Does DVD support HDTV (DTV)? Will HDTV make DVD obsolete?
Short answers: Partially. No. First, some quick definitions: HDTV (high-definition TV) encompasses both analog and digital televisions that have a 16:9 aspect ratio and approximately 5 times the resolution of standard TV (double vertical, double horizontal, wider aspect). DTV (digital TV) applies to digital broadcasts in general and to the U.S. ATSC standard in specific. The ATSC standard includes both standard-definition (SD) and high-definition (HD) digital formats. The notation H/DTV is often used to specifically refer to high-definition digital TV. In December of 1996 the FCC approved the U.S. DTV standard. HDTVs became available in late 1998, but they are very expensive and won’t become widespread for many years. DVD will look better on HDTVs but it won’t provide the highest resolutions. DVD-Video does not directly support HDTV. No digital HDTV standards were finalized when DVD was developed.
Short answers: Partially. No. First, some quick definitions: HDTV (high-definition TV) encompasses both analog and digital televisions that have a 16:9 aspect ratio and approximately 5 times the resolution of standard TV (double vertical, double horizontal, wider aspect). DTV (digital TV) applies to digital broadcasts in general and to the U.S. ASTC standard in specific. The ATSC standard includes both standard-definition (SD) and high-definition (HD) digital formats. DVD-Video does not directly support HDTV. No digital HDTV standards were finalized when DVD was developed. In order to be compatible with existing televisions, DVD’s MPEG-2 video resolutions and frame rates are closely tied to NTSC and PAL/SECAM video formats (see 1.19). DVD does use the same 16:9 aspect ratio of HDTV and the Dolby Digital audio format of U.S. DTV. HDTV in the US is part of the new ATSC DTV format.
Short answers: Partially. No. DVD-Video does not directly support HDTV. No HDTV standards were finalized when DVD was developed. In order to be compatible with existing televisions, DVD’s MPEG-2 video resolutions and frame rates are closely tied to NTSC and PAL/SECAM video formats. DVD does use the same 16:9 aspect ratio and Dolby Digital audio format of HDTV. HDTV in the US is part of the new DTV format, which includes both high definition (HD) and standard definition (SD). The resolution and frame rates of DTV in the US will generally correspond to the ATSC recommendations for SD (704×480 at 24P, 30P, 60I, 60P) and HD (1280×720 at 60P and 1920×1080 at 30P). (24P means 24 progressive frames/sec, 60I means 60 interlaced frames/sec.) The current DVD-Video spec covers all of SD except 60P. It’s expected that future DVD players will output digital video signals from existing discs in SDTV formats. The HD formats are 2.
Short answers: Partially. No. First, some quick definitions: HDTV (high-definition TV) encompasses both analog and digital televisions that have a widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio and approximately 5 times the resolution of standard TV (double vertical, double horizontal, wider aspect). DTV (digital TV) applies to digital broadcasts in general and to the U.S. ATSC standard in specific. The ATSC standard includes both standard-definition (SD) and high-definition (HD) digital formats. The notation H/DTV is often used to specifically refer to high-definition digital TV. In December of 1996 the FCC approved the U.S. DTV standard. HDTVs became available in late 1998, but they are still expensive and won’t become widespread for many years. DVDs are not HD, but they look great on HDTVs. Over 80 percent of the 2 million DTV sets sold in the U.S. in 2002 did not have tuners, indicating that their owners got them for watching DVDs. DVD-Video does not directly support HDTV.
Short answers: Partially. No. First, some quick definitions: HDTV (high-definition TV) encompasses both analog and digital televisions that have a 16:9 aspect ratio and approximately 5 times the resolution of standard TV (double vertical, double horizontal, wider aspect). DTV (digital TV) applies to digital broadcasts in general and to the U.S. ATSC standard in specific. The ATSC standard includes both standard-definition (SD) and high-definition (HD) digital formats. The notation H/DTV is often used to specifically refer to high-definition digital TV. In December of 1996 the FCC approved the U.S. DTV standard. HDTVs became available in late 1998, but they are very expensive and won’t become widespread for many years. DVD will look better on HDTVs but it won’t provide the highest resolutions. DVD-Video does not directly support HDTV. No digital HDTV standards were finalized when DVD was developed.
