What is the difference between a TV that is labeled “HDTV” and one that is “HDTV-ready”?
The Consumer Electronics Association defines an HDTV as having a built-in HDTV tuner, a screen with the wide 16:9 aspect ratio, and the ability to display at least 720-line resolution images. It must also include built-in decoding for multichannel Dolby Digital, which is the audio standard for HDTV broadcasts. An HDTV-ready TV is not capable of receiving digital TV broadcasts on its own and must be connected to a separate HDTV tuner to view digital broadcasts (most HDTV-ready TVs do include a regular NTSC tuner for receiving analog broadcasts). HDTV-ready TVs can have either a 4:3 or 16:9 screen, however they must be able to display at least a 720-line 16:9 image (models with 4:3 screens may display the image in a 16:9 “window”).
