This is a guide that lists the common terms and abbreviations used when reading about HDTVs.

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1080i
A display standard with 1,080 vertical pixels by 1,920 horizontal pixels. The i stands for interlaced, as opposed to progressive scanning. Almost all TVs capable of displaying 1080i is also capable of displaying 720p.1080p
A display standard that has the same pixel count as 1080i, but with progressive scanning. Currently, no cable or network broadcast is delivering content at this quality. Only Blu-Ray disc, HD-DVD, PS3, Xbox360 are capable of generating content at this quality.

16:9
Widescreen display screen size, common for HDTVs. The two numbers indicate the ratio of horizontal pixels to the vertical pixels.

4:3
Standard NTSC TV screen size. This is the common display aspect-ratio for most CRT and older computer monitors.

480i
A form of standard-definition digital television (SDTV) that approximates the quality of analog television such as a CRT TV. It has 720 horizontal pixels and 480 vertical pixels with interlace scanning, and is not considered as an HDTV standard.

480p
Also known as the EDTV display standard, it has 720 horizontal pixels and 480 vertical pixels with progressive scanning. DVD players with progressive scan output are capable of outputting signal at this standard. Nintendo Wii can also output at this standard, but not higher.

720p
A display standard with 1,280 horizontal pixels and 720 vertical pixels and progressive scanning. Almost all TVs capable of displaying 720p is capable of displaying 1080i.

artifact
A range of undesirable changes to the video image from the original picture. Artifacts can be introduced when TV processes the digital signal to display on the screen, signal transmission issue, or other factors.ATSC
Advanced Television Systems Committee defined a digital TV format which will replace the analog NTSC TV standard by February 17, 2009 in the United States. The ATSC standard produces 16:9 widescreen image up to 1920 by 1080 pixels with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound.

banding
A type of artifact where a continuous gradient appears as a series of steps of bands of color. Also called false contouring on digital TV displays.


black level
A measure of the darkest color that a TV can display. TVs with deeper black level can display more details in a dimly lit scene than one with a poor black level. Calibrating the black level on a newly purchased TV is a key step to the overall picture quality.

Blu-ray
A next-generation optical disc format that can store 5 times the data of a DVD disc. As a result, a Blu-ray disc title is capable of delivering much better quality video/audio than a DVD title. It gets its name from the blue laser used to read and write this type of disc.

cd/m²
Also called “nit”, cd/m² is the unit used to measure the brightness of a display. A Display with higher brightness will have more vibrant color and perform better under a well-lit room than one with lower brightness. LCD TVs and computer monitors can perform up to around 500 nit, while plasma TVs can achieve over 1000 nit. cd stands for candela, the base unit for luminous intensity.component video
A video signal that has been split into two or more components, capable of carrying signals from 480i up to 1080p. Written either as Y R-Y B-Y or YPbPr, component video cable usually comes in a trio of green, blue, and red connectors.

composite video
A analog TV video signal, available on virtually all TVs since 1980s. Delivers poorer picture than component video. Composite video cable comes in a yellow connector.

contrast ratio
Difference between the brightest whites and the darkest black display can show. Contrast ratios promoted in product information are often measured under the optimum condition of a completely dark room, thus inflating the numbers greatly. During viewing in a lit-room, the display’s contrast ratio will be reduced by light reflected in the room. How much the room light reduces the contrast ratio depends on the brightness of the display, and how much light reflects off the display.

CRT
Cathode-ray tube, the original display technology for televisions. CRTs are much heavier and larger than the current-generation of flat screen displays.

DLP
Digital light processing, a display technology invented by Texas Instruments in 1987. It creates image with microscopically small mirrors laid out in a matrix on a computer chip. Each mirror represents one or more pixels in the projected image.Dolby Digital
The six-channel digital audio standard that is also called AC-3 or Digital 5.1. The channels consist of front left, front right, front center, surround or rear left, surround or rear right, and a separate subwoofer.

downconvert
The conversion from a higher-resolution input signal number to a lower one. For example, a cable box could receive signal at 1080i but downconverts to a 480i signal so it can be displayed on non-HD TVs.

