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High Definition refers to a new way of sending programming information over the airwaves and into your TV. There are
two types of TV display formats available. One is ATSC format, which originated from the Advanced Television Systems
Committee. The other is NTSC format, which is named for the National Television System Committee. What makes your
High Definition Television (HDTV) special is that it has tuners capable of receiving several types of signals: analog (in
NTSC format) and digital (in ATSC format), cable (in NTSC and ATSC formats), and digital satellite and high definition
satellite (coming from DIRECTV if you subscribe to DIRECTV
®
programming
†
). This TV makes receiving all types of
signals seamless. Below is an example of how your HDTV can receive the different types of signals.
So why is it called High Definition? Definition—commonly called resolution—refers to the sharpness of the image and is
determined by the number of dots, or pixels, your screen uses to create the image. The more pixels the sharper the
image. An HDTV normally has either 1080 or 720 rows and over 1,000 columns of pixels. This results in a display of
over one million pixels. Your HDTV also has a wide screen, or “wide aspect ratio” of 16:9 as opposed to the common
4:3 ratio. It is normally capable of displaying both interlaced images (like today’s analog TVs) and progressive images
(like a computer monitor).
What this all means is that while digital broadcasting will bring many new possibilities, only people with HDTVs like
yours will actually be capable of realizing many of them. A wide aspect ratio, one million pixel resolution, CD-quality
audio with Dolby Digital surround sound, and improved interactivity are features of many digital broadcasts, and your
HDTV will help bring it all into your home.
SATELLITE
DISH ANTENNA*
TERRESTRIAL
ANTENNA
DIRECTV
SATELLITE
TOWER SENDING
ANALOG AND/OR
OR
DIRECTV HD
SATELLITE
Parts of a Complete High Definition System
TERRESTRIAL
ANTENNA
HDTV
CABLE TV
DIGITAL
SIGNALS
* The appearance of your satellite dish antenna may differ from that shown here. If your satellite dish antenna is round instead of oval,
you can receive programming from only one DIRECTV satellite.
Welcome to HDTV