Your First High Def Television Setup – Part 1 – the HDTV set
by Philip Chien
So you want to get a HDTV (High Definition Television). What do you need to know?
The good news is it sounds much more complicated than it actually is. But you do need to do some research if you want to save money and make the best choices. The other good news is the technology is becoming more mature. Sure your show-off neighbor, who has to be the first person on the block to get every new technology, has had his $20,000 HDTV plasma 42" set for eight years. Now you can get a similar setup for a fraction of what he paid with better capabilities. In fact you can purchase high def sets for as little as $300. Of course if you want to spend several thousand dollars you can get an incredible home theater setup which will rival many movie theaters.
At first many people didn’t understand what was the big deal about high def – just a larger TV with a flat screen and a picture which didn’t appear that much better than a normal set. The main problem was the lack of high def programming, a normal definition television program on a high def set doesn’t look much better than on an ordinary television. Now there’s lots of “software" – high definition DVDs, Playstation 3, and true high def broadcast television through cable, satellite, and over-the-air broadcasts. In addition many HDTVs have VGA (computer input) jacks and make awesome computer monitors.
Many existing television shows which were designed for normal definition broadcasts and most movies can be converted to high definition without any compromises in quality. Others can be converted with some limitations.
The key feature of high definition television is resolution, measured in vertical pixels. 480i (480 vertical pixels) is the equivalent of standard definition television (SDTV). 720 is the minimum resolution for HDTV and 1080 is standard. The resolution is followed by “i" or “p" to indicate interlaced or progressive. With interlace scan the odd vertical lines are updated in one cycle (1/60th of a second) and the even lines are updated in the next cycle. With progressive scan both odd and even lines are updated each cycle. So progressive scans are smoother and appear like they’re higher resolution to the eye.
The other major difference for most HDTVs is their aspect ratio – widescreen HDTVs are wider than standard definition television sets. Supposedly this is more natural to the eye, but the most important factor is most movies are widescreen. Standard definition television has a 4:3 (1.33) aspect ratio, often called fullscreen. The standard aspect ratio for HDTV is 16:9 (1.78) however movies have a wide variety of aspect ratios.
There’s a myth that widescreen is inherently better. The far more important factor is “original aspect ratio" – what the director and editor intended. A talented director makes use of how a shot is framed, often creating subtle effects.
In an interview with IGN.COM producer-director Joss Whedon said, “[“Buffy the Vampire Slayer" is] not a widescreen show. We shot it in a TV ratio (4:3), and I am very, very specific with the way I frame things. … “Buffy" was never a widescreen show. It was an intimate, TV-shaped show. … I love widescreen. I'm a widescreen fanatic, when something's wide. When it's not, then I want to see it the way it was meant to be seen." The only exception to the no widescreen rule on “Buffy" was the musical episode, “Once More, With Feeling" which was specifically framed for widescreen. However widescreen DVDs of “Buffy"’s 4th through 7th seasons were released in Europe.
One of the best examples for why “Buffy" is a 4:3 show is the episode “The Body" which Whedon wrote and directed. On the DVD commentary he talks about, “one of my favorite shots that I ever composed." The shot shows a paramedic talking to Buffy. Whedon says, “It's an over (over the shoulder shot) where I squeezed her in the frame as much as possible. It's just like she didn't have room to maneuver. … A normal over would have been her with a tiny slice of his shoulder; instead, I let his shoulder own the frame. I took his eyes out of the frame. To show her experience of, literally, being trapped, being blocked off from reality." When the frame’s opened up on widescreen there’s plenty of room on the left side of the screen, ruining the subliminal effect of Buffy being trapped with no where to go.
On standard television sets there are black bars on the top and bottom of the screen for widescreen shows. Most widescreen television sets will put vertical black bars on the left and right sides of the screen when showing 4:3 shows and also give you the option to stretch your 4:3 image out to 16:9.
