Introduction
Why you should upgrade
Size considerations, HDTV |
Connectivity options
Design issues
At the store |
Fully integrated vs. stand alone
Digital televisions are sold either as fully-integrated units that (in addition to the display itself) include a tuner, stand and speakers, or simply as a stand-alone display. There are advantages and disadvantages to both methods.
Fully-integrated units are often more cost-effective than purchasing each component individually, are less messy on the cabling front and require little installation. On the other hand, with stand-alone products you're able to easily upgrade the tuner down the track (since it's a separate set-top box), and you can hand-pick the components.
We recommend going down the stand-alone path. Firstly, you're likely to grow tired of the integrated stereo speakers that are bundled with most TVs anyway, so it's worth shelling out for a dedicated sound system. Also, external high-definition receivers often boast more features and higher performance than their integrated cousins.
Connectivity options to consider
Perhaps the single most confusing item on a TV spec sheet is the plethora of ports used to hook up the set to other equipment. The following list, arranged in order of video quality, should help put you on the path to mastering the connectivity jungle.
Jack |
Cable |
Name |
Typical use |
Video quality |
 |
 |
RF a.k.a. radio frequency; antenna; cable; screw type; F-pin |
Antennae, VCRs, cable and satellite boxes | Lowest |
 |
 |
Composite video a.k.a. yellow video; video; A/V (when combined with audio jacks) |
Cable and satellite boxes, VCRs, DVD players, game consoles | Low |
 |
 |
S-Video a.k.a. DIN 4 |
Cable and satellite boxes, S-VHS VCRs, DVD players, game consoles | Medium |
 |
 |
Interlaced component a.k.a. component; Y, Pb, Pr; 480i |
Standard DVD players | High |
|
|
Progressive component a.k.a. component; Y, Cb, Cr; 480p |
Progressive-scan DVD players, 480p digital television | Very high |
|
|
Broadband component a.k.a. component; Y, Cb, Cr; wideband component; 1080i; digital TV |
Regular and progressive-scan DVD players, digital TV receivers | Very high |
 |
 |
RGB Connections can also be made through RCA or BNC-type connectors, and adapters are available between all of them a.k.a. VGA; 15-pin D-sub; RGB-HV |
Computers, some digital TV receivers, video processors and projectors | Very high |
 |
 |
FireWire a.k.a. IEEE 1394; iLink |
Digital TV receivers, D-VHS VCRs | Highest (digital) |
 |
 |
DVI-D with HDCP a.k.a. DVI-D; Digital Visual Interface; High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection |
Digital TV receivers and DVD players | Highest (digital) |
 |
 |
HDMI a.k.a. High-Definition Multimedia Interface |
Digital TV receivers and DVD players | Highest (digital) |
Generally, you'll want at least one set of component, composite, RGB, S-Video and HDMI inputs. Of particular importance is HDMI, which is rapidly being adopted by vendors due to its ability to carry uncompressed, high-definition video and audio content using a single cable.
| MORE RESOURCES | |
| CNET.com.au Related Articles | Broadcasters and Official Bodies |
Like this article? Click below to send it to your mobile for free!
Gregan Curteis
03/04/2006 10:29 AM
I think you should include advice such that no current televisions digital or otherwise will support connections for Blu-Ray or HD-DVD for HD content yet. As many computer users are aware, they'll be forcing us to upgrade all of our hardware if we want to watch a High-Definition version of any HD-DVD or Blu-ray, else the image will be a scaled down version (I've heard mention of 640x480 res?), all due to copy-protection restrictions. Also worth mentioning is that Foxtel digital doesn't support High-Definition, so if you're a Foxtel cusotmer there's little reason to upgrade to a HD-TV at this time. My advice to people would be either stick with their analogue sets for now, or if they *need* to buy a tv, to buy a cheapish (less than $1000) widescreen SD-TV and use either Foxtel digital or a SDTV set top box. At least then they'll be enjoying good picture and audio quality in widescreen. It'll be years yet before 1080i content will be widely available on free-to-air, and it's yet to be seen whether Foxtel will offer HD content at all. And the Blu-Ray and HD-DVD standards war is a good war to stay out of unless you wanna risk being on the losing side. Also if the regulations change and they allow multichannelling on free-to-air then there'll be no HD content whatsoever - you'll be buying your HDTV prematurely as it won't be displaying HD content free-to-air and won't have the copy-protected connections for HD-DVD or Blu-Ray. Xbox 360 in HD can't be THAT good by itself... Best to stick to SD for now and save your money until everything HD is worked out. I'd stay out of the game for the next 5 years at least.
Report offensive content
bleh
11/04/2006 09:57 PM
sadly a HDTV IS required in order to experience the xbox 360 PROPERLY.... the resolution can be (depending on the games)heavily squashed on an SDTV.
Report offensive content