NTSC on HDTV

I'm ready to take the plunge into HDTV, but I'm very short on information. I
have a huge collection of DVDs. Also, most of the stations around here
aren't HD yet. I want equipment that will give the best possible NTSC
picture. Any recommendations?

--
Bob D.

Bob D. wrote:
I'm ready to take the plunge into HDTV, but I'm very short on
information. I
have a huge collection of DVDs. Also, most of the stations around
here
aren't HD yet. I want equipment that will give the best possible
NTSC
picture. Any recommendations?

--
Bob D.

We have a 50" Samsung DLP. DVDs with a good player look very good.
Analog NTSC has some cross-color artifacts but looks OK. The HD content
is excellent. SD content on DTV looks nearly the same as DVD. Mini-DV
will look almost identical to the DVD.

Many folks are very happy with the Oppo DVD machine. Personally, I use
the computer that I use for OTA HD recording and let it up-convert the
DVD to 720p. It's connected via DVI to the TV and it looks outstanding
but I have no direct comparison to the Oppo.

Keep in mind that analog NTSC, particularly if off-air, will show you
every little defect BUT if your feed is very clean, it will look better
than analog cable but not as good as DVD.

VHS cassettes... The Samsung does not do a great job with the crappy
color processing in the typical VCR. For that, I bought a JVC S-VHS
because it had a digital time-base corrector - pretty much the same as
a broadcast machine. It looks as good as a VHS is likely to get. Before
the JVC, I tried a new Panasonic but it looked no better than the old
VCR.

GG

On Thu, 14 Sep 2006 20:27:11 -0500, Bob D. wrote:

I'm ready to take the plunge into HDTV, but I'm very short on information. I
have a huge collection of DVDs. Also, most of the stations around here
aren't HD yet. I want equipment that will give the best possible NTSC
picture. Any recommendations?

You can't get HDTV over NTSC so you might as well forget it. What's your
zipcode? Did you check antennaweb to see just what digital stations are in
your area? I find it very unlikely that most aren't digital yet. Every
station here has had a digital counterpart for years.

--
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Bob D. wrote on Fri, 15 Sep 2006 01:27:11 GMT:

I'm ready to take the plunge into HDTV, but I'm very short on
information. I have a huge collection of DVDs. Also, most of the
stations around here aren't HD yet. I want equipment that will give
the best possible NTSC picture. Any recommendations?


Don't forget that PAL or NTSC analogue colour systems don't exist in
HDTVland. It's all about 50/60 hz. framerates and 480i/p, 576i/p, 720p and
1080i/p resolutions.

That said, I've noticed Panasonic S97/S99 DVD players and Toshiba HDTV
give the best transition to the digital realm.

--
Rob


£¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤øø¤º°`°º¤ø,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤øø¤º°`° º¤¤º°`°º¤£

"Bob D." wrote in message
m...
I'm ready to take the plunge into HDTV, but I'm very short on information.
I have a huge collection of DVDs. Also, most of the stations around here
aren't HD yet. I want equipment that will give the best possible NTSC
picture. Any recommendations?

--
Bob D.

When I got my 52" HDTV, I did so with some uncertaintly as to what content I
would be watching most. Now that I've had the TV for a couple of years, I
find that it's my DVD collection that gives me most of my wide screen
enjoyment.

I do subscribe to high definition channels from Comcast cable, but I find I
rarely watch them due to lack of content that I like. I find that the shows
I like are on digital channels that are not high definition or they are on
the analog channels (those with the low channel numbers).

If your DVDs are "anamorphic", you will be able to get some very impressive
quality while watching them on a HDTV.

Maybe one day I might consider looking into high definition DVD, but the HD
DVD vs. Blu Ray war and the DRM that goes with high definition DVD leaves me
cold right now.

Neil
Salem, MA USA

On Thu, 14 Sep 2006 20:27:11 -0500 Bob D. wrote:

| I'm ready to take the plunge into HDTV, but I'm very short on information. I
| have a huge collection of DVDs. Also, most of the stations around here
| aren't HD yet. I want equipment that will give the best possible NTSC
| picture. Any recommendations?

NTSC is not HD, although in theory one could follow the principles of
NTSC to build a high definition TV system.

NTSC is an analog method for mixing a color subcarrier with a baseband
monochrom video signal with concern for how it is transmitted using VSB
(the analog form of VSB). A combination of a few standards dictate how
the analog signal finally gets transmitted.

