As Bob Dylan once sang, “The Times They Are A-Changin” and that means how most Americans spend the majority of their free time – watching hours and hours of TV. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, especially if you are viewing your favorite program in stunning HD. Because once you’ve witnessed the glory of HD, you’ll never want to go back. And on February 17, 2009, the way we watch TV will be altered forever as nobody will be subjected to watching a snowy, fuzzy analog picture anymore. On this upcoming historic winter day, all stations will be broadcasted with a digital signal and you’ll wonder how you ever got along without it. That is as long as you have either satellite TV, cable TV , a converter box or a TV with a digital tuner which gives you a digital signal with an antenna. If don’t have one of those, you’ll be watching a blue screen.
The thing about digital, unlike analog, it comes in different formats and picture resolutions, from 480 to 1080, with the latter delivering the best picture quality available today. By the way, in 2015, the next generation in high-resolution makes its debut with what should be a jaw-dropping picture in 2160p. (Important note here, a digital converter box will give you a 480 resolution on your old CRT or non-integrated HDTV, in order to get a higher res picture, you’re going to need an HD-ready TV. Hope that clears things up.)
OK, now on with this 1080 thing.
You may have never noticed, or even known, that there is a 1080 ‘i’ as well as a ‘p.’ And yes, there is a difference. But no need to worry if you already purchased a HDTV; the good news is, whether your current TVs support 1080i or 1080p, either format is going to deliver the high quality video you want.
But, if we get down to technicalities, the “i” and the “p” versions are a bit different in terms of how they display video images. Technology definitions can often leave us mystified. So let’s break it down in the easiest way possible.
1080p stands for progressive scan video. Progressive video images are scanned from side to side, top to bottom, to the end of the frame when the picture is displayed. 1080i stands for interlaced video, which scans images the same way as progressive scan but plays back the images in two segments. What this means is every 60th of a second, every other line of the image is scanned. Then on the next 60th of a second, the lines in between those are then scanned in. But when the video is displayed, it appears in full resolution.
So which one is better?
Either version will deliver fantastic picture quality, but progressive does have a few advantages over interlaced. Progressive has a smoother, sharper image. TVs that utilize interlaced scanning are more prone to display slight motion artifacts, or flickers/blurs in the picture. But, because progressive picture lines are scanned at the same time, the occurrence of these motion artifacts is eliminated.
However, the real answer to this question depends on you. You get a more detailed picture with a 1080p-capable TV, but this technology does typically come at a bit of a higher cost. If you are more price-conscious, you may want to look at the 1080i options.
But, if you are focused more on top-of-the-line picture quality, you may want to look into 1080p. Or, maybe you need to look into both, depending on your applications.
The important thing in all this is to remember that whether you are an ‘i’ person or a ‘p’ person, all that matters is you are watching it in digital.
Larry Bangle
Thanks, Sonny, I wasn’t sure if the double hook up on the two sets would make a difference.
Thanks again, Larry
Sonny Whittaker
Ken,
Assuming you have a standard VHF/UHF RV antenna, you should be fine.
Sonny Whittaker
Larry,
Theoretically you could accomplish converting the signal to both TVs using one converter box. Assuming you use a switcher in the coach, you would install the converter box between the point where the antenna coax enters the coach and the switcher box. The drawback to this would be that if watching over-the-air TV, both TVs would have to watch the same channel. Another drawback is that most converter boxes use an IR remote control to change the channels on that box. Depending upon your coach’s layout you may not be able to point the remote at the box from both TV locations. However, there are some converter boxes that use RF (radio frequency) remote controls that would allow you to to control the box from anywhere in the coach.
The best solution would be a converter box for each analog TV in the coach.
I hope that answers your question Larry.
Ken
Question I have is will the current antenna on my RV receive the digital signal OK or does that need upgrading?
Thx
Larry Bangle
My RV has 2 TVs, The one in front only runs when parked, on cable or antenna.
The one in back will run any time. My question is will I need a (box) for each?, Or just the front one when I’m on antenna and play both?. Since the one in the back runs off the same cable or antenna.
Larry Bangle
Sonny Whittaker
Thanks for pointing that out, I clarified it for future readers. I always appreciate feedback and thanks for reading my first blog.
Sonny Whittaker
Drew Mueller
Someone should also let folks know that if they are currently recieving a “snowy or fuzzy” picture right now, they are likely not going to recieve any signal at all- through any converter when the migration comes in February. (There might be entire communities with no over the air reception at all, unless they subscribe to dish or cable if one or the other is available).
There is one exception that I’m aware of, and it deals with communities who are served by translators (who are not required to broadcast digital at this point).
John Speciale
Yet another article by someone who doesn’t know the difference between HD a digital. Amazing.
Dave Flack
There may not be any 1080p broadcast for many, many, many years, if ever!
Currently a 1080p set will cost $500~800 more than a 720p set.
The only 1080p source material will be on HD-DVD/Blue Ray DVDs and maybe some games, thats it.
Digital HDTVs have a native resoultion 720p, 1080i or now 1080p. They will rescale/deinterlace other video formats to that native respoultion.
A 720p set will upscale 480p DVDs to 720p and downscale 1080i/p to 720p.
A 1080p set will upscale 480p and 720p to 1080p and will deinterlace 1080i to 1080p.
Jon Vermilye
One note –
The switch in February is to digital (SD), not necessarily HD. Many stations will not broadcast HD, or only use it for specific programs. SD scan rates can be as low as 480i, an improvement over analog NTSC but a long way from 1080p. Very little content will be transmitted over the air at 1080p because most stations will use lower rates & interlacing so that they can add additional channels. You will be able to see the advantage of 1080p if you watch Blueray videos…
John Shelton
Mr Whittaker, are you not confusing HD (high definition) with digital in your article? The two are completely different things. ASTC (digital broadcast) should not be confused with HD (high definition) broadcast. While HD broadcast will be digital, digital will NOT necessarily be (and, at least initially, frequently will not be) HD.