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High-definition television

technology Maturity 9-11 Next article →

High-definition television, or HDTV, makes video look very clear.

Digital broadcast standards
Digital broadcast standards

It provides a much higher image resolution than older systems. Resolution is the amount of detail you can see on a screen. HDTV uses many more pixels to build its images. A pixel is a tiny dot of color. When you have more pixels, the picture looks sharper. This helps you see fine details clearly.

Digital broadcast standards
Digital broadcast standards

How does this better picture work? It happens through different ways of drawing the image. One way is called 1080i, which uses an interlaced scan. This means the screen draws parts of the image in a specific pattern. Another way is 1080p, which uses a progressive scan. Progressive scan draws the whole image at once. This makes fast motion look much smoother. It also helps stop the screen from flickering.

Digital broadcast standards
Digital broadcast standards

The history of high definition goes back a long time. The term was used as early as 1933. In 1936, the British began testing high-definition services. They used different systems like the Baird 240 line scan. France also started its own systems in 1938. Later, the US used a 525-line system starting in 1941. For many years, nations raced to make better systems.

Digital broadcast standards
Digital broadcast standards

Modern HDTV has many specific numbers and names. Japan began broadcasting modern HDTV in 1989 using the MUSE system. The 1080p format has about 2,073,600 pixels per frame. This is about five times as many pixels as standard-definition TV. Different parts of the world use different digital standards. North America uses ATSC for its broadcasts. Europe and much of Asia use the DVB standard.

Digital broadcast standards
Digital broadcast standards

You can see how HDTV connects to your daily life. Most broadcasts today use these digital standards. This includes television from the air, cable, or satellites. Even mobile devices use special standards like DMB in South Korea. The race for better pictures is still happening today. We now have even newer systems like 4K and 8K. These systems continue to push what a screen can do.

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