 3 units of screen height. For example, if
the screen is 12 inches wide, it will be 9 inches high.
HDTVs have a 16:9 aspect ratio which makes the
screen relatively much wider for the same height, compared to a 4:3 TV. Most movies are widescreen (16:9, or
even wider), so HDTVs can display most movies without
the annoying letterbox black bars on the top and
bottom of the screen. Figure 1-1 compares aspect ratios.
4:3 / 1.33:1
Standard TV
and older movies
16:9 / 1.78:1
US Digital TV
(HDTV)
Figure 1-1: Going widescreen

with a 16:9 aspect ratio.
We dont get bogged down in up-front technical explanations of

these concepts. If you want to know all there is to know about such
TV concepts as resolution, pixels, and interlacing, run (dont walk)
to Chapter 21 right now. Well still be here when you come back.
HDTV standards
There isnt a single HDTV standard out there. Instead, ATSC
contains many different TV standards (with different resolutions,
aspect ratios, and scan types) 18, in fact. Some of these standards
are truly HDTV; most are not. In the real world, you will deal with
four standards when you try to watch TV content on your HDTV.
The two primary HDTV standards are these:
720p: This provides 720 lines of resolution with progressive
scan (hence the p). By comparison, NTSC has less than 480
lines of resolution. 720p uses a 16:9, a widescreen aspect ratio.
12
1080i: This variant (the highest resolution within the ATSC

standard) uses interlaced scanning, but provides 1080 lines of
resolution. 1080i is also widescreen, with a 16:9 aspect ratio.
There is actually a higher HDTV variant in the ATSC standard
1080p, which is a progressive scan variant of 1080i. Only a few
HDTV projectors (in the $40,000 and above price range) can handle
this variant, and we know of no material that is broadcast or otherwise available as 1080p. So dont worry about it.
True HDTV performance requires at least 720p performance. If a
TV program, movie, or other content is not at least 720p (either
720p or 1080i), it is not HDTV. If a TV cant display at least 720 lines
of resolution, it is not HDTV-capable.
If a salesperson tries to tell you that an inexpensive plasma set,
regular DVD, regular digital cable, or regular satellite TV is HDTV
just because its digital, its not so.
Compatible DTV standards

720p and 1080i are the two HDTV standards, but youll also find a
lot of digital TV material will be broadcast at lower resolutions that
dont quite make the grade as HDTV. You can still watch this programming on your HDTV in fact, most HDTVs will make this
programming look better than it does on a regular TV but
remember: That stuff is not really HDTV.
480p (EDTV): This enhanced-definition TV standard provides
higher-than-NTSC resolution, with progressive scan (NTSC is
interlaced). EDTV can be (and often is) 16:9 widescreen, but it
is not required to be widescreen.
480i (SDTV): This is interlaced, non-widescreen (4:3), standarddefinition TV, equivalent to NTSC analog broadcasts.
Remember these different terms HDTV, EDTV, and SDTV when
shopping. They will often be in the product descriptions; you need
to know exactly what you are buying.
Audio standards
The ATSC standard includes big improvements in the audio part
of television what you hear as part of any movie, video, or TV
show. Thats because ATSC includes Dolby Digital surround sound
capability in the overall standard for digital TV.
13
Dolby Digital (which we discuss in greater detail in Chapter 18)

