Video Asylum

Posted by John C. - Aussie (B) on November 05, 2002 at 14:23:23

In Reply to: Is an HDTV set required to maximise current DVD format? posted by Ted33 on November 05, 2002 at 13:58:14:

I guess this is a confusing topic that needs to be broken down to a number of parts. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong but my understanding is:

* a HDTV set is capable of receiving HDTV transmissions without any special decoder box

* all sets, HDTV or otherwise, without line doubling, tripling or quadrupling, reproduce DVD in basically the same way (variations in circuitry will increase fidelity but from the same base)

* larger sets, particularly rear projection, benefit from line doubling etc.

* front projection benefits even more from line doubling etc

However it IS dangerous to generalise as results can vary enormously according to how the complex video signal is processed. There are good and bad systems of each type.

However I do think the salesman was either being ignorant (quite likely), duplicitous or even downright dishonest. If the HDTV set did line doubling of the standard DVD or TV signal then it would be improved but, as I understand it, the HDTV term is meant to only meant to indicate its capacity to handle HDTV signals. However I guess the term is likely to be misused and corrupted as happened to many audio terms.

Hope this helps.

John

Peace at AA