HDTV 101: A beginner's guide
By CNET StaffFeb 22, 2008
4. Other HDTV notes
There are a few other things to consider with HDTV. In no particular order, here they are:
All HDTV looks good.
If you're in the store and you're looking at all of the HDTVs, it may strike you that they all look pretty dang good. That's because they're showing high-def television, which any store worth its salt will use to demo HD sets. Sure, you'll still notice flaws occasionally, but in general, even an inexpensive HDTV showing high-def looks much better than a standard TV showing the highest-quality material it can. Whether it's 1080i or 720p, over-the-air or cable, DLP or plasma, HDTV shown on a high-def television blows standard TV out of the water. For more on why HDTV looks so good, and an overview of these numbers, check out HDTV resolution explained.
Regular TV looks underwhelming.
Many people who first watch non-HDTV on their new high-def televisions are disappointed by how it looks. But it's not the television's fault. The single most important ingredient in picture quality is the source, and lower-quality standard-def TV, especially compared to HDTV, looks bad. The difference is often compounded by the fact that HDTVs are bigger and sharper than regular TVs and thus highlight the flaws of low-quality sources even more. No matter how nice of an HDTV you get, standard-def TV, at least compared to DVD and high-def, will look a lot worse.
DVDs look great.
DVD discs, despite technically being standard-definition, look very good to most people who see them on an HDTV. Hook up even a really cheap DVD player to your HDTV, pop in a Hollywood classic, and you'll see. It also helps that...
...Almost all HDTVs are wide-screen.
You may have noticed that most DVD movies, an increasing number of TV shows, and even some commercials, have black bars above and below the screen. If you were watching them on an HDTV, often you wouldn't see any bars at all--the picture will usually fill the screen (the exception is for ultra-wide-screen movies, which still have thin bars). Conversely, if you watch a regular TV show on an HDTV, it won't fit on the screen properly. There may be bars to either side, or the picture may be stretched or zoomed. Trust us: wide-screen is better, and HDTVs and/or HD sources can usually resize the image the way you want. For more, check out our Quick Guide to aspect ratio.
Make the right connection.
HDTVs have a lot of different connections, and not all of them will carry HDTV signals. First off, we recommend buying an HDTV that has at least one HDMI input. HDMI is the most future-ready input type, and due to copy-protection concerns, it's necessary to get the most out of some HDTV sources. If your source has an HDMI output, we recommend using it. If not, connect via component video, which is the second-highest-quality input type. There are a couple other HD-level connections: HDTV antennas connect via standard antenna wire, and some HD sources use FireWire or computer connections, but they're rare. Aside from computer jacks themselves, the rest of the connections on the back of the TV, namely composite and S-Video, are not high-def. For a full rundown of different video connections, click here.
Adjusting your HDTV is important.
Even the best HDTVs can look pretty bad if they're not adjusted properly. If you want to get the most out of your HDTV, adjusting it beyond the factory default settings is a good idea. Take advantage of picture presets, such as Movie or Games, and play with the standard picture controls to get the image that looks best to you. You may also want to read our article on HDTV tune-up tips.
That's about it for the basics. More advanced information can be found in the articles we referenced above as well as in our comprehensive HDTV buying guide. Enjoy!
