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General discussion

"Digital vs. "High Def"....

Sep 1, 2005 8:02AM PDT

...There seems to be a great deal of confusion around here about these two terms (not unlike "healthy" and "low calorie" in the world of dieting....no, Virginia, they're not synonymous!). I'm pretty sure I understand the difference(s) but it might be helpful i some technically minded poster could post something briefly explaining that the two terms are really entirely independant.
High def is not digital and, more to the point, digital does NOT mean that what you're watching is necessarily "high def."

Discussion is locked

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"Digital vs. "High Def"...
Sep 2, 2005 12:57AM PDT

Yes with all the terms you are some times talking Apples and Oranges. I have seen 1050 HD analog though not for several years. The first time I saw a live studio TV camera on a high quality NTSC monitor it was realy something. In this kind of setup NTSC can get very close to DVD quality.
Usualy what I do is refer to this link on cnet.

http://www.cnet.com/4520-7874_1-5108580-3.html?tag=nav

This link does a good job of covering the basics.
If anyone has questions after reading this I will be glad to answer. John

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Fairly simplified explanation
Sep 2, 2005 7:47AM PDT

Digital is the delivery means of a signal and high defintion is a measure of it's resolution. A simple analogy is digital equates to the type of vehicle you are driving and high definition is the quality of the ride.

Most signal sources are now delivered to your TV set via digital means. This has very little to do with how 'good' the picture looks. That's where resolution comes in. Resolution refers to how much information is on the screen at any one time. HD resolution puts more pixels of information on the screen than SD (standard definition) sources, resulting in a higher picture quality.

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Perfectly Stated.....
Sep 2, 2005 8:46AM PDT

...***Digital is the delivery means of a signal and high defintion is a measure of it's resolution.***

Thanks, this is exactly what I was trying to express.

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how bout this...
Sep 3, 2005 10:01AM PDT

"digital" simply means that every pixel of color and every small bit of sound on your TV has been assigned a number... a digit. Why ? Because numbers don't change if they are sent 5 miles or 500 miles. If your receiver/decoder gets enough of the signal to show a picture and sound it will look exactly like it did when it left the studio (theoretically).

An analog signal will give you the snowy picture of old.

Hi Definition is a standard... meaning that the signal, whether it be the japanese analog Hi-Def thats been around for years, or the newer ATSC digital standard that the USA has adopted,,, must meet certain standards of resolution or clarity to be given that name.

Digital satellite gives you a great digital picture because the go to the source (station or network) to get a direct digital feed.

Digital cable often gets a analog feed and sends it to you along with the premium digital feeds and then has the temerity to sell and bill you for "digital" cable as if it was all digital.

I've always liked satellite for the picture quality but cable can give you local feeds not available via the satellite.

grim