Television

High definition television (HDTV) produces a much crisper and lifelike image than is possible using the cathode ray tube technology. This is because more information can be packed into the area of the television screen. Conventional cathode ray tube screens typically have 525 horizontal lines of dots on the screen. Each line contains approximately 500 dots (or pixels). Put another way, the information possible is 525 x 500 pixels. In contrast, HDTV contains 720 to 1080 x 500 pixels. The added level of detail produces a visually-richer image.

Televisions of the 1950s and 1960s utilized an analog signal. The signals were beamed out into the air from the television station, to be collected by an antenna positioned on a building or directly on the television ("rabbit ears"). Nowadays, the signal is digitized. This allows the electronic pulses to be sent through cable wire to the television, or to a satellite, which then beams the signal to a receiving dish in a format known as MPEG-2 (exactly like the video files that can be loaded on to a computer).

The digital signal is less subject to deterioration that is the analog signal. Thus, a better quality image reaches the television.