What is DIGITAL tv how can i know more about that?

How do I know that a new digital tv won't be obsolete within a few years and what do I need to look out for?

• I need help!!! What is the difference between HD Ready and HD Full? I read somwhere that if it doesn't have MPEG-4 support, in a few years time, the tv might not work without an ...show more

• Answer:

  "HD Ready" simply means that a Tv has a HD compatible input (HDMI, Component Digital) and can scan at the minimum HD spec of 1280 x 720 pixels. This will sometimes be "p" (Progressive" scan rather than "i" (interlaced). Full HD specification means 1920 x 1080 pixels, with the preference being for "p" rather than "i" frame scanning. Interlaced line scanning is a legacy of the old colour systems PAL (in Europe and much of the world) and NTSC (USA, Canada, Japan and a few others) in which it was considered too long an interval between frames for all the lines to scan in one pass, so they broke a scan down into two passes - odd lines then even lines. These are then "interlaced" to appear as if they're one picture. Progressive scanning does away with the above and simply presents a single frame scan. This is better for clarity and also movement, especially on sport and video games. It can appear juddery on movement though so the TV display itself has to be good (some aren't). The full high definition display scan gives you 1920 x 1080p scanning, and it's that "1080p" that you need to look for when choosing a TV. Many "HD Ready" models on sale are actually 720p. I'd really like to see the quality of HDTV broadcasting improve as TV displays get better and cheaper, but with so little real HD television available at the moment the most we can expect is average-quality scaled-up standard definition video. Funny, though, that so many consumers think that a "HDTV" is just a big TV irrespective of what's actually plugged into it, and in the showrooms think they're looking at HD television when in fact they're looking at a screen displaying scaled-up SD content very often. I guess it's just important to be seen to have a big TV display in their homes that's important!