High Definition Television, or HDTV for short, has received a lot of buzz in home theater circles lately, but there's also a lot of misinformation about what kind of equipment and programming you need to enjoy it. There's even misinformation about what exactly high definition television is. Fortunately, this misinformation is pretty easy to clear up with the presentation of a few facts.
First of all, High Definition Television is a completely different television format from the standard definition television which was the dominant format for the latter half of the twentieth century. Standard definition television, or SDTV for short, is delineated from other television formats by the fact that it has a 4:3 aspect ratio screen which is almost square. This is the same type of screen that you'll still find on most cathode ray tube television sets and most computer screens. Standard definition television is also characterized by a picture resolution of 480i. With a resolution of 480i, the number 480 is the number of horizontal lines of resolution that make up the picture. The greater the number of lines, the more detailed the picture. The "i" means that those lines are scanned onto the screen in an interlacing pattern. In an interlacing pattern, the odd numbered lines are scanned onto the screen in sequence from the top to the bottom. Then the even numbered lines are followed a small fraction of a second later to complete the picture.
High definition television features a picture with a 16:9 aspect ratio and a resolution of 720p or 1080i. The 16:9 aspect ratio is almost twice as wide as it is tall, and has the same proportions as a movie screen. The "p" in the 720p resolution stands for progressive scanning which means that all of the lines are scanned onto the screen in one pass from top to bottom. This eliminates certain visual defects that can be produced by interlaced scanning. Most High Def television sets up convert the 1080i resolution by scanning it onto the screen progressively.
These differences between high definition television and standard definition television mean that you need a special high definition television set with a 16:9 aspect ratio screen that's capable of handling the higher resolution pictures to enjoy high definition television. You also need high definition programming and a high definition receiver to process it. High definition television is available from Dish Network and a high definition satellite receiver is included at no extra charge with a subscription to Dish Network's high definition entertainment packages.
Dish Network is a good choice for high definition television programming because, not only is it more affordable than most other providers, but it also provides more channels of high definition television programming than any other TV provider. Dish Network has four different high definition entertainment packages to choose from ranging from the Bronze level which has twenty five high definition channels and eighty standard definition channels, all the way up to the Platinum level which has thirty high definition channels and two hundred and forty standard definition channels. If you live in an area where local high definition channels are available, you can add them onto any of the packages for a small monthly fee. All of these options and the great value included makes high definition television from Dish Network a great deal.
