High Definition Deal

Like any new technology, the inventors of HDTV were forced to come up with new jargon in order to describe the features of their inventions. It’s really unavoidable when you are coming up with something totally new that the world has never seen.

Although HDTV has been around a few years, there are still quite a few people who have not yet taken the plunge, and are still watching standard-definition television, better known as the the plain old square-box TV that’s been around for decades.

It’s hard to blame some people for sticking with their old TV sets since the new jargon can be so confusing. We now have to deal with terms like “aspect ratio,” “HDMI,” “780p,” “1080i,” “1080p,” “plasma,” “interlaced,” and a host of others. Who wouldn’t find that confusing?

In an effort to simplify some of these terms, I will try to define them in a way that is easy to understand.

780p and 1080i: What the heck does that mean?

These terms refer to the lines of resolution that make up the picture that you see on the screen. The higher the number of lines, the better the quality of the picture. When it comes to the “i” and the “p” that follows these numbers, that refers to how the picture is actually presented on the screen. The “i” indicates interlaced, which essentially uses two separate steps to create a picture on the screen. This is not the best way to do things and there is an alternative that we will discuss next.

The “p” stands for “progressive,” and this is superior to interlaced, since it does not rely on an extra step to create a picture on the screen. This eliminates some of the problems that may be experienced when viewing an interlaced picture, like screen artifacts that can appear during programs that contain very fast action.

What is an aspect ratio?

The television so many of us grew up watching had an aspect ratio of 4:3, which means that the picture is essentially square. This is a lot different from what we would see when we would go to the movies, and marvel at that big wide screen.

Well, now home entertainment is finally catching up with the movie theatre, and that is due in part to the 16:9 aspect ratio. That is the nice wide screen you see on so many of the new generation television sets today. Not all television programming is broadcast using 16:9 yet, but more and more of it is showing up and it will probably become the standard in the near future.

What is HDMI and do I need it on my set?

HDMI stands for High-Definition Multimedia Interface and is basically the connection that is used to link up your television to whatever device might be providing programming to it, whether it be a satellite or cable TV receiver, per perhaps a DVR or DVD player. If you have ever hooked up your own cable TV, VCR or DVD player, you may remember dealing with cables that had three connectors on them, each a different color — usually yellow, red and white, with the yellow being for the video signal and the red and white each devoted to one side of audio that is presented in stereo.

Well, an HDMI cable is a one-piece cable that is usually rather thick and somewhat flat, and has only one connector on each end. It’s the latest generation in connections between today’s devices and does provide better quality picture and sound than the older cables we used for so many years.

Generally, the more HDMI connections your television has, the better. This will allow you to connect more devices such as DVRs and Blu-ray or DVD players, giving you more room to add new equipment to your set-up later on.

Plasma and LCD. What’s that all about?

Plasma and LCD are to two popular formats for flat-panel televisions these days. You know, those TV sets you can hang on the wall and are only a few inches thick. Plasma uses lots and lots of tiny cells that are held captive between two panes of glass. Each cell is filled with a special type of gas that is turned into plasma when they are provided with the correct electrical charge. This causes phosphors that are applied to the screen to emit light, and ultimately create the television picture.

LCD operates quite differently and uses many tiny pixels to create a television picture. Each pixel is emits its own tiny portion of the picture, which, working in concert with all the other pixels makes up the television picture.

Which one is the right selection for you? Well, this article covers that subject for you.

How Do I Decide What Size Television To Buy?

There are some slight differences in the recommendations that manufacturers make about which sized work best at what distances, but they are all pretty close and you probably don’t have to worry too much about those small discrepancies.

Here is a general guide that will help you decide what size set is right for you.

Personally, I have a 51-inch HDTV set and I watch it from about 10 feet away and I find that situation quite satisfactory.

There’s certainly a lot more jargon and technical talk that can be used when discussing HDTV, but the basics described here should get you off to a good start and help you understand some of the most important features to look for when you shop for that new set.