Sony KF-60WE610 The Sony Guide to Home Theater - Page 12

About High Definition Television High Definition TV will dazzle you with up to six times the picture detail of conventional TV. HDTV means a widescreen 16:9 picture with cinematic sweep and grandeur. It also means Dolby Digital sound, including surround sound for movies and TV dramas. Best of all, High Definition television is not a promise for the future. It's here today. The DIRECTV satellite service carries three HDTV feeds (HBO, Showtime and HDNet) to a national audience. Some cable TV services are beginning to offer High Definition feeds. And HDTV is becoming more and more available in over-the-air TV broadcasting. In May 2003, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) reported that 885 television stations in 189 cities are broadcasting digital signals that can be received in 97% of American homes. More than 78% of homes are in markets with five or more digital television broadcasters. And many of these digital broadcasts are in High Definition. An April 2003 NAB listing of shows broadcast in High Definition includes 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter, Alias, American Dreams, Crossing Jordan, Becker, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, The Drew Carey Show, Everybody Loves Raymond, Frasier, Hack, JAG, The King of Queens, NYPD Blue, The Practice, Reba, Robbery Homicide Division, Smallville, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Without a Trace, plus 40 other network TV shows. This doesn't even count HDTV sports and special events, which have included NCAA football, the Rose Parade, the Super Bowl, the U.S. Masters Golf Tournament, the U.S. Open Tennis Championships, and the 2002 Winter Olympics. In addition, ABC has announced that it will transmit the NBA finals and the Stanley Cup, as well as the 20032004 season of Monday Night Football in HDTV. For many viewers, one stumbling block on the road to HDTV has been the relative lack of local HDTV broadcasts over cable TV. But recent agreements between representatives of the consumer electronics industry and the cable television industry have done much to clear the way to widespread distribution of local HDTV broadcasts over cable. The U.S. recommendations for Digital Television (DTV) broadcasting actually encompass 18 different television formats. High Definition TVs and HDTV set top boxes (usually called "HDTV receivers") are designed to tune all 18 formats. Six of these are designated as "High Definition," while the others are called "Standard Definition." All but a few formats can deliver a visibly better picture than conventional television. Broadcasters have been encouraged, but not required to use their DTV spectrum for High Definition. The Sony Guide to Home Theater 12