What is HDTV, and what is the difference between HDTV and regular TV?

Question

What is HDTV, and what is the difference between HDTV and regular TV?

Answer 1

Hearing the technical stuff - wont really answer your question.

Go to a store and have a salesman show you a HDTV.  Then look at the same channel on a standard def TV.  

Once you see the better picture - we can tell you the numbers/technology behind the better image.

Answer 2

HDTV means High-Definition Television, in which SDTV(regular tv) means Standard-Definition Television.

In both types of Televisions, Lines or Pixels make up the Picture.

HDTV has a higher resolution then SDTV.

In SDTV there are 480 or 576 lines or pixels making up the picture.

In HDTV there are 720 or 1080 lines or pixels making up the picture.

Since HDTV has more lines making up the picture making up the TV screen HDTV will look better, but many factors depend on if you need HDTV or SDTV:

Screen Size?

Type of Reception?

Blu-Ray or HD-DVD Player?

Screen size is a factor because if you have a really small screen 480 lines is pretty much all you need, but if you have a large screen a lower amount of lines will not look good and you will probably need at least 720 lines.

Type of reception matters because most cable at this time is not in HD at this point, most of them are still broadcasting at 480 lines, but Blu-Ray and HD-DVD are both capable of displaying up to 1080 lines.

Digital TV is different from HDTV, so do not get those mixed up. I think analog TV means the TV is displaying lines and digital TV means the TV is displaying pixels.

You need a High-Definition Source to view HDTV, just that you have a HDTV does NOT mean you are viewing HD Quality Picture.

1080p HDTV is considered full HD. because that is the best quality known to man at this point.

Only Analog Component Cables and Digital HDMI Cables are able to transmit HD Signals.