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Six Must-Know HDTV Facts - TechAmok
Six Must-Know HDTV Facts - [gadgets] 06:50 AM EDT - Apr,27 2007 - post a comment The
Audioholics story ticks off six things you need to know before you buy an
HDTV, and it's a must-read if you're in the market for your first high-def set.
Here's a brief summary of some of the pointers, along with some thoughts of my
own:
Your new HDTV needs an HD
feed: Just plugging your
regular cable or satellite box into your
new HD set won't get you a high-def
picture. You'll need to contact your
cable or satellite provider and ask for
an HD set-top box (satellite subscribers
may also have to upgrade their dishes),
and you may want to sign up for an HD
subscription plan, as well (which
typically offer channels like Discovery
HD Theater and HDNet). Still watching TV
using an over-the-air antenna? A good,
properly aligned rooftop antenna may
still do a good job of pulling down HD
signals, but unless your HDTV has a
built-in HD tuner (many don't), you'll
have to buy a separate high-def tuner
box to go with your set.
Your HDTV/set-top box/cables
must be configured properly:
First, make sure you're using the right
inputs when connecting your HD set-top
box to your HDTV. You must use either
the component-video inputs (a trio of
RCA-type plugs, marked "Y," "Pb," and
"Pr") the DVI input or the HDMI input.
The composite and S-Video connectors on
your TV can't receive HD signals, so if
the cable guy starts hooking those
inputs up, time to raise the red flag.
Also, your cable or satellite HD box
must be set to send an HD signal to your
display; go to the set-top box menu and
look for the display settings, and
select either 720p or 1080i (depending
on the native resolution of your HDTV).
Finally, once you're ready to watch HD,
make sure you're watching the right
channel. If you're used to watching ABC
on, say, cable channel 7, that's only
the standard-def version of ABC; the HD
version is probably much further down
the dial, usually in the 700s. Check
your programming guide.
Most TV programming is still
in standard definition: I'm
still amazed by how many people think
that an HDTV will display all their
shows in high definition. Now, if you're
only watching scripted (i.e.,
non-reality) prime-time shows on the
major broadcast networks, then yes,
there's a good chance that most of those
shows are in HD (save a few holdouts,
like "Scrubs" on NBC). But the vast
majority of programming that's out
there, ranging from "Queer Eye" and
"Regis and Kelly" to "Pardon the
Interruption" and "Sesame Street", is
produced in standard definition, and
your HDTV won't magically convert SD
shows to HD. Check out
TitanTV to see what's in HD in your
area.
SD typically looks terrible
on an HDTV: Standard-def shows
can look remarkably bad on a 50-inch
display. Imagine taking a grainy
Polaroid picture and blowing it up to
monster size. If you miss how CNN used
to look on your old 27-inch direct-view
set, keep in mind that you were watching
it on a much smaller screen.
HDTV screens are wider than
SD pictures: Because HDTV
screens have a wide 16:9 aspect ratio,
your new set will stretch the boxy 4:3
shape of a standard-definition show to
fill the screen, which will make
everything look short and squat. You
have two choices: either live with the
short-and-squat look on your SD
channels, or dig into your HD set-top
box settings and add sidebars to the SD
channels. Yes, you'll have to deal with
black bars on the left and right sides
of the screen, but at least the picture
won't look like a circus fun-house
mirror.
An upconverting DVD player
doesn't turn standard DVDs into HD:
I'm a big fan of DVD players
that upconvert standard-def DVDs to
1080i or even 1080p, but make no
mistake; because the source DVD disc is
standard definition, you're still
watching an SD picture (albeit, one
that's been extrapolated to HD
proportions). If you want true HD images
from your DVD player, you'll have to
pony up $400 or more for a Blu-ray or HD
DVD drive.
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