Madison, Wisconsin - The first high-definition television (HDTV) sets hit the market in 1998, movie buffs, sports fans and tech aficionados in Madison, Wisconsin got pretty pumped, and for good reason. Ads for the sets hinted at a television paradise with superior resolution and digital surround sound. With HDTV, you could also play movies in their original widescreen format without the letterbox "black bars" that some people find annoying.

But for a lot of Madison people, HDTV hasn't delivered a ready-made source for transcendent experiences in front of the tube. Instead, people have gone shopping for a TV and found themselves surrounded by confusing abbreviations and too many choices. Some have even hooked up their new HDTV sets only to discover that the picture doesn't look good. Fortunately, a few basic facts easily dispel all of this confusion in Wisonsin.

The differences between analog, digital and high-definition, explain the acronyms and resolution levels and give you the facts on the Madison, Wisconsin transition to all-digital television. We'll also tell you exactly what you need to know if you're thinking about upgrading to HDTV in Madison, Wisconsin with the Charter Communications Bundle!

An analog signal can reach a person's TV over the air, through a cable or via satellite. Digital signals, like the ones from DVD players, are converted to analog when played on traditional TVs. (You can read about how the TV interprets the signal in How Television Works.) This system has worked pretty well for a long time in Madison, but it has some limitations:

Charter Communications Conventional CRT sets display around 480 visible lines of pixels. Wisonsin Broadcasters have been sending signals that work well with this resolution for years, and they can't fit enough resolution to fill a huge television into the analog signal.  Analog pictures are interlaced -- a CRT's electron gun paints only half the lines for each pass down the screen. On some TVs, interlacing makes the picture flicker.  Converting video to analog format lowers its quality.

DTV also has one really big disadvantage: Analog TVs can't decode and display digital signals. When analog broadcasting ends, you'll only be able to watch TV on your trusty old set if you have cable or satellite service transmitting analog signals or if you have a set-top digital converter. chartercommunication HDTV Madison WI

This brings us to the first big misconception about HDTV. Some people believe that the United States is switching to HDTV -- that all they'll need for HDTV is a new TV and that they'll automatically have HDTV when analog service ends. Unfortunately, none of this is true.

Madison, Wisconsin - HDTV is just one part of the DTV transition. We'll look at HDTV in more detail, including what makes it different from DTV, in the next section.

The Advanced Television Standards Committee (ATSC) has set voluntary standards for digital television. These standards include how sound and video are encoded and transmitted. They also provide guidelines for different levels of quality. All of the digital standards are better in quality than analog signals. HDTV standards are the top tier of all the digital signals.

Madison Broadcasters get to decide which of these formats they will use and whether they will broadcast in high definition -- many are already using digital and high-definition signals. Electronics manufacturers get to decide which aspect ratios and resolutions their TVs will use. Consumers get to decide which resolutions are most important to them and buy their new equipment based on that.

Wisonsin broadcasters will have two available channels to send their signal -- a channel for analog, and a "virtual" channel for digital. Right now, people can watch an over-the-air digital signal only if they are tuned in to the broadcaster's virtual digital channel. After analog broadcasting ends, the only signals people will receive over the air will be digital.  A digital signal is better quality than an analog signal, it isn't necessarily high definition. HDTV is simply the highest of all the DTV standards. But whether you see a high-definition picture and hear the accompanying Dolby Digital® sound depends on two things. First, the station has to be broadcasting a high-definition signal. Second, you have to have the right equipment to receive and view it. We'll look at how to get an HDTV set and signal next.

Madison, Wisconsin - HDTV Equipment and Signal
When you've found an HDTV with a screen size, aspect ratio and native resolution you want, you'll need to make sure the equipment you already own will work with it. If you already have a DVD player, a DVR, game consoles or other equipment, make sure that they can connect to the TV directly or through an audio/visual receiver. Many HDTVs have High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) connections, which can transmit audio/visual signals to the TV without compression. In some cases, you can use adapters to make your equipment compatible with your set.

Designing and building an HDTV that could display all of the ATSC formats would be virtually impossible. For this reason, HDTVs have one or two native resolutions. When the TV receives a signal, it will scale the signal to match its native resolution and de-interlace the signal if necessary. A good rule of thumb is to choose a set that has a native resolution matching the signals you plan to use most often. Film fans will generally want displays with the highest possible resolution. Sports fans will generally want displays with the highest possible progressive frame rate.

More Related Madison, Wisconsin Charter Communications Links:
* Charter Communications cable Madison WI
* Charter Communications bill pay Madison WI
* Charter Communications email Madison WI
* Charter Communications internet Madison WI
* Charter Communications Cable Television Madison WI
* Charter Communications support Madison WI