HDTV requires much more bandwidth in analog form. It would probably
require 5 to 8 times the bandwidth. If we were to have switched over
to HDTV using anlog methods, we might end up with 1 to 3 broadcasters
in each area.

Digital opens up many advantages. It also has some disadvantages.

Digital allows the use of compression to reduce the number of bits that
actually need to be sent. Such compression is one of the advances that
let those little DVD disks hold hours of video. This is also what makes
HDTV over the air feasible.

Digital trades off the ability to get perfect reception when the signal
is above a certain threshhold with the inability to get any reception
al all below that threshhold. This also makes it hard to tell how close
to the threshhold you actually are when adjusting your reception system,
by looking at just the picture (something easy to do with analog).

Digitals breaks away from certain analog reception issues that dictate
some restrictions on arranging the broadcast channels. NTSC based analog
had certain problems with channels spaced as certain intervals. Digital
eliminates most of these problems (but part of it is that it eliminates
older tuners that had more problems). As a result, many cities will now
have TV channels immediately adjacent, even on UHF. The only safe adjacent
channels with analog were those that were already spaced apart in different
subbands: 4-5, 6-7, 13-14.

Digital allows for stations on the same channel to be placed closer to
each other than previously possible.

The combination of the above allows as many full high definition programs
in digital to be transmitted in fewer assignable channels that was even
possible with analog before. This releases about 200 MHz of spectrum
(channels 52 to 69) for use by new emergency services radio systems and
new commercial innovation and alternative types of service (auctioned
spectrum).

Digital allows transmitters to operate with a significantly lower peak
power level capability. This results in transmitter circuits that can
operate more efficiently (less power wasted as heat). You broadcaster
may be able to spend some of this savings on new production equipment,
or new programming. Or they may just distribute it to the investors.

Digital allows a nearly infinite variety of image sizes, aspect ratios,
and frame rates. ATSC has designated 36 different image standards that
cover a wide range of possibilities. Among these are a larger number
of visual lines (up to 1080 instead of 480), progressive line patterns,
a wider aspect ratio closer to theatre experience, higher frame rates
for cleaner motion (great for sports) and frame rates to match some
original content (but not all). Not all combinations are possible
within the establish bit rate (for example to send 1080 lines with 60
frames per second would not possible unless the content is monochrome).
Unfortunately, ATSC also chose to ignore a few important choices among
them, such as supporting 25 or 50 frames per second that some content
is made at in many other countries. But it is possible to transmit
motion picture films that are shot at 24 frames per second at their
exact frame rate, with even 1080 progressive lines, and allow the TV
to display it the best it can (pull-up conversion or triple display).

Digital allows easy re-portioning of the channel spectrum to carry more
than one program. Although the number of data bits carried remains the
same, it is possible to send 2 programs with each getting half the number
of bits. By reducing the quality of one program somewhat, a 2nd lower
definition program can be simultaneously carried on the same channel.
By using only the standard definition image standards (size, frame rate)
it is possible to squeeze as many as 6 programs simultaneously on one
spectrum channel. These can be referred to as subchannels.

Digital allows broadcaster identification without knowing what real radio
spectrum channel is used. By scanning for these in advance, a digital
tuner can "find" where channel 4 is, even if they are now literally
transmitting on spectrum channel 51 (as is the real case in Pittsburgh).
You can just punch in 4 on the remote, and get it, even though the TV
has actually tuned to 51, the (now) highest TV channel available in the
USA.

Digital allows transmission of program schedule information, additional
audio channels, and other special features like emergency alerts that
can be turned off (like the tornado warning on the other end of the state).

Digital will require using some kind of digital to analog converter if
you intend to use your old analog TV. This will also provide conversion
of high definition to standard definition (number of lines reduced, frame
rate changed, and aspect chopped or boxed as needed) in most cases.

Digital allows the "perfect" transcription (recording) of content that is
being broadcast. This is considered a disadvantage by content producers
(and could affect how much they spend to produce content for you to see).
Some features may be employed (e.g. "broadcast flag") to inhibit or limit
such capabilities when using compliant recording equipment. Once content
is obtained in digital form (even if it was slightly modified once by a
step involving analog), that content can be infinitely duplicated and sent
around the world over the internet with no additional loss of quality not
otherwise intentionally introduced.

--
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| Phil Howard KA9WGN (ka9wgn.ham.org) / Do not send to the address below |
| first name lower case at ipal.net / |
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