About High Definition Television .: HDTV Canada

Do I need an HDTV Tuner and which one?
IntroductionGenerally speaking as of Nov 2004, the vast majority of high definition (HD) televisions sold in Canada do not have HDTV digital tuners built in to them. All of them have good old analog channel tuners but you must buy an HDTV tuner...

What is the HDTV Knowledgebase and how do I use it?
The HDTV knowledgebase is a place to learn about high definition televisions, HDTV technology and what sets are available in Canada.Knowledgebase is a contraction of Knowledge and database so the it's really a database of information about...

About CRT Television
There are two types of CRT televisions: Direct View and Rear Projection (more commonly know as the "big screen" television) such as the Hitachi 46F510 shown here. Direct View televisions contain something called a cathode which sits...

About Digital Light Processing or DLP
Digital Light Processing, or DLP technology is an all-digital technology invented by Texas Instruments in the 1980's and became commercially available in the late 1990's. It is based on an optical semiconductor called the Digital Micromirror...

About LCD Television
LCD television such as the Sharp LC37GD4U shown here is a flat panel television that utilizes the same Liquid Crystal Display technology that is used in computer monitors. In addition to be used in flat panels, LCD technology is also being used...

About LCOS Television
LCoS or Liquid Crystal on Silicon is the least well know fixed pixel technology. It is similar to LCD because it uses a liquid crystal layer to filter light but unlike LCD, the crystals are applied to a silicon chip rather than sandwiched...

About Plasma Television
Plasma televisions such as the Pioneer Elite 1110HD shown here are flat-panel displays that consist of millions of phosphor-coated miniature glass bubbles containing plasma. Each bubble represents one pixel. To produce an image, an electric...

Buying an HDTV: Five things to consider
Everyday readers ask Digital Home Canada which high definition television they should buy. The reader typically presents us with two or three model numbers and then asks which set is superior. There is no definitive answer because so much...

Canadian Network HDTV: 2004 Year In Review
In the fifth edition of the Broadcasting Policy Monitoring Report 2004 released in December 2004, the CRTC concluded the Canadian television industry was very profitable and characterized by strong revenue growth. Digital Home Canada reviewed...

Canadian OTA HD Channel Line-up
As of November 2006, there are fifteen teen high definition channels in Canada which broadcast over-the-air (OTA).In order to watch these stations, you will need a high definition television with ATSC tuner, a proper antenna and a strong signal....

CEA Descriptions for HDTV, EDTV and SDTV
The Consumer Electronics Association has defined the following descriptions for television equipment standards. High-Definition Television (HDTV): HDTV refers to a complete product/system with the following minimum performance attributes:...

Difference between HDTV and HD-ready TV?
During the course of shopping for a digital television, the labels HDTV and HD-Ready maybe of some confusion to the consumer. The difference between and HDTV and a HDTV Ready television is the true HDTV television has a built-in ATSC...

Digital Cable Introduction
In Canada today, over 70% of Canadians subscribe to cable television yet only 30% of those households subscribe to digital cable. The relatively small number subscribing to digital cable is surprising but understandable considering that many...

Five Reasons to choose Plasma over LCD
If you are currently shopping for a high definition television, you have probably wondered whether you should choose a plasma or LCD flat panel television.At Digital Home, we believe that for HDTV’s 42” and larger, plasma televisions are superior...

HDTV Myth: All Flat Panel Televisions are High Definition
If you're searching for an LCD or Plasma televisions don’t assume that because they are Digital televisions that they are also HDTV televisions. Many small LCD flat panel televisions and many larger more "inexpensive" plasma's are...

HDTV Sound: Dolby Digital Primer
When discussing HDTV, most consumers focus on the picture but the HDTV standard also stipulates that the sound be Dolby Digital. Most people however when they think Dolby Digital think of 5.1 sound which is not entirely correct!To learn more...

How can I get CBC HD?
The CBC officially began broadcasting in HDTV on March 5, 2005 in both Toronto and Montreal and is currently in the process of rollling out service to other cities in Canada. If you have a digital tuner and live in the Montreal and Toronto area...

