HD TV: Understanding how HD TV works

HD TV is a term that refers to video images with a higher resolution or quality than standard TVs. As a consumer electronics category, HDTV
has driven new sales for many electronics companies as consumers rush to benefit from the new technology that has been used in HD TVs.

HD TV explained:
HD TV has about twice the linear or horizontal resolution of a standard definition TV (SDTV), and it provides more picture quality than a regular DVD disc. Most broadcasting standards of HDTV can handle the 16:9 aspect ratio which is one of the factors that determine picture quality on an HD TV. 16:9 Aspect Ratio allows the HD TV to display images with stretching the picture or using what is called letterboxing to fit the picture and this create a more detailed picture quality.

For broadcasters and media companies, the recording medium is what determines the image’s characteristic. Also because HD TV broadcasting is broadcast using digital or computer code, a higher bandwidth or transmitter signal is needed although most HD TV broadcasters can effectively use the analogue signal to produce this signal required.
With HD TV, there are 3 factors that determine how well the picture quality is displayed:

The first of these factors is the frame size, which is similar to a computers’ native resolution defined as the number of horizontal pixels x the number of vertical pixels. Frame sizes on HD TVs come in several sizes, the most common are the 1366 x 768 resolution and the 1920 x 1080 or Full HD resolution. Often times the horizontal pixels are omitted and the vertical lines are used to imply image quality as in 720p and 1080p
The second factor is the HD TV image processor’s scanning system often either using progressive scanning or p as in 1080p or interlaced scanning abbreviated by the letter I as in 1080i. These two scanning methods determine how the image is displayed on the HDTV.

The third and final factor is the image frame rate which is the number of video image frames that can be displayed per second. On most interlaced scanning HD TVs, there is another method of determining how many frames can be displayed per second. On most film productions, the standard frame rate is 24p or 24 frames progressively.

HDTVs use completely new technology and methods to produce the clearer and excellent pictures that they do. As their popularity becomes more widespread, it is safe to assume that they will eventually become more common place in many consumer homes.