DTV and HDTV…What is it and what does it mean for you?

Before investing in a new TV, be sure you have all the facts about digital broadcast television and understand the differences between Digital Television (DTV) and High Definition Television (HDTV).  There are a lot of choices out there and TriCounty Telecom (TCT) wants to help you be prepared to make a wise purchasing decision.

TriCounty Telecom has upgraded to a fully digital headend.  This means all of the television signals sent to your home is of digital quality.  The upgrade allowed for the addition of new channels to our lineup, including high definition programming. This was completed in January 2009. 

Following are some frequently asked questions and answers.

What is analog television?

Analog television service is the traditional TV system.  Analog television has been the standard broadcast technology since the inception of television using magnetic waves to transmit and display pictures and sound.

What is Digital Television (DTV) and why did television broadcasters transitioning to DTV?

Digital television (DTV) is revolutionizing the television marketplace, offering improved service quality, greater service innovation, and new capabilities not currently available from the analog broadcast television service.  DTV will allow broadcasters to offer viewers better image and sound quality and also more programming choices.

There are other benefits to the nation as well.  The DTV service is designed to use radio spectrum more efficiently than the current analog service.  Therefore, the Federal Government has reclaimed and reassigned analog broadcast television spectrum to other important uses, including public safety and advanced wireless services.

If I am shopping for a new TV, what should I look for?

Digital TV(DTV): Television delivered and displayed using radio frequency waves that contain information that is digitally encoded for improved quality and efficiency.

Standard Definition TV(SDTV): Basic digital television transmission that may be displayed with fewer than 480 progressively scanned lines (480p) in 16 X 9 or 4 X 3 format. 480 interlaced (480i) is the quality of today's analog TV system.

High-Definition Television (HDTV): The best quality digital picture, widescreen (16 X 9) display with at least 720 progressively scanned lines (720p) or 1080 interlaced lines (1080i) and Dolby® digital surround sound.

Plug-and-Play or Digital Cable Ready: A DTV or other device for digital cable customers that plugs directly into the cable jack and does not require a separate set-top box. Plug and Play TV owners must obtain a CableCARD from their cable company in order to view scrambled programming services.

What is high definition TV (HDTV)?  How is it different from analog television?

HDTV is a name given to two of the digital television (DTV) formats.  HDTV provides high resolution programming.  A current analog TV picture is made up of horizontal lines on the picture screen; an HDTV picture can have more than twice as many lines, allowing for stunning picture detail.

HDTV uses a “widescreen format.”  “Widescreen format” refers to an image's aspect ratio, which is a comparison of screen width to screen height.  Analog television has an aspect ratio of 4 X 3, which means the screen is 4 units wide by 3 units high. The aspect ratio of HDTV is 16 X 9, similar to a movie theater screen.  HDTV programs can include Dolby Digital surround sound, the same digital sound system used in many movie theaters and DVDs.

HDTV uses the same amount of bandwidth (the size of the communications channel) as the current analog system, but with HDTV, about six times more information is transmitted.  This capability translates to much better quality in picture and sound.

Is HDTV the same thing as DTV?

No.  HDTV is the highest quality of DTV, but it is only one of many formats.  In addition to HDTV, the most common formats are Standard Definition Television (SDTV) and Enhanced Definition Television (EDTV).

SDTV is the baseline display and resolution for both analog and digital.  Transmission of SDTV may be in either the traditional (4:3) or wide-screen (16:9) format.  EDTV is a step up from Analog Television.  EDTV comes in widescreen (16:9) or traditional (4:3) format and provides better picture quality than SDTV, but not as high as HDTV.

TriCounty Telecom is currently offering HDTV programming.