Web Reviews From 1997 to the present, President/Creative Director, Jim Cota has been writing informative reviews of Web sites and other internet related issues for the Indianapolis Business Journal. If you've missed the articles in print you can catch up on past stories here. Articles are reprinted with permission of the Indianapolis Business Journal, copyright 1997 - 2005, IBJ Corp.

HDTV Finally (sort of) Arrives!

I'd be surprised if you haven't at least heard about the advent of High Definition Television (HDTV), even if you aren't exactly sure what it means for you. A local retailer has been running ads for sometime referring to the "digital revolution" and in the respect that revolutions can be upsetting, messy, and lengthy, they're right. But the result of this revolution is going to be vastly improved television that arrives in your house looking and sounding great.

Let's start with a general overview of what, exactly, this HDTV stuff is. (Please keep in mind that space is limited here, so I'll be omitting large sections of somewhat irrelevant data.) HDTV is high-resolution digital television (DTV) combined with Dolby Digital surround sound. The promise of HDTV (of which there are actually 18 different signal types) is that it is capable of providing an image that is far better than what you're viewing now. This signal quality is achieved by presenting the information in higher resolution. For example, the signal on your current analog TV uses contains 525 horizontal lines of resolution, with only about 480 actually visible. Each line is also about 720 pixels across, so conventional resolution can be described as "480 by 720". This signal is also interlaced, meaning that it is being displayed in your TV by drawing every other line every 30th of a second. This interlacing, if you could slow it down, would look like a wave passing over your screen. A high definition signal, by contrast, is capable of a resolution of 1,080 by 1,920, a significant increase. And some HDTV signals are progressive instead of interlaced, meaning that the entire picture is shown at the same time, at 60 frames a second. The result is a great -- and I mean like looking out a window great -- television picture.

So now technology has provided this great new capability, what next? Some years ago, the federal government decided that it was time to abandon the television signal that had been in use since about 1940 and force the country to adopt the new high definition standards. The problem is, for every station to begin broadcasting a new signal, they would require new cameras, titling and editing equipment, transmitters, and antennas. Due to the cost of these improvements, the schedule for adopting the new signals was spread over several years. In May of last year, all commercial stations were required to begin some digital broadcasting. By this April, they need to be broadcasting at least 50% of their programming on their digital channel. (Already there are several hours of programming available every night here in Indianapolis.) Next April, 75%. And by April 2005, 100% of their broadcasting schedule will need to be provided on their digital channel. In fact, by December 2006, all stations are required to turn off their analog signal.

December 2006 is a long way off. What if you wanted to see this now? There are three basic ways to begin enjoying HDTV: Over-the-air broadcasts (OTA), digital satellite TV providers, and HDTV via cable. Digital broadcasting is already available in the Indianapolis area on ABC, CBS, NBC, WXIN, WB, and WFYI. You can receive these signals using an antenna (check out the PDF file on the Terk TV55) and either an integrated HDTV (one with an HDTV tuner built in), or an HDTV-ready TV connected to a separate HDTV tuner. And here's something cool: using a conversion process, an HDTV tuner is capable of converting digital broadcasts to a signal that will look great on any TV. Conversely, they can go the other way as well. Using upconversion, the tuner can take any standard analog signal and enhance it to look great on your digital TV.

Aside from OTA broadcasts, you can also get HDTV from a satellite company (like DirectTV or Dish Network). Their selection of programs is limited at this time, but worth looking into. You can also get a HDTV signal via your cable company and again, they amount of programming is limited but increasing. Unfortunately, due to agreements between these providers and the broadcasters (like NBC, CBS, ABC, etc.), not all stations are available from one provider, so you may still need to use an OTA antenna.

There are a few wrinkles that still need ironed out. For one, I mentioned there are 18 possible DTV formats and no clear standard has been adopted, though there are a few leading candidates. While consumers would probably prefer 1080p (the highest resolution), some broadcasters are leaning toward 720p (allowing them to send more channels over the same bandwidth.) While the digital tuners can receive all of the signals, some of the new HDTV's will be able to display some better than others in their "native" mode. Second, the timetable, though roughly on-schedule, is slipping a bit. Some industry insiders question whether we'll hit the upcoming deadlines. Finally, the cost to acquire the new equipment required for viewing has been a barrier for all but early adopters so far. Prices are coming down, but I expect it will be another year or so before a new set and tuner starts appearing on the average consumers shopping list.

The bottom line is HDTV is definitely (kind of, sort of) here. Living in a city like Indianapolis provides the opportunity to begin seeing a significant portion of your viewing in HDTV with more on the way. As you can imagine, there is a lot more to this topic, so please see some of the links below for additional information:

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