DVI
Digital visual interface. A digital video connectivity standard that transfers uncompressed video data from a digital source to a display. It transfers higher quality image than the analog VGA cable. Most flat-screen computer displays support DVI, but not all HDTVs support it. DVI connector does not carry audio signals.

EDTV
Enhanced Definition Television, which supports the 480p standard (852 horizontal pixels and 480 vertical pixels), but not higher.

HD-DVD
High-definition digital video disc. It’s a competing format to the Blu-ray disc, and both are capable of delivering 1080p content.

HDMI
High-Definition Multimedia Interface. A connectivity standard designed to be the successor to DVI, and it’s capable of transferring both audio and video data. Few computer monitors support HDMI, but Xbox 360, PS3, Blu-ray players, HD-DVD players and most HDTVs support it.

HDTV
High-definition television - digital TV displays capable of supporting 720p and 1080i standard. They have been luxury home appliance for sometime, but the price has been steadily dropping due to competition and advance flat-screen display technology.

interlaced scanning
In scanning, the entire screen is drawn a horizontal line at a time. In interlaced scanning, the display draws the entire screen in two passes: the first pass draws every other horizontal line, and the second pass fills in the skipped horizontal lines. Interlaced scanning was widely adapted in the early ages of TV broadcasting because it reduces the amount of data transmitted in video signal by half, but progressive scanning is now becoming more prominent.LCD
Liquid-crystal display. Common technology for flat-screen computer monitors and one of the mainstream HDTV technologies. It offers better resolution and consumes lesser energy than plasmas. LCD TVs tend to be more expensive than plasmas and DLPs, but the price has been steadily decreasing.

letterbox
When a widescreen movie is displayed on a standard 4:3 TV, black bars are padded above and below the video to make the picture fit on the screen. This technique is called letterbox.

native resolution
The resolution at which a TV or monitor is designed to display images. Image signals higher or lower than a specified native resolution must be converted to be displayed accurately, which could result in artifact or loss of quality.

NTSC
National Television Standards Committee established the NTSC standard, which has 525 horizontal scanline and a 4:3 screen ratio. The NTSC standard is set to be phased out on Feburary 17, 2009 to make way for the ATSC standard, supported on HDTVs.

overscan
The extra image area around the edges of a video image that is not normally seen by the viewer. It exists because old CRT TVs had highly varied displayable area due to the manufacturing process and other CRT display behaviors. Modern TVs can produce perfect image placement that CRT could not achieve, but they still implement overscan to ensure compatibility with old program contents.

pixel
Short for picture element, a pixel is a single point in a graphic or video image. A pixel is the smallest unit of image that can be displayed on a screen.plasma
A display technology used typically for large (above 37 inch) TV displays. Until recently, the superior brightness, faster response time, greater color spectrum, and wider viewing angle of plasma TVs made them one of the most popular forms of display for HDTV flat panel displays. However, LCD TVs have been bridging the gap at a very fast pace.

progressive
As opposed to interlaced scanning, progressive scanning draws every line on the screen every time a picture is displayed. This method decreases flicker and increases stability. Display modes with progressive scanning is indicated by a trailing “p” (e.g., 1080p).

response time
The amount of time a pixel in an LCD monitor takes to change it’s color. Long response time will result in “ghosting”, a smear or blur pattern around moving objects in the video. Ghosting is not an issue with plasma or CRT TVs.

S-Video
A widely available video connection that provides better picture than composite video. It carries 480i video signal. The connector is in the shape of a circle with 4 pins in it. This connection is available on all HDTV as well as some laptops as a video output.

upconvert
The conversion from a lower-resolution input signal to a TV capable of displaying higher resolutions, such as from a VHS to an HDTV capable of displaying 720p.

viewing angle
The maximum angle at which a display can be viewed with acceptable picture quality. This number is often inflated by manufacturer since there is no standard for what constitutes an “acceptable picture quality”. However, plasma TVs perform the best when viewed from an angle, and LCD TVs with IPS or VA technology are runner-ups.widescreen
Image with a picture wider than a standard 4:3 television image. Typically refers to TVs in the 16:9 aspect ratio.

windowbox bar
The blank bars on the left and right of a 4:3 image when displayed on a wide-screen 16:9 display.

Y Pb Pr / Y Cb Cr
Technical shorthand for component video.