HDTV: Inspiration from Hollywood

The makers of HDTV, which stands for high definition TV, was originally inspired by the comforts that wide screen of movie theaters uniquely offered. Compared to obviously smaller TV sets, the effects of a movie or program are significantly diminished. They have also noted that people sitting on the first few rows in the movie theaters enjoy more vivid experiences than those sitting behind them, never mind that their necks have a tendency to ache afterwards.

The Beginning of the HDTV Era

It was Sony and NHK that are more or less credited as pioneers for the HDTV generation. The product however, called NHK Hi-vision, was intended for movie use and not yet adapted for the smaller television set. Thanks to this innovation, movies became quicker to produce and more special effects became possible for movie makers to use even with a limited budget.

The main objective of HDTV would-be manufacturers is to create a TV set that will allow viewers to enjoy a wider screen rather than increase the definition or vividness per unit area.

The chief problem of TV manufacturers when they considered producing HDTV sets was whether or not they should make HDTV standards compatible with those of the color TVS, which makes up majority of the TV sets in use at that time. Other problems related to HDTV production are bandwidth limitation, distribution, interlacing, and compression.

Regarding distribution issues, the FCC ruled in 1987 for HDTV standards to be compatible with existing NTSC standards and be limited to VHF and UHF channels as well. Three years after that, however, the FCC ruled for HDTV to use simultaneous broadcasting and also expressed a preference for full HDTV standards over reduced image quality of EDTV.

In 1993, as the FCC was still unable to make a choice among the four companies that submitted proposals for HDTV, it finally decided to create what's now known as a Grand Alliance among these companies: AT&T, GI, MIT, Philips, and Sanroff, Thomson, and Zenith. The remainder of the year was spent in establishing features and formulating standards for the proposed system. In 1994, HDTV had been successfully built and scheduled for testing for the next year.

Benefits of Using HDTV

All or Nothing Image Quality - Although this may not be viewed a benefit by some people, others would unhesitatingly welcome the promise that HDTV makes for their viewers: expect the best picture quality from them or nothing at all because of the digital format it's using.

Wider Screen Viewing - Most programs and films that are equipped with HD format can be viewed by a 16:9 screen while old movies can be zoomed to have a similar wide screen resolution.

Increased Vividness - Watching movies and programs through an HDTV set is better than watching through a standard TV set because the colors are more vivid and the bandwidth's greater.

Better Visual Information - Expect to enjoy the smaller and finer things of TV programs once you start watching it through an HDTV set. That's because HDTV standards can promise overall details of image quality to be 2 to 5 times better!

Use of HD DVD and Blu-Ray - People with HDTV sets can make use of either formats although it should be remembered that both formats are not compatible with each other.

Quality Isn't Sacrificed for Size - Imagine magnifying a photo; the quality becomes blurrier the larger the photo becomes, doesn't it? Thankfully, however, your HDTV set isn't similarly affected even with its increased screen size.

Dolby Digital 5.1 Sound - Your HDTV set can produce high quality sounds that you could only expect from movie theaters in the past.

Conservation of Electricity - Even though HDTV sets are certainly more expensive to purchase than standard TV sets, they do however have lesser electricity costs.

HDTV is no longer the TV set of tomorrow. If you want to watch broadcasted sports games and concerts like you're watching them live, we only have four letters for you: HDTV!