All About HDTV TCF April 2009 1 All

They Look Great n 2 50” Vizio All About HDTV Cass Lewart © 2008

All About HDTV - Outline n n n n 3 Digital TV (DT) and High Definition (HDTV) Frequency Allocation What are Broadcasters Doing Where are the Signals Coming From Plasma, LCD and DLP Displays How to Hook Up HDTV to Your System HD Recording Consumer Guide All About HDTV Cass Lewart © 2008

Analog vs. Digital TV (DT) n n n 4 OTA Analog transmissions ceased in 2009 after over 50 years. DT offers better picture quality – no “snow”, no geometric distortion, no convergence problems Each pixel separately generated Stereo and surround sound (5. 1) built-in MPEG-2 compresses 1 Gb/s video stream One 6 MHz Channel can carry 20 Mb/sec or several DT (HDTV and SDTV) sub channels and other data (8 -VSB and QAM) All About HDTV Cass Lewart © 2008

Digital TV and HDTV (cont. ) n n 5 DT Formats – 480 i, 576 i, 720 p, 1080 i, 1080 p (1080 p Blue-Ray, HD-DVD only) Native HDTV Formats - 720 p or 1080 i, up or down conversion is required Aspect Ratios – 4: 3, 16: 9 – black stripes, missing foreheads or 300 -lb bodies On-Screen Daily Schedules All About HDTV Cass Lewart © 2008

2009 TV Receivers n n n 6 Sets with HD display and no tuners (HD ready or HD monitor) Sets with HD display, NTSC/ATSC and QAM tuners with or without cable cards (most common) Sets with SD display (LCD or CRT) and NTSC/ATSC tuner (least expensive) All About HDTV Cass Lewart © 2008

Frequency Allocation n 7 Old Assignments: VHF (Ch. 2 -13) and UHF (Ch. 14 -68) New Assignments: Upper VHF, lower UHF (Ch. 7 -53) Government Will Auction the Vacated Channels for $$ Billions, issued rebate coupons for converter boxes All About HDTV Cass Lewart © 2008

What Are Broadcasters Doing? n n n 8 Broadcasters take advantage of uninformed public Saving on Quality for Profits – more channels, less HD Few Broadcasters provide a consistent true HD Signal Cable and satellite providers degrade the HD signal by further compressing it Over-the-air still the best – not publicized and hushed up by cable providers and retailers All About HDTV Cass Lewart © 2008

Transmission and Modulation NTSC/ATSC/QAM Tuners QAM (Cable) 6 MHz + Video Stream 1 Gbit/sec

Digital Transmission n 10 6 MHz Channel All About HDTV Cass Lewart © 2008

Are You Watching HDTV? n n n 11 Sleeping in the Garage Doesn't Make You a Car Nearly half of the 24 million households with HDTVs don't actually watch highdefinition programs HDTV Material Doesn't Grow on Trees All About HDTV Cass Lewart © 2008

Where Are the Digital Signals Coming from? n n 12 Digital Cable Satellite (Dish Network) Over the Air – An old antenna, even rabbit ears will often do Blue Ray DVDs and other new formats All About HDTV Cass Lewart © 2008

Over the Air (OTA) Transmission n n 13 Free and of excellent quality No such thing as an HD Antenna Depending on location – Rabbit ears, a good antenna on the roof or in attic An inexpensive RF amplifier may help For available channels, signal strength and directions: www. antennaweb. org All About HDTV Cass Lewart © 2008

Plasma, LCD and DLP Displays n n 14 Plasma – Generates its own light, vivid colors, best viewing angle, but subject to burn-in, ambient light a problem (glare, reflections) LCD – Backlit, (Venetian blinds) good pastel colors, poor blacks, low power consumption, low weight, good in lighted areas, 42” or less DLP – Reflected light (Rear projection), bright colors, relatively expensive, fragile, 50” and up, www. howstuffworks. com/lcd 2. htm All About HDTV Cass Lewart © 2008

Plasma Display n 15 Panel Cross Section All About HDTV Cass Lewart © 2008

Plasma Display (cont. ) n 16 Cell arrangement All About HDTV Cass Lewart ©

LCD Display n 17 Polarization All About HDTV Cass Lewart © 2008

LCD Display (cont. ) n 18 More Details All About HDTV Cass Lewart ©

DLP (Projection) Display n 19 How it works All About HDTV Cass Lewart ©

How to Hook Up HDTV to Your A/V System n Typical Input/Output Panel in Back of the TV

How to Hook Up HDTV to Your System (A/V Components) n n n n 21 Over-the-air and cable combination Analog vs. digital cable (cable cards, boxes) Use of additional tuners (VCR, ATSC) Analog and digital audio to your Hi. Fi Use with laptop as monitor DVD Player Games, computer and other components All About HDTV Cass Lewart © 2008

How to Hook Up HDTV to Your System (Inputs and Outputs) n n n n 22 Varies between Manufacturers and Models Composite (3 RCA cables) – OK quality Component (5 RCA cables) – Excellent quality HDMI – Excellent quality but DRM restrictions S-Video + audio – Good quality RGB (15 pins) + audio Analog Audio (Stereo) Digital Audio (5. 1) All About HDTV Cass Lewart © 2008

How to Hook Up HDTV to Your System (Cable Types) n 23 HDMI, RCA,

How I Hooked Up HDTV to My System (OTA and Analog Cable) n Combining

Recording of HD/SD Programs n n n 25 Lack of video outputs on most HDTV sets makes recording difficult (DRM raises its ugly head) Recording to PC hard drive with external tuner Regular VCR if analog output available from HDTV or digital cable box Ti. Vo recording to hard drive DVRs with built-in ATSC/QAM tuners and DVD recording media coming down in price All About HDTV Cass Lewart © 2008

Pinnacle PCTV HD Stick 26 All About HDTV Cass Lewart © 2008

HD Picture on PC Screen. 27 All About HDTV Cass Lewart © 2008

Current HD/SD Programming n n 28 Networks simulcast their main analog channel Plenty of weather and cooking channels News, sports, specials and some shows in HD PBS carries a separate HD channel with high quality documentaries, cultural and science programs (3 -hour operas from the MET, full concerts, etc) All About HDTV Cass Lewart © 2008

Government Coupon Program Analog OTA transmission ceased on 2/17/2009 n Between 1/1/08 and 3/31/09 you could call 1 -888 -388 -2009 to apply n 1 -2 $40 Rebate coupons per household n Coupons expire 90 days after issue n ATSC OTA to analog converters will give new life to old TVs and VCRs n 29 All About HDTV Cass Lewart © 2008

D/A Converter Hook Up n .

Consumer Guide n n n 31 Fit Size to Your Viewing Area Built-in ATSC/QAM tuner or HD-Ready Plasma, LCD or DLP Availability of Inputs and Outputs Price, warranties, repair cost Ask questions on alt. tv. tech. hdtv and check http: //www. avsforum. com All About HDTV Cass Lewart © 2008