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WHAT IS HDTV?
High Definition Television is a digital system that achieves
the highest digital TV resolution available today.
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| The instantly visible benefit to the viewer
is a clarity, realism and sharpness of images that is outstandingly
superior to other TV systems. |
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| A normal analogue broadcast will reproduce around 210,000 pixels,
while the highest resolution digital broadcasts acheive around 2 million
pixels on digital TVs: that means about ten times more picture detail
on the HDTV system |
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| STANDARDS |
| HDTV's exceptional quality is protected by clear techincal standards.
These include: |
- A processing rate of either 1080i or 720p lines. These are the
current two most popular standards for HDTV. the processing rate
equates to the number of lines on the TV screen. In the UK, the
standard for 'normal' TV is 625 lines, showing how much more resolution
is achievable with HDTV
- Use of MPEG-2 compatible video compression and transport systems.
MPEG-2 is a digital compression and encoding system that is already
the industry standard for DVD video. A digital TV decodes the
MPEG-2 signal and displays it in the same way as a computer monitor,
delivering high resolution and stability
In Europe, the HDTV standards are backed by a labelling scheme,
giving confidence and certainty to the consumer that equipment bearing
the label fulfils the strict techinical requirements, and produces
the best possible results from HD sources. |
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| REQUIREMENTS |
| To benefit from the higher quality sound and picture of HDTV, you
will need: |
- A High Definition source, such as a TV Station broadcasting
HD programming
- HDTV receiving Equipment, such as the Euro 1080 set-top box
- HDTV display equipment
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| WHY IS HD IMPORTANT TODAY? |
High Definition broadcasting is already available in Japan, the
USA, Australia and Canada, and is a proven technology. In Europe,
HD1 (previously known as Euro 1080) is broadcasting now in HD via
Astra satellite, and the momentum is  building
for further HD broadcasts in Europe. All TV broadcasters in the
UK both commercial and BBC already have HD-ready cameras, and are
filming in High Definitin in preparation for the introduction of
HD broadcasting
BSkyB is planning to launch an HD braodcasting service in 2006
There is already discussion about braodcasting the 2006 FIFA Football
World cup in HD
The BBC demonstrated at this year's MediaFast show that the Corporation
has the capability to braodcast HD programming, and plans are under
discussion for the BBC to produce content in HD by 2010 |
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| MANUFACTURERS SUPPORT |
| Forward looking manufacturers, such as Toshiba who were one of the
fist manufacturers to embrace this new technology, are committed to
supporting High Definition, and are already anticipating the future
by ensuring there are HD-enabled TV's available today. |
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| WHAT ABOUT HDMI and DVI? |
| HDMI (High Definition Multi-Media Interface) connectivity has the
benefit of being completely digital, avoiding the analogue/digital
conversion that can lead to loss of quality. It carries high bandwidth
digital video and audio content, and supports standard, enhanced,
high-definition video and multi-channel digital audio via a single
cable. It will support all High Definition video formats (720p and
1080i) and high quality surround sound. |
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| DVI (Digital Visual Interface) is an interface standard that carries
only digital picture signals. DVI handles bandwidths in excess of
160MHz, and is capable of supporting HDTV with a single set of links |
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