History of High Definition Television (HDTV)
August 18, 2007
What is ‘high definition’?
High definition or HD has been a relative term in the history of television which dates back to the beginning of second quarter of the last century. In fact, the word ‘high definition’ was coined to denote the television system which was prevalent before and during the second world war. Right from the introduction of black and white TV in 1936 till 1969 when Nippon brought out the first HD television, the word denoted one television system or the other based on the new advancements made in the technology. For instance, the NTSC which used better resolution (525 line when compared with previous 405 lines of resolution of black and white TV) and became a new standard for video formats, was considered ‘high definition’ till other advanced television system showed up. While NTSC was developed and accepted as standard in the USA, some European countries including UK established PAL, SECAM which has a standard resolution of 625 lines. The system that has the highest resolution was always described by this term.
However, France launched a black and white TV system that was supposed to be far superior to previous systems as it broadcast 819 line signals. Until 1986, it was considered to be the television system capable of broadcasting signals with the highest resolution.
Initially a few countries including Japan, the USA and some European nations, made attempts to launch analog HDTV for public use, however, except Japan, these attempts did not welcome much support in other countries. It was only after the introduction of digital TVs, modern HDTV started to make rapid advancements.
High Definition Television is finally ‘definied’
It was Nippon Hoso Kyokai who became the pioneer in the area of HDTV. He developed the first ever HDTV in 1969, however, it was only after two decades, HDTV started to replace prevalent standard definition TV. During the last seven years, HDTV included many different standards as HDTV was gaining popularity in the television market and many leading companies used the word ‘high definition’ to describe their products leading to confusion over what is true HDTV. However, the International Telecommunication Union finally accepted three HDTV standards which include 720p, 1080i and 1080p. HDTV broadcasts usually have standards set by ATSC or DVB.
High Defnition TV in today’s world
Presently, HDTV refers to HDTV display like Plasma TV or LCD TV and its accessories like HDTV tuners, antennae & satellite dish to receive HD signals. Either HDTVs may come with in-built HD tuners otherwise they require external set-top box to receive HD signals. In addition, HDTV also refers to HD video sources like Blu-ray discs, HD-DVDs and video games like Play station 3.
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