Glossary

Posted in General

Contrast Ratio - A way to measure the difference on a TV between the lightest colour and the darkest colour. A high contrast ratio is desirable on any TV.

HDMI - Stands for the mouthful: High-Definition Multimedia Interface. A way to connect receivers, DVD players and games consoles to an HD ready television set. A better way to connect than through a scary socket. HDTVs usually provide many different ways to connect stuff to them as well as this more modern method.

HDTV - This stands for High Definition Television. An HD TV is a television that can accept HD signals. They may the picture on your TV look crisp, clear and in much better detail than regular old TV signals.

PC input - A way to connect your PC to your TV. While this might not seem like something you want to do now, it will be something that more people will want to do in the future. PCs can be run as media centres, hard disk recorders, or even games machines. You can even surf the web on your TV. So a PC input is something to consider when buying a new TV.

Resolution - This is a unit of measurement (just like inches, cm) that applies to how much detail can be shown on a TV. HD television sets can display a 'high resolution' which means that when you watch a DVD you'll see much greater detail.

Vesa - A standard way that you can connect your TV to a wall mount or bracket. If you buy a TV that's 'VESA Bracket Compatible', you'll know it will fit just about every wall mount there is. Just about all flat screen TVs are 'Vesa compatible'.

Viewing Angle - The higher the viewing angle on a TV the better! The viewing angle is the maximum angle that a TV can be viewed at from the side. All TV's look great if you stand or sit in front of them. As you move round to the side, this increases the viewing angle. TV displays on plasma, LCD and rear projection sets only work up to a certain angle. Go beyond the viewing angle and the display will start to vanish.

i - Stands for interlaced. This is one kind of HDTV display. This is the standard HDTV display. Think of your TV display as being divided into thousands of tiny horizontal lines. Interlaced means that the picture is updated in two passes. It updates lines 1,3,5,7,9... and so on in the first pass. Then updates the lines in between those 2,4,6,8 on the second pass. This all happens so fast you can't see it of course.

Digital TV

Posted in General

Digital is coming - make sure you're ready

With the Digital TV switchover looming, we thought it would be a good idea to take an in-depth look at what digital was, and what it means to you.

What is Digital TV?

Digital TV is a change in the way TV programs are broadcast and received. It's a much-needed replacement for the regular old 'analogue' service we've all been watching for years. Digital TV will be the only kind of TV you can watch after 2012 because of what's called the Switchover. This is where broadcasting networks switch over completely to digital broadcasts.

What it will do for you?

Digital TV does some really good things, no matter who you are and what you do with your TV. For starters, it gives us all much sharper, better quality pictures and sound. It also lets you see on screen programming - so you can see what films are coming on, and when all the programs start. You can also use many interactive features.

How you can get it

4/5 households in the UK already have digital TV. You can get it with a set top box (available in high street shops or very cheaply on eBay. It's also available with a satellite TV service such as Sky. And you can get your digital TV with a cable service. Most newer TVs have it built into them as standard too.

When does the switchover happen?

The Digital TV switchover doesn't happen over night. Because of the amount of work involved it will be happening gradually, region by region. The border region will first see the switchover, followed by the rest of the Country. It happens gradually between 2008 and 2012. So you'll need to get one of the receivers mentioned above before then.

Further help

There's a number of good websites available to help you get to grips with Digital TV.

Digitaluk.co.uk has some helpful info and liks.
If you've got something you want to ask, you can call 0845 6 50 50 50
DigitalTelevision.org.uk is the govornment's official site on this
And the BBC has a great help section with everything you'll need to know

Homepage >>>

TV Help