The HD Difference

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There are several benefits to viewing programs in high-definition.

  1. Clarity. The digital signal is crystal clear and noise-free.
  2. Wide-screen picture. Traditional televisions use a 4 by 3 aspect ratio, which means the screens are 4 units wide by 3 units high. However, theatrical films are usually much wider, taking advantage of the actual human field of vision. HDTV uses a wider 16 by 9 aspect ratio, which delivers movies with less "edge cropping" and provides a more intense viewing experience.
  3. Sharpness. In addition to clarity, HDTV provides a much sharper picture than analog television. Just like a digital camera, more pixels means sharper pictures. The highest resolution HDTV format has approximately 2 million pixels compared to about ½ million pixels in analog TV.
  4. Digital sound. HDTV's digital audio sounds better than a standard television's analog sound, just like digital CDs are superior to analog radio. All HDTV programs use Dolby Digital sound, which is also used on DVDs. This format is used to transmit two to six channels of audio depending on the program.

High Definition Television offers viewers a better sound and color than they are used to with their traditional TV set. You may be telling yourself that there is nothing wrong with your television picture or sound so why bother upgrading. Once you view a movie on HDTV though you will definitely notice the difference. You can see a variety of colors clearer. Pay attention to the sound and you can tell different levels of sound in the audio you weren’t able to experience before.

With Dolby surround sound you will be able to have a home experience watching movies that is very similar to going to the theater. The only downside to watching HDTV is that nothing else will ever be good enough again. If you only have HDTV in your living room you may find watching TV in the bedroom isn’t as fun as it once was.