How Does HDTV Compare to DVD?
HDTV has a much higher resolution than standard DVDs. I think DVDs can go up to 5 megabits of data per second, whereas HDTV can be 5 to 20 megabits per second, more bits mean more details on the screen. That, plus most DVDs only have up to 480 lines of resolution (480i/480p). Some DVD players support “progressive-scan”, which means it can output to 480p instead of just 480i, which is a little better than 480i. More expensive DVD players can “up-convert” a DVD to 720p or 1080i, which uses processing (guesswork) to fill in extra pixels. Up-convert DVD players can give you a HDTV-like image which will look better than standard DVD, but will not be as clear as a true HDTV image can be. If play a DVD on your HDTV through a DVD player, then if you watch a movie on HBO-HD, you will see the HDTV signal has a sharper image. There are some new high-definition DVD formats coming out soon, Blu-ray & HD-DVD, both of which are competing formats, and it will be a while before the players and discs ar
