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EDTV vs HDTV
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Confused by EDTV vs HDTV? We don't blame you. The number of acronyms floatingabout with regard to digital TV is frightening. What's even more worrying is that veryoften they are used by people who have little or no knowledge about what theymean. If the person selling you doesn't know the difference between EDTV vs HDTV,how are customers supposed to decide which TV or projector to go for?
In our guide below, we've tried to distill the technical info into as few words aspossible and make it as straightforward to understand as we can.
To properly explain EDTV vs HDTV, we need to step back a bit. Traditional TV has525 lines of video which are interlaced. Interlacing just means that every frame ofvideo is split into two fields and each field is shown alternately. Although there are525 lines in the signal, only 480 lines contain video, so it is sometimes referred toas 480i (480 lines interlaced). This is known as Standard Definition TV, or SDTV.While this has worked well enough for fifty years, as TV sets have got bigger andprojectors more popular, the quality deficiencies have become increasinglyapparent.
The ultimate answer to improving the quality of the image displayed on your TV is HDTV, however, as a step on the road to HDTV, the industry came up with EnhancedDefinition TV, or EDTV. This system contains the same 480 lines as SDTV, but theyare progressive scan. Hence EDTV is also known as 480p. Progressive scanning justmeans that instead of splitting the signal into two fields and showing half the linesat a time, all 480 lines of video are shown at once. This results in a noticeableimprovement in the quality of video.
The bad news in relation to EDTV vs HDTV is that you need a completely new TV orprojector to display both EDTV and HDTV. Most DVD players on the market todayare progressive scan, meaning they output EDTV signals, however, in order to viewthe progressive scan picture in all its glory, you need a TV or projector capable ofdisplaying it and that, unfortunately, means getting a new TV.
In terms of content, there is very limited TV content available in HDTV format, andthere is still wrangling about the standard for HD DVDs. However, every DVD disc onthe market can be displayed in EDTV right now.
Bottom line? Pretty much every HDTV projector or TV on the market today willdisplay EDTV as well. So even if you live in a country or area where HDTV content islimited or non-existent, it is worth it to watch your DVD collection in EDTV, thedifference between SDTV and EDTV really is that big.
Kenny Hemphill is the editor and publisher of The HDTV Tuner - a guide to the kit, the technology and theprogramming on HDTV.
