subject: Frequently Asked Question About Hdtv Vs Standard Tv And Analog Vs Digital [print this page] If everything goes well, then the day of all HD (high definition) TV is not far away. In fact they may even become the de facto standards for broadcasting TV signals to homes. The precursor to HD called Standard is something that will stay for a longer time to come. Not long before TV broadcasting had changed from analog to digital and we have seen how they provide us with superior experience. In these contexts it will do well for us to understand HD in its totality. As a consumer and ardent TV watcher you may have several questions about HD. Some questions are common sense and dont need elaborate explanation. Here are some questions that HD enthusiasts ask frequently and the answers.
The first question that crosses any television watchers is what is digital transmission and how is different from analog? The first major difference between the two is the way they are transmitted. Analog signals are transmitted using wave forms and happen just as they produced. They are not stored and then transmitted. Digital on the other hand converts the analog into small packets of data and then are transmits them through cables. The principle advantage of doing that is they give clearer pictures at the receivers end with no data loss unlike in analog where picture and sound quality suffer when transmitted over long distances.
The next most frequently confused terms are HDTV and Digital transmission. The first, HDTV is about the number of pixels you get on the television and has nothing do with the way they are transmitted to television sets. Digital on the other hand is about the way they are brought to the home. To put it simple in terms, HDTV because of the greater number of pixels in them produce a sharper clearer picture and in addition virtually they lose nothing and gain nothing during transmission. The other way of transmission called standard is subjected to signal loss and that is the reason why they produce poorer quality of pictures and sound. In the US and most other countries transmission is in digital form and is becoming the standards for future.
Another question that frequently arises is why should I switch to HDTV? The most obvious reason of course is they give clearer pictures and sound quality, and the second reason is most TV channels including Dish HD are going that way. Unlike in standard transmission the bandwidth requirement for HDTV is much higher and you should therefore expect them to cost a little more than standard transmission. In a few years from now most televisions would have gone totally high definition too. So whether you prefer or not, you will have to buy a HD television set, because you will have little choice otherwise. Most televisions sold nowadays: LCD, 3D or Plasma all are HD.
Often users wonder why in spite of the superior quality of HD television, analog transmission when viewed in HD look worse than in Standard televisions. To put it bluntly, that is so, because they have not been made for each other. However if you want to get a little technical here are the two main reasons:
a.Firstly, HDTVs process the finer points more elaborately so as to get clearer pictures, but when that happens in a standard TV the result is that elaborated points are shown in poor light, contrast with standard where they dont show at all.
b.Secondly, standard television transmission has fewer pixels than in HD television. To compensate for this anomaly your television set is likely to make some adjustments that are purely technical, and that again contributes to the lower picture quality of HDTVs when they use standard transmission, including analog.
