HDTV Programming Options
Your HDTV viewing experience will not be complete without the proper components. Your HDTV display is only half of it and you need HD sources or programming to complete the system. An HDTV display will not in any way improve the quality of an SD signal. If you try to hook your usual SD sources into your HDTV set, you will get unsatisfactory results. It will actually make matters worse because upscaling will introduce noise and artifacts. For an HD signal to be displayed clearly and properly, it has to be displayed in a corresponding HD display. HD sources may include terrestrial broadcast TV, cable TV, satellite TV, IPTV and optical media.
Digital Terrestrial Broadcast
Signal reception is similar to traditional analog TV with the use of outdoor or indoor rabbit antenna. New high definition televisions usually have HD tuners built in. For both analog and HDTV sets without the proper HD tuner, a separate set-top box (STB) is required. HDTV terrestrial broadcast varies from one region or country to another. In the case of the US, ATSC HD signal is now available almost anywhere considering that the analog shutdown is scheduled to happen in February 2009.
You can use your old antenna to receive HD broadcast. It may be practical to try it first before spending those extra bucks in your HDTV antenna. You can find help in AntennaWeb.org (for US viewers) in choosing the right antenna for your particular location. The site also has a section on aligning your antenna to be able to receive crisp and clear picture. Unlike analog TV signals, digital HD signal does not suffer from ghosting or overlapping of pictures when analog signals bounce off tall buildings or natural obstructions.
HD terrestrial broadcast is also available in Japan (ISDB-T), Brazil (SBTVD), Singapore (DVB-T) and Australia (DVB-T). It is in trial broadcast in the UK and a number of other countries. It should be worthwhile to note that digital TV can broadcast both SD and HD signals.
Cable TV
HD is usually offered as part of a package by cable TV providers. It can also be offered as a separate HD package. In order to receive HD content via cable, a digital or set top box is required. Different cable companies used various digital techniques to implement their digital offering that led to the proliferation of STBs that won’t work across different platforms. In the U.S., the government mandated manufacturers to develop a unified standard for cable HDTV called CableCARD to address this problem. Most cable systems nowl support first-generation CableCARDs that only provides one-way HD content viewing. Newer CableCARDs now support interactive services like video on demand (VOD) but will require phone connection for the return signal.
Satellite TV
Direct-to-Home Satellite TV providers such as DirecTV and Dish Network in the US Sky Digital and Freesat in the UK have now started to offer HD content in their programming. But in order to receive HD, their subscribers may need to replace their set-ups with new HD-capable receivers. In most cases, they may also need to replace their dish because the provider may be using a separate satellite for their HD programming.
One satellite TV in the US, VOOM, is a different story. From the time of its launch, it already offered an all-HD line-up. It got carried by Dish Network in 2005 but was removed just a few months back. It is also offered in a number of countries in Europe and Asia like the UK and Singapore.
First generation HD satellite offering all relied on MPEG-2 video compression technology. But MPEG-2 is bandwidth-hungry requiring from 12 to 16 Mbps encoding rate to get true HD quality. This issue limited the number of HD channels that can be squeezed in available satellite spectrum.
Then came MPEG-4 AVC, another video compression technology that can introduce up to 50% bandwidth bandwidth savings than MPEG-2. Providers are now able to cram more number of HD channels than before. Both DirecTV and Dish Network have deployed additional satellites dedicated fully to HD content. But these new technological advances also required subscribers with older HD-capable MPEG-2 receivers to upgrade their boxes to MPEG-4 to be able to watch the new local and national HD channels.
IPTV
IPTV or internet protocol TV is television delivered via a broadband connection. It is different from web TV streaming in which content is usually viewed on a computer monitor. IPTV is a closed network wherein content can only be viewed by using a provider’s set top box. Most providers are telephone companies who extended their fiber networks to the home to be able to offer digital content which previously is not possible with copper connection. Examples are Verizon’s Fios TV and AT&T’s U-verse in the US. Both providers offer HD content in their channel offerings. VOD is also popular in IPTV services because of the inherent two-way characteristic of IP networks.
Other HD sources
There are now a number of movie titles available in both HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs. There was an earlier format war between these two but Blu-ray just recently won the battle when major movie companies announced they are dropping HD-DVD.
Popular video gaming consoles like PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and internet digital set-top boxes like the Apple TV, are equipped with an HD output. Their online sevices like Xbox Live Marketplace, iTunes Music Store, and PlayStation Network offer HD movies, TV shows, movie trailers and video clips that can be viewed from HDTV displays.
The review done is general in nature and did not discuss in detail the different HD channels available in different areas nor the corresponding subscription costs involved. To know if there is HD broadcast content you can receive in your area, you should consult your local terrestrial, cable, satellite or IPTV providers. Always remember that a true HDTV experience requires two ingredients - your HDTV display and HD source. One cannot accomplish its purpose without the other. As the saying goes, it takes two to tango.
