HDTV or LCD Introduction to Technical Terms

The plain old television set is now called a Standard-Definition Television, (SDTV), which is the same analog Cathode Ray Tube, (CRT), design that hasn't changed in decades. Two kinds of High Definition TV, (HDTV), technologies are Liquid Crystal Display, (LCD), and plasma flat panel.

In a plasma display, every pixel is made up of three separate subpixel cells, is very bright and looks good from almost every angle, but image quality isn't as good as a high quality CRT. Plasma TV produces reds that look orange and the color black has too much brightness. Some differences between LCD versus Plasma are that LCD displays have a limited viewing angle and slow pixel response time that leaves artifact pixels during fast video motion.

In February 2009, a mandatory HDTV deadline will occur when broadcast analog signals will cease and TV viewers will need to upgrade. The government are giving away HDTV coupons to consumers beginning 2008.. The following is a introductory explanation of technical terms for the novice buyer.

The difference between a HDTV and an LCD monitor is that the PC monitor costs less with only two types of connection ports, VGA and Digital Visual Interface (DVI) connector. Your computer 's Video Graphics Array, (VGA), with the 15 pin ''D' connector has a lot more resolution than the three color composite signal of a old style TV.

The HDTV costs more becuase it has a tuner and more than twenty connectors that includes Video Graphics Array, (VGA). With HDTV Picture In Picture, (PIP), it would be possible to use the computer and watch television at the same time but only if using the HDTV's internal tuner. POP means the display screen is divided in half with the two channels shown side-by-side.

If one was to walk into a big box electronic store and read the descriptions, most of the specifications appear to be self explanatory such as, brightness, contrast, response time, and viewing angle. But what is a nit? I googled nits and found out that, "Nits are louse eggs." and that, "The more nits, the greater the brightness." But what are nits? Do LCD's run on firefly glow juice? The word itself makes my skin crawl because it's sounds like an infestation that needs to be taken care of with Rid Lice shampoo.

From Latin nitere, 'to shine', a nit is the American way of saying; candela per square meter but what is a candela? The easy way to remember is that the unit was originally based on the light emission from a candle flame and is measured in the color that the human eye is most sensitive to. One foot-candle equals one lumen per square foot. A nit equals one lux, or one lumen per square meter. The more nits, the brighter the screen.

Some of the HDTV related acronyms are; OSD, On Screen Display to adjust standard video controls such as brightness and contrast. DDC means Display Data Channel to use the HDTV as a computer monitor.

The connector Y/Pb/Pr High Bandwidth are the analog red, green and blue (RGB) colors captured and converted for TV/video. Y/Cr/Cb - Non-HDTV digital component video used a single cable.

Other connectors on an HDTV are; Firewire, iLink, HDMI, High-Definition Multimedia Interface, and HDCP, High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection, both which are used with DRM, Digital Rights Management, to limit audio/video access such as Apple's iTunes.