doesnt always mean surround sound. Some Dolby Digital soundtracks are stereo (two channels) or even mono (one channel).
ATSC supports surround sound if a programs producer and broadcaster want to include it.
The NTSC broadcast standard supports only stereo audio (two
channels) and not surround sound. Luckily, most DVDs (and some
satellite and digital cable TV channels) include Dolby Digital
soundtracks that can provide true surround sound. You can also
use a home-theater receiver that supports systems like Dolby
Pro Logic II (see Chapter 18) to create surround sound from
these sources.
Dolby Digital, and surround sound in general, provides an audio
soundtrack for TV shows and movies that wait for it! surrounds
you and provides audio that matches the action on-screen. For
example, surround sound might use speakers mounted in the rear
of the room to reproduce ambient noises of the setting around the
action, or give a 3D sense of space to those creepy footfalls of the
bad guy sneaking up behind the protagonist.
Dolby Digital provides six channels (confusingly called 5.1) of
audio. Heres what they do:
A center channel carries the dialogue being spoken by characters on your HDTV screen.
Two main front channels handle left and right sound cues
(and the soundtrack music) in stereo.
Two surround channels (mounted in the rear of the room,
as described earlier) provide a sense of 3D space.
A Low-Frequency Effects (LFE) channel conveys deep bass
sounds (such as exhausts rumbling and bombs exploding).
The LFE channel is the .1 in the 5.1 naming scheme for
Dolby Digital. It doesnt get a whole number because it contains only low-frequency sounds, not the full range of human
hearing.
Figure 1-2 shows a typical Dolby Digital surround-sound layout.
We talk about surround sound in much more detail including
details on what sort of equipment you need to hear it properly in
your HDTV viewing room in Chapter 19.
14
Subwoofer
Center Channel
Speaker
Right
Front
Speaker
Left
Front
Speaker
Display
Left Surround
Speaker
60
Right Surround
Speaker
Home Theater
Seating
Figure 1-2: Doing the surround-sound thing.
Perplexing Pitfalls
HDTV isnt the easiest thing in the world to get figured out weve
been dealing with it for years and still run into advertising and
marketing mumbo-jumbo that make us say, Huh??? The whole
purpose of HDTV For Dummies is to help you wade through the
marketing manure and to get you up to speed on HDTV. So without
further ado, heres a list of HDTV danger zones:
Digital confusion: The biggest (and most prevalent) myth we
see in the HDTV world is the notion that any kind of digital TV
signal (such as digital cable, digital satellite, or DVD) is HDTV.
This simply isnt true a TV signal must be 720p resolution
or higher to be considered high-definition.
EDTV confusion: EDTVs are TVs (typically plasma flat-panel
models) that cost a lot and can display progressive-scan
images but dont meet the minimum requirement of 720p,
so they dont display true HDTV signals. Theres nothing
wrong with EDTVs, just dont be fooled into thinking youre
getting an HDTV when youre not.
Image scaling: Were starting to see some new marketing
being applied to an old concept image scalers that can convert video signals from one resolution to another.
15
These devices are now being marketed as HDTV upscalers

(yeah right), with a promise that they make any TV signal into
HDTV. Dont believe it. Image scalers can improve SDTV and
NTSC images with an HDTV, but they dont make those images
into HDTV images.
The DTV tuner: As HDTV (and DTV in general) becomes more
prevalent, DTV tuners will become common. These tuners
(discussed in Chapter 8) let older TVs watch DTV broadcasts. DTV tuners do not turn older analog TVs into HDTVs.
They just convert DTV signals to NTSC for display on an
analog TV.
16

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Chapter 1

What the Heck Is HDTV?

Understanding the acronyms

Avoiding the pitfalls

ince the transition to color TV in the 1950s and 60s, nothing

Were in the early days of this transition a lot of TV programming

Oh, Say, Can You ATSC?

Part I: HDTV Fundamentals

systems, cameras, recording systems, and display systems (the TVs

Chapter 1: What the Heck Is HDTV?

Scan Type comes in two forms:

Figure 1-1: Going widescreen

We dont get bogged down in up-front technical explanations of

Part I: HDTV Fundamentals

1080i: This variant (the highest resolution within the ATSC

Compatible DTV standards

Chapter 1: What the Heck Is HDTV?

Dolby Digital (which we discuss in greater detail in Chapter 18)

Part I: HDTV Fundamentals

Figure 1-2: Doing the surround-sound thing.

Chapter 1: What the Heck Is HDTV?

These devices are now being marketed as HDTV upscalers

Part I: HDTV Fundamentals

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