A Brief Look At The HDTV Tuner Card

High definition television or HDTV promises to give the consumer a viewing experience like no other right inside their homes.

High definition TV differs greatly from an analog TV, a digital TV and a Standard definition TV.

The Analog TV

An analog TV can only transmit video signals and interference during transmission can affect the quality of the signal when viewed from the screen. When viewing high definition TV shows from an analog TV, a viewer must have an HDTV converter to enjoy the experience.

An HDTV converter is different from an HDTV tuner card, in that its function is to be able to bypass the analog conversion of the digital high definition TV signal, giving the viewer a comparable quality to a DVD movie played on their analog TV.

The Digital TV

A digital TV, on the other hand, is digital television with about eighteen formats provided on it by the ATSC, only six of which are assigned for high definition TV. This means that high definition TV is basically digital television and more.

Digital TV transmits signals that are made of ones and zeros, much like a software program code instruction. Using a receiver that is similar to a HDTV tuner card, the coded instructions are then converted into a picture that is almost as perfect as the original broadcast.

There are HDTV-ready digital TVs in the market since a number of users have opted to buy cheaper alternatives to high definition TV sets. Though a digital TV has a built-in digital tuner, it is still not comparable to the HDTV tuner card and can only produce a picture that is limited to the already superior quality of a DVD movie.

The Standard Definition TV

The standard definition TV is much better than the digital TV. Its edge in terms of quality over the digital TV can be compared to the difference in quality of a DVD from a VHS movie. Imagine the leap in audio and visual quality in a standard definition TV!

The standard definition TV makes digital transmission that have 480 line resolutions in both interlaced and progressive formats. This kind of digital transmission has reached such a level that it has perfected the successful elimination of snowing and ghosting common in analog TVs.

The standard definition TV, in all its advancement, however, is not even close to the high quality of the high definition TVs.

The High Definition TV

The high definition TVs have a big aspect ratio - bigger than the standard aspect ratio of digital TVs which is 4:3. The aspect ratio of a high definition TV is 16:9. This means that the high definition TV screen is 16 feet wide and 9 feet high giving the viewer a crisper and cleaner picture.

The high definition TVs also have twice the picture resolution capability of most digital TVs today. Aside from this, the standard surround system for a high definition TV is a Dolby A3 Surround Sound System. The Dolby A3 Surround Sound System offers 5.1 channel of CD quality stereo surround sound.

The Ideal Set-up For High Definition TVs

The ideal set-up for high definition TVs is to receive pure digital signals from a cable network, either from DirecTV or Dish Network.

The high definition TV then receives the signal via an HDTV tuner card. HDTV consumers can buy a high definition TV with a built-in HDTV tuner card but they still have to check the compatibility of the HDTV tuner card to the satellite or cable service.

The compatibility of the HDTV tuner card to off-air broadcasts is also very important. Likewise, if consumers buy an HDTV tuner card separately from the HDTV set, the HDTV tuner card must be compatible with the high definition TV set.

An effective HDTV tuner card is essential for consumers to enjoy high definition and standard definition programming. Some HDTV tuner cards have advanced program guides that will integrate all off-air HD channels seamlessly into one guide and view programming schedules at least three days in advance. An HDTV tuner card usually goes up to channel 99.

An off-air antenna is then connected to the HDTV tuner card to able to receive off-air broadcasts.

Next article: High Definition TV - Have You Got Yours Yet

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