HDTV and the Transition to Digital Broadcasting

1  The Dawn of HDTV and Digital Television

Walk around a consumer electronics store and look at all the different kinds of high definition televisions. Flat-panel LCDs, plasma displays, DLP and LCoS Projection TVs abound, while receivers with cathode ray tube (CRT) displays are becoming increasingly scarce.

Receiver labels proclaim “HDTV-ready,” “built-in ATSC decoder,” and “EDTV.” Display specifications tout resolutions of 1366 × 1080, 1024 × 720 and formats of 1080i, 720p or 1080p. How many different kinds of HDTV are there? What does it all mean?

As difficult as it is for the consumer, it is significantly worse for television professionals. Veteran broadcast engineers have to learn a new kind of television, one based predominantly ...