Understanding
High Definition Television (HD) uses the latest technology to bring clearer and sharper television pictures to your home. HD services are already on-air in some parts of the world and they are about to be launched in the UK.
To view HD you need a high definition display and there is an industry ‘kite mark’ to show whether a particular display is ready for high definition broadcasts. This web site lists only displays which are HD Ready.
The fact that a product bears the label “HD ready” does not necessarily mean that it can display the full picture resolution possible from a HD source. Most HD-ready sets do not have enough pixels to give true pixel-for-pixel representation without interpolation of the higher HD resolution (1920×1080) - or even the lower HD resolution (1280×720) horizontally (CRT based sets, or the plasma based sets with 1024×768 resolution).
The term HD compatible is also being used in Europe to indicate that a display device has HDMI capability but with lower than HD-ready resolution.
Requirements
- Display, Display Engine
- The minimum native resolution of the display (e.g. LCD, PDP) or display engine (e.g. DLP) is 720 physical lines in wide aspect ratio.
- Video Interfaces
- The display device accepts HD input via:
- Analog YPbPr. “HD ready” displays support analog YPbPr as a HD input format to allow full compatibility with today’s HD video sources in the market. Support of the YPbPr signal should be through common industry standard connectors directly on the HD ready display or through an adaptor easily accessible to the consumer; and:
- DVI or HDMI
- HD capable inputs accept the following HD video formats:
- 1280×720 @ 50 and 60Hz progressive scan (“720p”), and
- 1920×1080 @ 50 and 60Hz interlaced (“1080i”)
- The DVI or HDMI input supports copy protection (HDCP)
- The display device accepts HD input via: