How to Choose the Right HDTV Television (3)

Side Dishes



A high-definition display will look its best only when fed a high-definition signal source. There are three ways to get HD signals into your system: via broadcast, satellite, or cable.



To grab HDTV from the airwaves you'll need both an antenna—which might be indoor or outdoor, depending on reception conditions in your area—plus a broadcast tuner. Your HDTV may have a built-in tuner. In sets of a certain size, the FCC even requires it. However, if your set is just HD-ready, a set-top box will do the trick.



Both DirecTV and EchoStar support a limited number of HDTV channels. You will, however, need an HD-capable satellite receiver to access them. Some satellite dishes come with built-in broadcast antennas so you can double-dip.



Your local cable company should be able to provide an HD-capable cable box. A limited but increasing number of digital cable ready HDTVs can operate without the box. They come with a CableCARD slot that can accept a decryption card from the cable company. Slip the card into the set and goodbye cable box.



You might be wondering whether your HDTV can display high-def signals from DVD. The answer is no simply because high-def DVD exists only as a pricey product offered in Japan. It will come to the United States eventually but yet another ridiculous format war—between the Blu-Ray and HD DVD formats—is likely to slow high-def DVD's penetration.



However, even the existing standard-definition DVD can look pretty good on a digital display. DVD players with progressive scanning reduce distracting motion artifacts.



A good high-def display minimizes motion artifacts without any assistance. When you're eyeballing sets at the store, to assess the quality of their video processing circuits, just look for rapidly moving diagonal lines. If diagonal lines appear jagged, the set's video processing is doing a poor job. An American flag fluttering in the wind is perfect demo material. Even a facial closeup can be revealing: Do the pores and lines on a speaking face remain mostly in focus?



Finally, the HDTV broadcast format does support 5.1-channel Dolby Digital surround sound, and that's the other half of the home theater equation. If you're adding a high-definition display to your system, you owe it to yourself to go all the way with surround sound that engulfs the senses, and that means going beyond the set's built-in speakers to an external surround system with good-sounding speakers. True, laying speaker cable to the back of the room is a pain, but once you're seen and heard home theater the way it ought to be, you'll never want to go back.

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Mark Fleischmann is the author of Practical Home Theater (www.quietriverpress.com).