What You Should Know About Digital TV

With the Digital TV Transition right around the corner, the sales of Digital TV's will certainly be higher this year. On February 17, 2009 analog TV has we know it will no longer work without the purchase of a convert box.

The best HDTV will be 5 times clearer than the old analog TV sets and have Dolby Digital surround sound that will make you feel like you are in a movie theater.

There are three types of Digital TV formats and you should know what the difference of each one is.

Standard Definition TV (SDTV) which is less than 480p or 480 progressive lines of resolution and comes in widescreen 16:9 or standard 4:3 aspect ratio.

Enhanced Definition TV (EDTV) which has a minimum of 480p and comes in widescreen 16:9 or standard 4:3 aspect ratio. Also receives and outputs Dolby Digital 5.1 audio.

High Definition TV (HDTV) which is a minimum of 720p and goes up to 1080i or 1080 interlace lines and comes in widescreen 16:9. Also receives and outputs Dolby Digital 5.1 audioAll Digital TV's today are available as HDTV sets with built in tuners or HDTV monitors that require a digital receiver.

If you do not subscribe to cable or satellite service then you need to purchase a HDTV set that is going to have a built in digital tuner. This will enable you to connect your indoor or outdoor TV antenna that you used for your old analog TV set. Visit http://antennaweb.org for choosing the correct TV antenna if your existing one does pull in all the stations in your area.

Current analog TV's today display an image of 200,000 pixels. The minimum digital TV show displays 300,000 pixels and for HDTV goes to a maximum of 2 million pixels. Besides HDTV providing much better picture quality it is also broadcast in widescreen 16:9 format. The 16:9 display provides a wider image area that more closely matches the movie theater experience.

Some TV stations broadcast sub-channels (multicast) along with their HD programming. These sub-channels are usually broadcast in Enhance Definition or Standard Definition but still are sharper than old analog TV channels.

As with HDTV and EDTV sound is broadcast in six channel Dolby Digital 5.1. When your sound system is set up correctly you will have a total of six speakers. Up front you will have a left, center, and right speaker. In the rear you will have a left and right speaker. To the left or right side you will have a bass speaker. The viewers will need to sit in the center of the speaker system to achieve the theater like sound effect.

If you subscribe to cable or satellite TV service you will need to change out your box to a HD box before you go out shopping for a HD TV. The HD boxes have a special digital connector that delivers the HD video as well as the digital audio channels.

When you purchase your HDTV you will also need to purchase the HDMI cable that will connect to your subscription HD service. If you are not electronic savvy I suggest that you have your HDTV installed and set up by a professional. Most stores provide this service for you at time of delivery or by appointment.

If you would like to find out more about Digital TV you can visit http://www.dtv.gov/ to obtain further information.