The world is HD

by Joshua Mitchell  |  July 28, 2009

It seems that these days everything is in the HD or in the full HD format. The days of television as we know it are finally over. Now our living room harbors proudly a flat HD TV set and the bigger it is, the better. Although almost 20 years have passed from the first high-definition broadcast in U.S.A. (1990), it looks like the world just can't get enough of HD.

For a true HD experience one needs to pay attention to three major elements: the broadcasting signal, the TV set and the diagonal length of the TV. The high-definition television, also known as HD TV, is a digital type of broadcasting which has a better and higher resolution; that means that the images are clearer and more detailed, the colors brighter and the sound quality is better. The high-definition signal is at either 1080i, 720p or 1080p.

The Full HD TV is a technology which delivers an even better image - an image with a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels. At this point we need to clarify the difference between the 1080p Full HD and 1080i Full HD. The “p” and the “i” refer to the process of delivering the images: “P” comes from progressive scanning and “I” from interlaced scanning. The key point here is that progressive scanning is superior to interlaced scanning and the difference between them stands in the way that images are transmitted: the “i” transmits the image in two steps – first the odd lines are formed and then the even ones; the “p” transmits the images at once. What we need to understand from this is that the images resulted from progressive scanning are more detailed and closer to reality.

The way the image is transmitted has influenced the shape and format of our TV sets: thinner and wider. Progressive scanning goes hand in hand with plasma and liquid-crystal displays. But the most striking difference between a HD TV and a standard TV is the aspect ratio – 16:9 instead of 4:3. Even if HD TV sets have become common in our homes the prices vary according to how many pixels the TV has and how big is the diagonal. For example a Full HD TV with 1920x1080 pixels has a price of $200 if the diagonal is 20 inch and $2000 if the diagonal is 50 inch. The general consensus among HD users is that a full HD experience is only noticeable on a 50+ inch TV, and that any TV smaller than this will not deliver a worthwhile (or worth-money) viewing experience.

If Full HD is the latest broadcasting technology, HD Ready refers to a TV / monitor which can accept and display a HD signal. So, practically HD Ready can display video formats in 720p, 1080i but, has a hard time displaying a complete 1080p resolution; in this latter case the image will be imperfect.

The Full HD format has been mostly popularized with the help of the Blu-ray disks, especially the Blu-ray movies, because such disks are able to hold and produce a Full HD image, if and only if, the Blue player is connected to a HD TV with a HDMI cable.

What we finally need to understand is that more lines of pixels translate into a better resolution; in turn, a better resolution, means a clearer and crisp image. So, the big battle in the digital world (including TVs, photo cameras, monitors, phones..etc.) is given for the largest number of pixels able to offer an identical replica of reality.

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