If a movie has a big enough budget it’s possible to edit the movie twice so it has two original aspect ratios – widescreen and fullscreen. That way viewers of either version are not shortchanged, but it's possible minor tidbits may only show up on one or the other format.
In many cases television shows were filmed with the potential to eventually release widescreen formats, but intended for fullscreen. The cameraman tries to avoid letting things that don’t belong (set walls, production personnel, etc.) from appearing in the outer portions. If bloopers occur in the widescreen only portion the decision may be made not to reshoot since it’s only intended for release on fullscreen. But then somebody changes their mind and a widescreen version does come out – often with amusing results.
On the left is a shot from the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" episode "Grave", as planned with Xander looking down into a hole. The right shows the same shot in widescreen where Xander's safety harness and underwear are clearly visible.
There’s nothing sacred about the 16:9 aspect ratio and many movies have higher widths, often getting absurd.
As a rule of thumb talk shows, game shows, traditional cartoons, most sitcoms and courtroom shows won't benefit significantly from high def (even if they were filmed in high def), most current action-adventure shows, travel shows, and most sports will look far better in high def. Most drama TV series after 2003 were recorded and designed for broadcast in high def formats. Gradually all shows and broadcasts will transition from standard definition to high def, just as shows in the 1950s and 1960s transitioned from black and white to color. And as with the color transition, some shows started way before newer technology televisions were commonly available, and some shows stumbled during the transition.
High def does result in minor mistakes becoming more obvious. A stain on a costume, heavily applied makeup, a stunt person’s safety wire, or a mistake that’s invisible on an ordinary resolution television can become extremely obvious in high def.
All of the major networks broadcast most of their prime time programming in high def. If a program says “High Definition where available", and your local station has upgraded to high def, and your method of receiving television (cable or satellite) is high def you can view the program in high def.
There are a handful of all high def channels available by satellite or cable – HDNet, Universal, Discovery HD Theater, and MGM. They broadcast movies, syndicated television shows, and some original programming.
Unfortunately they replay their movies far too many times and some of them are pretty bad movies. But they do include some pretty decent movies including independent movies and foreign movies with subtitles. Sometimes the film-to-HD transfers leave a lot to be desired. For example, “2010: Odyssey 2" has lots of pixelization in the dark areas.
There’s also lots of what I call ‘junk’ television series – dramas which lasted less than a season before getting canceled like, "Kidnapped", "Big Apple", "Surface", and "3 lbs." Only the rare exceptions, like "Firefly", have a large following of fans. But because there’s only a handful of episodes for each of these series the channel has to rotate them fairly often.
One of my favorite channels is HDNet. It includes syndicated shows like “Arrested Development", “Smallville", “Torchwood", and “Dead Like Me" in high def without commercials, uncut uncensored movies from G to R ratings, some original programming, and high definition concerts all day on Sunday. HDNet used to show “Enterprise", the last of the “Star Trek" series. It certainly looked spectacular in high def, but that didn’t make stories any better and “Enterprise" was replaced with additional airings of “Smallville."
Many basic cable/satellite channels have high def mirrors – TNT, TBS, Food, Discovery, Disney, History channel, Animal Planet, etc. Some of their programming is high def but the rest is just standard resolution.
Most cable/satellite high def packages include one HBO and one Showtime channel as extra cost options.
DirecTV satellite has the most high def channels at the present but that may change.
Unfortunately HDTV does not make the most desirable improvement in television – a better quality picture does not mean better quality shows. Sturgeon's law truly applies to HDTV.
Links
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer" copyright Twentieth Century Fox Corporation. Screen captures from Region 1 and Region 2 DVDs.
Part 1 – the HDTV set
Part 2 – DVD players and recorders
Part 3 – hooking everything up
HDTV
sets
Various all high def TV channels
HDNet
Universal HD
MGM HD
Discovery HD Theater
A decent site for digital television in Orlando Florida, but also good general information for anybody.
About the author
Philip Chien has used VCRs since the early Betamax and VHS units in the 1970s and has put together what he calls, "A pretty awesome HDTV home theater system for the price."
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