There has never been a technological advancement in our industry that has created as much excitement as that of high definition television. Unfortunately, there has also never been a technological advancement in our industry that has created as much confusion either!
There are many ways to get digital television to your home. One simple way is through a UHF antenna. These are inexpensive and are fairly easy to install in your home. Often times they work in your attic, or some people may simply install them on their roof in an inconspicuous place. This will allow you to receive the local affiliates in digital broadcast form, provided you live in an area that gets adequate reception.
The other way, of course, is through your local cable company provider. The local cable company will allow you to receive the cable channels—including those being broadcast by the cable company in high definition, as well as your local affiliates.
A very popular option is that of a satellite provider. This requires a small satellite dish that receives the signals via an LNB (low noise blaster) that is then connected to a satellite receiver. The receiver can decode whatever subscription content you are receiving and will send that signal out to your display device. Some market areas will allow the dish to receive your local affiliates in high definition through the satellite itself. Other markets require a UHF antenna be connected to the receiver in addition to the dish.
With that in mind, you will find that not every channel looks the same. There are three types of broadcasts currently available: analog (which is what we have all been used to), standard definition (the lowest form of digital broadcast which has a resolution of 480p) and high definition (the highest form of digital broadcast which has a resolution of 720p or 1080i).
When you walk into a showroom full of televisions, the signal content is almost assuredly going to be 1080i HD. This gives the store the best chance to “dazzle” you with how good their television looks.
How do you know which television is right for you?
There are several factors to consider. First, how far back will you be when you are critically watching your television? This helps determine how big your display device should be for optimal viewing. Which of the above content providers will you choose to get signals to your home? Many of today’s sets have things such as cable card slots, which allows the cable to plug directly into the set and thus negating the need for a “set top” box.
And finally there are several display types to consider. For flat screen technologies there is plasma and LCD (liquid crystal display). Both are very good; plasma is considered to be excellent where light control is not an issue and where the viewer is primarily watching film or sports based content, while LCD is considered to be very good for those who do a lot of “gaming,” it is also considered to be very good in poor lighting conditions.
And for those who want only the biggest picture possible? We recommend a separate projector and screen featuring DLP (digital light processing) technology. This unbelievable technology features millions of tiny mirrors on a microchip, which move at the speed of light. These tiny mirrors send light through a color wheel and a high intensity lamp to send beautiful motion pictures to a cinema screen for the ultimate in home theater experience!
At The Stereo Shoppe we have all of these exciting technologies to share with you. And even more importantly, we can help demystify them for you so that you don’t feel like you have to have a PhD in order to buy a television set!
