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I
t is commonly recognised that all the major
TV networ
k
s must
b
roa
d
cast in
d
igita
l
– w
h
at is
c
ommon
l
y ca
ll
e
d
d
igita
l
te
l
evision (DTV). But w
h
at
is o
f
ten not
k
nown is t
h
at eac
h
ma
j
or TV networ
k
is obli
g
ed to broadcast at least 20 hours of HDTV
c
ontent a week (althou
g
h most broadcast more).
I
f you want to know what shows are broadcast
in HD they are listed on Digital Broadcasting
Austra
l
ia’s we
b
site (www.
db
a.org.au)
.
“I
f
you want to watc
h
a program,
b
e it
sp
ort, current a
ff
airs or
d
rama, in HD,” ex
pl
ains
Colle
y
, “the TV broadcast has to be in hi
g
h
d
efi nition, the set-to
p
box or built-in tuner
m
ust be high defi nition and the TV must have a
r
eso
l
ution t
h
at can
d
isp
l
ay
h
ig
h
d
e
fi
nition (720
l
ines minimum). Many
fl
at pane
l
TV’s simp
l
y
do
n’
t
have
a
su
i
table
r
esolut
i
o
n
sc
r
ee
n
to
see
the
b
enefi t of HD
p
ictures.”
While all Son
y
BRAVIA TVs have a resolution
s
uitable for HD (720 lines minimum), the new
X Series an
d
SXRD mo
d
e
l
s can
b
oast Fu
ll
HD
r
eso
l
utions o
f
1080
l
ines. As we
ll
, t
h
e new BRAVIA
V an
d
X Series
h
ave HD
d
igita
l
tuners
b
ui
l
t in so
there’s no need for a se
p
arate set to
p
box
.
I
t is also now
p
ossible to record
p
ro
g
rams in
HD. Earlier this
y
ear, Son
y
released a cou
p
le o
f
d
igita
l
vi
d
eo recor
d
ers (DVRs) t
h
at can recor
d
,
i
n HD, programs t
h
at are
b
roa
d
cast in HD.
S
VRHD
900
(SVRHD900, pictured below left, with a 250GB
hard drive for $1499 and SVRHD700 with
1
60GB for $1299). The recorders also feature twin
t
uners. T
h
is means
y
ou can recor
d
two se
p
arate
HD
p
ro
g
rams at the same time or watch one HD
p
ro
g
ram while recordin
g
another. Of course the
y
can also record programs that were broadcast in
standard defi nition as well
.
The Full-On HD experience
Di
g
ita
l
Te
l
evision is not t
h
e on
ly
source o
f
HD
content. There are others, which Son
y
is
p
erfectl
y
p
laced to take advanta
g
e of.
T
he movie studios will be releasing HD versions
o
f
its
bl
oc
kb
uster tit
l
es. Sony,
f
or instance, p
l
ans
t
o put out an HD version o
f
The
D
a
Vi
n
ci
Code
.
F
rom t
h
ere, it won’t
b
e
l
on
g
b
e
f
ore t
h
ere’s a stea
dy
st
r
ea
m
o
f
t
i
t
l
es
ava
il
ab
l
e
in HD
.
F
ilms such as these will rel
y
on a new video
disc format called Blu-ray, which supports high
d
e
fi
nition. B
l
u-ray
d
iscs can
h
o
ld
up to
fi
ve times
(50GB) w
h
at a tra
d
itiona
l
DVD can. It is t
h
is
e
xtra capacity t
h
at a
ll
ows movie stu
d
ios to
fi
t an
e
ntire HD movie onto a sin
g
le disc.
“However, we must not for
g
et that the screen
i
s not where the HD ex
p
erience ends. Sure the
h
ig
h
d
e
fi
nition pictures wi
ll
bl
ow you away,”
says Co
ll
ey, “
b
ut soun
d
is 50 percent o
f
t
movie experience an
d
t
h
ere’s no p
l
ace w
h
i
s more im
p
ortant t
h
an w
h
en
y
ou’re
l
ist
e
a blockbuster with thum
p
in
g
, earth-shat
t
sound effects. HD is not
j
ust the screen,
i
whole package. Sony offers numerous h
o
WHAT IS BLU-RAY?
With an appearance similar to that of a DVD
or
C
D, Blu-ra
y
is the next-
g
eneration video
disc
f
ormat, developed jointly by
S
ony
a
nd other leading consumer electronic,
com
p
uter and content
p
roviders
.
Bl
u-ray was create
d
to recor
d
, p
l
ay
b
ac
k
an
d
burn-to-disc hi
g
h defi nition (HD) video. One
Blu-ra
y
disc can hold up to
fi
ve times that o
f
a
traditional red-laser DVD, or up to 5
0G
B
o
n a dual-la
y
er disc, because the
g
reater
p
recision of the blue-violet laser allows
m
ore
d
ata to
b
e store
d
i
n
l
ess s
p
ace.
Thi
s
all
ows an ent
i
re
HD
mov
i
e, suc
h
as
The Da
Vinci Code
, to fi t on a single disc.
S
on
y
is releasin
g
a ran
g
e o
f
Blu-ra
y
pla
y
ers
a
nd burners, and will also equip its new
P
LAY
S
TATI
O
N
®
3
console with Blu-ray. The
f
ormat has the su
pp
ort of more than 170
alli
e
d
compan
i
es wor
ld
w
id
e,
i
nc
l
u
di
ng t
h
e
w
orld’s bi
gg
est computer manu
f
acturers
a
nd electronics makers plus the ma
j
or
H
oll
y
wood movie studios. It will equip us
f
or
t
he next generation o
f
home entertainment
.
VGNAR18GP
8 CUTTING EDGE