In today's world of home entertainment, many consumers are feeling overwhelmed with all of the choices available to them. From flat panel, plasma, HDTV, the choices can seem endless. Knowing the difference between standard definition, enhanced definition, and high definition can help ensure you get exactly the television set you are looking for.
Standard Definition (SDTV)
Standard definition television is what you are used to seeing if you have not yet upgraded you television. Broadcast at the 4:3 aspect ratio, standard definition offer 480 interlaced vertical rows of pixels, offering a picture of 480 x 640 pixels.
Enhanced Definition (EDTV)
Enhanced definition televisions offer the same 480 vertical pixels on either a 4:3 aspect ratio (480 x 640 pixels) or a wide screen 16:9 aspect ratio (480 x 720 pixels). The difference between standard definition and enhanced definition is that enhanced definition televisions output a progressive picture as opposed to standard definition's interlaced picture.
High Definition (DHTV)
High definition televisions differ from standard and enhanced definition televisions by having much higher resolutions. Offering only 16:9 aspect ratios, high definition televisions currently come in varying resolutions, from 720 x 1280 pixels to 1080 x 1920 pixels. High definition may output both interlaced and progressive scan video.
Interlaced Scan
Interlaced signals display only every other line of pixels at one time, meaning that at 60 frames per second, you are actually only seeing 60 half frames per second.
Progressive Scan
Progressive scan displays all rows of pixels on every frame. While many salesmen and television owners alike may claim that progressive scan is better, and technically it is, the human eye should not be able to detect a difference.
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