GE RCA High Definition Television - Manual (Page 5)

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Introduction
Resolution (it’s math...that works for you)
The crisp, lifelike picture that people rave about when experiencing true HDTV
is due to the resolution this technology provides. The resolution is measured by
calculating the number of active lines of pixels. A pixel (which stands for picture
element) is a small dot. The picture you see on your TV is composed of these
dots.
A regular, analog television only has a resolution of about 200,000 pixels (480
vertical pixels x 440 horizontal pixels = 211,200 pixels). The HDTV format is
capable of more than 2 million pixels (1,920 x 1,080 = 2,073,600).
More pixels equal more detail. In summary, HDTV is capable of resolution that
is up to 10 times the resolution of the picture on a regular, analog TV!
Feature Analog (NTSC) HD Digital (ATSC)
Total Scan Lines 525 1125
Effective Scan Lines 480 1080
Aspect Ratio 4:3 16:9 (Widescreen)
Max Resolution 720 x 480 1920 x 1080
Sound 2-ch Stereo 5.1 ch Surround
Feature Analog (NTSC) HD Digital (ATSC)
Total Scan Lines 525 1125
Effective Scan Lines 480 1080
Aspect Ratio 4:3 16:9 (Widescreen)
Max Resolution 720 x 480 1920 x 1080
Sound 2-ch Stereo 5.1 ch Surround
Feature Analog (NTSC) HD Digital (ATSC)
Total Scan Lines 525 1125
Effective Scan Lines 480 1080
Aspect Ratio 4:3 16:9 (Widescreen)
Max Resolution 720 x 480 1920 x 1080
Sound 2-ch Stereo 5.1 ch Surround
16:9 Aspect Ratio
Aspect Ratio
Aspect ratio is simply the width and height of the picture. Regular TVs use a 4:3
aspect ratio, which means the picture is a little wider than it is tall (a screen that
is 20 inches wide is about 15 inches tall).
When the standards were being developed for television broadcasting in 1941
by the NTSC (the National Television Standards Committee), it made sense to
adopt the 4:3 aspect ratio the fi lm industry was using at that time.
As TVs dropped in price and people prospered in the 1950s, the movie industry
had to fi nd a way to get people out of their living rooms and back to the movie
theatres. That’s when they created the 16:9 aspect ratio (also called widescreen
format). When the standards for HDTV were being developed by the ATSC (Ad-
vanced Television Standards Committee), the 16:9 aspect ratio was chosen as the
format for HDTV.
This widescreen format makes sense because it’s much closer to the way we
see. Our fi eld of vision is actually much wider than tall because of our periph-
eral vision. Not only is it closer to the way we see, but the pictures are crisper
and cleaner with more detail in the close-up and panoramic views.