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Home :: The HDTV Revolution :: You Are Here
The HDTV Revolution
After years of being on the edge of mass market reality the high definition
television (HDTV) revolution seems finally to have arrived. The
new specifications put in place by the American Television Standards Committee (ATSC)
promise to take television technology to a level previously seen only in movie
theatres. The high fidelity presentation of HDTV and its increasingly affordable
equipment pricing are sure to make this format the favorite of discerning
television fans.
Electronic television premiered in 1939 at the New York World’s Fair. Two years
later the National Television Standards Committee (NTSC) brought consistency to
the twenty-two television stations that existed at that time. In 1953 color came
to the home television set but after that, according to PBS host and television
authority Robert X. Cringely, not much changed in television broadcast quality
for the next forty years. There were improvements in sound and the screen got
larger but the picture itself remained much the same. In fact, in one key way,
television actually lost ground.
Aspect ratio refers to the width of the picture in comparison to the height of
the picture. The aspect ratio of early motion pictures was set in the late 1880s
as 4:3; this means that for every four units of width there are three units of
height. Television took this on as the aspect ratio of its screen as well;
however, in the mid 1950s the movie industry changed the width/height ratio of
its screens to 1.85:1. As a result of this modification, the size of television
screens could no longer accommodate motion picture content in its original
format. Some years later many movies shown on television and on videos/DVDS
adopted the widescreen format which places a black bar at the top and bottom of
the screen but many viewers found this disconcerting. In addition to the
formatting differences between standard televisions and movies, conventional
television reception suffered from inconsistent and often times inferior picture
quality.
HDTV addresses all of these problems. The aspect ratio of high definition TV
screens is 16:9 which translates to 1:78:1, virtually identical to the aspect
ratio in which movies are produced. Not only can motion picture product be
presented in its original format, the HDTV screen size widens the visual field
of all programming; this enhancement is particularly evident when watching
sporting events. The true achievements of HDTV are most noticeable, however, in
its superior picture.
Television pictures are composed of picture elements (pixels); the more pixels
the more picture clarity. Having more pixels also means the picture received on
the TV more accurately reflects the source image. Standard high end televisions
have a maximum count of about 350,000 pixels. HDTV sets are capable of
transmitting images with more than two million pixels. By accessing this many
pixels an HDTV broadcast can literally show the sweat running off of a
quarterback’s forehead. Sports broadcasts are not the only programs that benefit
from the improved picture provided by HDTV. Any show transmitted in the high
definition format exhibits significantly better and more consistent images.
Visual presentation is not the only break through brought about by the HDTV
revolution. High definition TV brings along with it noteworthy steps forward in
sound as well. HDTV audio brings 5:1 Dolby Digital capability to the home TV;
thus, sound emanates from the front left, right and center; back left and right;
and from a bass sub woofer. A person listening to a symphony on an HDTV can
quite literally hear if someone in the concert hall coughs.
So, sound the drum. The HDTV revolution has finally made its way to family
living rooms. After only fifty years television viewers can now enjoy theatre
quality picture and sound.
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