Introduction: What Do I need to watch HDTV?
To watch high definition television or HDTV you will need three things: A Satellite or Cable program subscription to HD Programming; An HDTV Satellite Receiver or Digital Set Top Box; A high definition television set (HDTV)....

Product Rating & Comments
Give Us Your Feedback!If you own this product or have researched it then please help others by giving us your comments. Simply click on the add comment folder below and fill in the form. Please note that the comments are screened and may be...

Should I buy an Extended Warranty?
A common question by HDTV buyers is whether to buy the extended warranty that is offered along with the television.Generally speaking, Extended warranties are a huge money maker for consumer electronics retailers where only 20% of premiums are...

Should I buy DLP or LCD Rear Projection?
A common question we receive at Digital Home Canada is whether to buy a DLP or LCD rear projection television.Our article HDTV Insight: DLP or Rear Projection? discusses this question.

Sony BDP-S1 Blu-ray Disc Player
Sony's first Blu-ray Disc Player, which was announced in March 2006, is the Sony BDP-S1.The BD player features 1920 x 1080p output through an HDMI connection and will support various video codecs, including MPEG2, MPEG4-AVC and VC1. Analog...

Toshiba HD DVD Players
The Toshiba HD-XA1 and HD-A1 HD DVD models are the first HD DVD players to be announced and will initially be priced at $799.99 U.S. and $499.99 U.S. respectively. The units were originally scheduled to be released in the Fall of 2005 and the...

What are H.26L, AVC and JVT?
These names are sometimes also used to refer to the H.264 video codec. H.264 is the result of the combined efforts of two standards bodies — the ITU (International Telecommunication Union) and ISO MPEG (International Organization for...

What are the different types of HDTV televisions?
Currently in Canada there are four major types or High Definition televisions on the market. They are direct view, rear projection, front projection and flat panel which can be further divided by the types of technology they employ. Direct...

What does ATSC stand for?
Established in 1982, the Advanced Television Systems Committee is an industry trade group that developed the digital television (which include hdtv) for the United States, Canada, Mexico, Taiwan, and South Korea.The ATSC Digital television...

What HD Channels are available in Canada?
As of July 2007, research by Digital Home has found there are thirty-seven English and ten French language high definition channels available in Canada not including specialty pay per view channels, HD Video on demand and periodic HD sports...

What is 3:2 pulldown?
In North America, televisions use the NTSC broadcasting format. Film is shot at 24 frames per second (fps), but NTSC television signals run at 30 fps. As a result, it is necessary to convert the 24 distinct frames in a second of film...

What is AACS?
The Advanced Access Content System (AACS) is the digital rights management (DRM) standard which will be used by Blu-ray and HD DVD to protect movies from unauthorized duplication. The group developing it includes Disney, Intel, Microsoft,...

What is an Image Constraint Token?
The Image Constraint Token (ICT) is a digital flag within the AACS (Advanced Access Content System) that determines how Blu-ray and HD DVD players output high defintion video signals through the player's component outputs. The Advanced Access...

What is AVCHD?
AVCHD stands for Advanced Video Codec High Definition and it is a new digital compression codec introduced by Sony and Panasonic in May 2006.The codec was being developed for use on a 3.2-inch (80mm) disc similar to Mini CD and MiniDVD, and was...

What is Blu-Ray?
Blu-ray Disc (BD) is a next-generation optical disc format meant for storage of high-definition video and high-density data. The Blu-ray standard was jointly developed by a group of consumer electronics and PC companies called the Blu-ray...

What is Blu-Ray?
Blu-ray or Blu-ray Disc (BD) is a new DVD recording technology that uses a blue laser rather then a red laser to record discs. The format jointly was developed by an industry group called the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA). The BDA consists of a...

What is CableCard?
CableCARD is a trademarked term for a Point of Deployment (POD) module. The POD is about the size of a thick credit card that fits into a special slot in specially equipped digital or high definition televisions. The purpose of the card...

What is Contrast Ratio?
The contrast ratio is a measure of a display system, defined as the ratio of the luminosity of the brightest color (White) to that of the darkest color (black) that the system is capable of producing. These measures are both...

