What is HDTV And How To Choose Them

As some of you know by now, Singapore is going to roll out HDTV broadcasting in a few years time and eventually totally replacing the old Analog TV signal. MediaCorp is partnering Meda Development Authority (MDA) for a HDTV trial scheduled since June 2006 for TV viewers here to test first-hand the new technology. This is the 1st step to an island-wide HDTV broadcast. Everyone will have to replace their old Analog TV (Which is what most of us are still using now) or at least buy a HD Set-Top Box to work with it.

What I'm doing here is to give you a rough guide on the path to HDTV and tell you what you might need to know to make your decisions. At the end of this post, I have a short HDTV buying checklist that you might want to print out or copy into your PDA or Handphone so that you can ask the sales representative at your favourite TV retailer.

Names That You Should Get Yourself Familiar With

Analog TV:
This is the regular TV that we have been using for many years now. An analog TV cannot display progressive-scan DVD or HDTV. It can show only standard-definition programs such as those found on regular TV or Starhub CableTV. In order to view HDTV signals on your old Analog TV, you will need to buy a HDTV Set-Top Box (not given free by Mediacorp or Starhub, in case you are wondering!). BUT, with a Set-Top Box, you will not get the best video quality that HDTV signals can provide, as the Analog TV unit itself has very low resolution. This will save you money from buying a new TV, at a cost of the video quality.

HDTV Set-Top Box:
This is a HDTV Tuner which is capable of receiving and decoding HDTV signals into TV programmes in high definition. It works with BOTH HD-Ready TVs and Analog TVs. With a HD-Ready TV, it will provide the best video quality that the TV can display. However, with an Analog TV, it will have to reduce the video quality of the signal in order for the TV to be able to display it.

HD Ready TV:
TVs (LCD, plasma, CRT etc) capable of accepting and presenting TV programmes in high definition. You must use these TVs with a HDTV Set-Top Box as the TV itself does not have a decoder capable of understanding the HDTV signals. Most HDTVs sold in Singapore now are actually only HD Ready.

HDTV set:
These TV sets have a high-definition screen and a built-in digital tuner capable of receiving, decoding & displaying high definition TV programmes. This means you do not need a seperate HDTV Set-Top Box. You do not see many of these type of HDTVs in Singapore now as there are currently very few HDTVs (and non of them are sold here) capable of decoding the latest video signal (MPEG-4 H.264 (AVC)) that Singapore is going to roll out. So if you are looking for an all-in-one HDTV, you might have to wait a while longer.

HDTV Resolutions:
Resolutions is the video quality I was telling you about earlier. Even for HDTVs, there are several different types of resolutions that it can (or cannot) display. Let's look at the table.

Name	Resolution	HDTV?	Wide-screen?	Progressive-scan?
1080p	1,920x1,080	Y	Y	Y
1080i	1,920x1,080	Y	Y	N
720p	1,280x720	Y	Y	Y
Analog TV	Up to 480 lines	N	N	N

As you can see, the best resolution that a HDTV can display now is 1080p which supports progressive-scan DVD playback (more on this later). However, even the best HDTVs in Singapore now can only display 1080i. Many HD Ready TVs sold now are 720p, which is not the highest resolution a HDTV is capable of (this is changing, however). All these are compared to the regular Analog TV which can only display up to 480 lines as opposed to the 720 or 1080 lines. As with all things, better resolution will cost more (the best 1080p will cost more than S$10,000), so choose what you need carefully.

Additional Features That You May Want
Now that you know about the basics of HDTV (yea, those are basics!), you might want to familiarise yourself with other features that you may want with your new high-tech TV (HDMI, Progressive scan etc).

Wide Screen 16:9 Format
One important choice these days when you buy a TV (even a regular one) is to choose whether you want a wide 16:9 screen (like in a movie theatre) or the standard 4:3 screen. With huge numbers of anamorphic (enhanced for wide-screen) DVDs and the appearance of more wide-screen TV and HDTV shows, there's plenty of wide-screen content out there, so eventually, wide-screen TVs will become the popular choice. Most HDTVs out there are wide-screen units.

Progressive Scan DVD Playback
One of the reasons people buy a HDTV today (instead of waiting a year or two for better ones) is to watch high quality DVDs. HDTVs can make DVD, a very high-quality source, look spectacular. Progressive-scan DVD players have their own internal processors that are generally superior to the ones inside most HDTV sets. Mating a prog-scan DVD with an HDTV will give you the best picture you can get outside of HDTV itself as regular Analog TV programmes does not really look much better on a HDTV until the HD signals are rolled out.

Digital Inputs and Outputs
High quality digital inputs and outputs are one of the key advantages of HDTVs over regular TVs. As HDTVs are able to display the highest quality that your DVD players (HDMI or DVI-D with HDCP) or even your computers (RGB) produces, you might want to have them available in your new HDTV purchase. Check out this page on CNET for more information.

Buying Checklist
Now that you know more about HDTVs, you may want a checklist of items when you go shopping for a new HDTV. Here's a short, but quite important list:

1. Ask about technical aspects of the TV. You should know by now if you want a HDTV or a HD Ready TV. You should also check the resolutions that the TV supports and choose which one you need. Remember, there are currently (Sept 2006) no HDTV sets available for MPEG-4, only HD Ready TVs are available and most of them are 720p. Do not be fooled by the salesperson if they say that an EDTV (Enhanced Definition TV) is capable of displaying HD as it can only support 480p.
   
2. Choose Plasma or LCD? This is a question often asked, but both have its own advantages and disadvantages. LCD displays are sharper and have a longer lifetime, but has a smaller viewing angle and lower brightness and contrast. Plasma displays are cheaper, but may suffer from burn-in and image retention. Plasma displays are also more power hungry.
   
3. Ensure that you are buying a TV size suitable for your room. The sitting distance from the TV will determine the largest possible size you should get for your room. Try to look at the TV at the distance you will be sitting to determine what TV size is the most comfortable for you. It will be typically be at least 1.5 times the diagonal measurement of the TV (a 42-inch (1m) wide-screen TV should have a viewing distance of 1.6m to 12m).
   
4. Check the brightness and contrast of the TV. As retailers typically max the brightness of the TVs, you should ask them to adjust it to see it differently. Ambient lighting in the showroom can also affect the contrast, shade the TV if you need to.
   
5. Bring a DVD movie of your own that you are familiar with so that you can judge the picture quality of the various TV brands.
   
6. Look out for the features that you want. Different brands offer different features (picture-in-picture(PIP), various inputs). If you are a gaming console person, you might want front panel AV/S-Video inputs; Internet surfers might want RGB inputs. Soon-to-be PS3 owners will make good use of the HDMI inputs. Note that PIP is overrated in some cases. For example, it will not work with Starhub CableTV channels.
   
7. Do not worry about the sound produced by the TV. Most TVs are not able to produce theatre-quality sounds. You are better off buying a home theatre system (even a cheap one) for your audio needs.

Conclusion
Of course there are still many things to know about HDTVs. I'm only giving a 'brief' guide here, LOL. The choice to buy a HDTV now hinges on your needs for a new TV. Buying a HDTV now is quite future-proof as you will probably be able to use it for a few years down the road. If you have any questions, feel free to leave me a comment and I will try my best to answer it. If I can't answer it, I can point you in the direction where answers might be found. Happy shopping!