Depending on your age, you have probably grown up through all kinds of technological advancements. If you are aged over 30 then you no doubt remember when a television set was a huge contraption which dominated a quarter of the family living space, didn’t have a remote control and was housed in a massive wooden box. As technology has evolved and miniaturization has continued to make tech kit smaller, of better quality and more affordable, so televisual technology has advanced hand in hand. Long gone are the days of the big wooden box, as today’s sleek and slimline flat-screen and LCD TV sets sit unobtrusively in a family home and complement perfectly the minimalist design and décor of the modern living environment. So as the design and quality of TV sets has improved and enhanced, so too have the broadcast medium and programme delivery themselves. Consigned to history along with the big and clumsy cathode ray televisions is analogue programme transmission, superceded now by digital signal. Digital programming is sharper and clearer and the picture quality of the modern set is further enhanced by the advent and rise of high definition (HD) screens and monitors. High definition TV lets the viewer enjoy programming in crystal clarity, meaning that movies, live sport and nature documentaries all but jump out of the screen and into the eyes of the viewer. HD screens also help to make the home cinema experience almost like being in a multiplex, but without the queues or paying for tickets.
Home cinema like never before
The past decade has seen a revolution in home cinema, beginning with the invention and subsequent explosion in popularity of the Digital Versatile Disc, or DVD. Fifteen years ago there was a great hullabaloo surrounding the launch of Laserdisc, a video viewing technology whose format was a huge silver disc, the size of a vinyl music album. Laserdisc never really caught the viewing public’s imagination, partly because of the unwieldy size of the disc and also partly because the TV sets were not yet available which would transmit the high definition picture faithfully. All of this changed however with the advent of the DVD around the same time that flat-screen Televisions and plasma screens started to become popular and more affordable. This shift to high-definition televisions has seen a new breed of DVD player come onto the market at the same time. The modern DVD viewer is manufactured to play high definition DVDs and also includes the technology to record HD television shows too. The technological development of home cinema also comes retro-fitted, with people able to watch their older, non-high definition DVDS through their new HD television via an upscaling DVD player. What upscaling does is to take the standard-definition image and convert it to a reasonably accurate version of a HD picture and then transmit it through the set, ideally a HD LCD or plasma TV screen. Viewers can also further enhance their home cinema experience by getting a DVD recorder which lets them record television shows in HD too.
What HD means to the average punter
The definition, if you will, of high definition television is that the pictures that are transmitted to and broadcast through your TV set are simply of a higher quality and greater clarity than those previously sent on an analogue signal, known as standard definition or (SD). SD however is fast becoming an obsolete technology, as movie makers, television programme makers and even video game manufacturers all make the leap to high definition. What this means for the consumer is that they will at some time need to make the upgrade to a HD TV themselves, or they will risk not being part of the great digital revolution. Game players have commented on the enhanced level of enjoyment they get from playing games on their Playstation 3 or Xbox through a HD television, as characters and sprites as good as jump out of the screen at them. The quality of the set also informs movie watching, as viewers can benefit from the new movie formats around like Blu-ray, which offer the movie buff the ability to see their favourite films in HD quality on their home TV. Home cinema and gaming buffs who are making the transition to high definition sets to improve their movie or gameplay are generally well-informed about the technologies, so they ensure that the set arrives complete with HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) plug-ins. These are ports on the set which allow the interfacing of the very latest games consoles or most recent DVD equipment.
Sleek design, top quality picture
Besides the high quality factor and the television sets being the perfect complement to modern DVD and gaming equipment, they are also at the cutting edge of design and add to the look and feel of any home. The fact that modern TV sets so perfectly accompany modern living room and home interior design is just another reason to make the upgrade. Additionally, the UK will soon be making its long-heralded shift to 100% digital broadcasting, following the government’s edict that all broadcasters phase out analogue transmission by the year 2012. As such, by that time all homeowners will need to have a digital television in order to be able to receive these programmes – including the London 2012 Olympic Games which will be broadcast through terrestrial providers. The opportunity is there to make the full shift to HD television through an attractive, slimline model which sits smoothly against a living room wall. Alternatively, if the homeowner owns a big TV or a small TV which is analogue and which they don’t want to give up just at this point, they can get hold of a individual digital tuner which will sit on top of your TV set and let you enjoy the athletics and any other shows or programmes you choose. It’s worthwhile making the upgrade sooner rather than later though, since from 2012 more and more channels will commence transmitting shows in digital, so a HD set will allow you to enjoy crystal clear viewing for years to come.