What is D-VHS?
D-VHS is a digital video format developed by JVC, in collaboration with Hitachi, Matsushita and Philips that was designed to replace S-VHS and VHS. The "D" in D-VHS originally stood for data, however over time, it has come to be known...

What is DCDi?
DCDi stands for Directional Correlation DeInterlacing and was invented and patented by Faroudja. Products with the technology generally bear the logo seen below. The goal of DCDi is to remove the jagged edges that appear when standard...

What is Digital Visual Interface (DVI)?
Digital Visual Interface or DVI is a uncompressed high-bandwidth digital display interface that was developed by the PC industry as a way to output a digital video signal from a PC to an LCD monitor. Benefits of DVI over Analog The DVI...

What is Dolby Digital Plus?
Dolby Digital Plus is a sophisticated lossy audio codec based created by Dolby Laboratories that has been selected as a standard audio format for HD-DVD. Built on Dolby Digital, the multichannel audio standard for DVD and HD broadcasts...

What is Dolby TrueHD?
Dolby TrueHD is a next-generation lossless audio codec developed for high-definition disc-based media that provides audio which is bit-for-bit identical to studio masters. With up to an 18 Mbps bit rate, Dolby TrueHD supports up to eight...

What is DTCP?
DTCP is an initialism for Digital Transmission Content Protection over Internet Protocol, a digital rights management system that governs content transferred over home networks using internet protocols. Under DTCP, digital content can be...

What is H.264?
H.264, also known as MPEG-4 AVC (Advanced Video Coding), is a video compression standard that offers significantly greater compression than its predecessors. H.264 can match the best possible MPEG-2 quality at up to half the data rate. The...

What is HD DVD?
HD DVD (High Definition Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical media format being developed for high-definition DVD. HD DVD is similar to the competing Blu-ray Disc, which also uses the same CD sized (120 mm diameter) optical data storage...

What is HDCP?
High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) is a copy protection scheme, developed by Intel which prevents the unauthorized duplication of digital signals that are sent via Digital Visual Interface (DVI) or High Definition Multimedia...

What is HDi?
HDi, formally known as iHD, is a technology developed by Microsoft for providing interactive menus and "special features" such as additional bonus/extras content and games for HD DVD. The HDi runtime engine is responsible for...

What is HDMI?
Short Answer:HDMI is a new type of cable connection (see image) that is used to transmit digital signals from your cable set top box, DVD player or satellite receiver to your high definition television. The primary benefit of the...

What is LIFI HDTV?
LiFi HDTV is a form of rear projection high definition television that replaces a conventional High Intensity Discharge lamp with a Light Fidelity lighting unit from Luxim Corporation. By converting HID (High Intensity Discharge) lamps to LIFI, a...

What is OTA Digital Television?
OTA stands for Over-the-air television reception and has been commonly available free-of-charge to consumers in Canada since the early 1950s using a TV antenna. OTA should not to be confused with FTA or Free-to-air, which is a form of satellite...

What is Simulcasting or Sim-subbing?
According to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) website, the CRTC has a duty, under the Broadcasting Act, to foster a strong and financially viable domestic television industry. The government agency claims...

What is the Aspect Ratio?
A televisions aspect ratio is the ratio of a television screens width to height. The ratio is typically presented as whole numbers such as 4:3 or 16:9. The aspect ratio may also be divided out so 4:3 becomes 1.33 (4 divided by 3) and 16:9...

What Size of HDTV should I buy?
Perhaps the most common question that we get on Digital Home Canada from readers about high definition televsions is what size to buy. If you are deciding what size of television to buy then we recommend the first four things you do are:measure...

Where can I find HDTV forums?
Digital Home Canada was one of the first websites in North America and the world to establish HDTV forums. We remain one of the pre-eminent forums for HD discussion in North America and the leader in Canada.When Digital Home began its forums in...

Why does search for DLP, LCD, HDTV not return any results?
The HDTV Knowledgebase search function is designed to ignore search terms that are present in 50% or more of the articles and categories searched. A search on HDTV in this section pretty much applies to every article hence the reason you didn't...