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High-definition television facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
HD-TV Logo
The logo for HDTV.

High-definition television (HDTV) is a way of watching TV that gives you a much clearer and sharper picture than older TVs. It makes shows and movies look more real and detailed.

HDTV uses special digital signals. This is different from older TVs, called SDTV, which used analog signals. HDTV pictures are at least twice as clear as SDTV. This means you get a much better picture than even a DVD.

How HDTV Works

HDTV pictures have many more tiny dots, called pixels, than older TVs. More pixels mean a clearer picture. HDTV also uses a wider screen shape, called a 16:9 aspect ratio. This is like a movie screen. Older TVs used a squarer 4:3 shape.

Many videos on websites like YouTube are also available in HD. This lets you watch online videos with great picture quality.

HDTV Picture Quality Levels

There are different levels of HDTV picture quality. These levels are often called "standards." They describe how many pixels are in the picture and how the picture is shown.

Common HDTV Standards

  • 1440p (also called WQHD): This is a newer, very clear standard. It has 2560 pixels across and 1440 pixels down. This means about 3.68 million pixels in each picture. It's becoming popular for computer monitors.
  • 1080p (also called FullHD): This is a very common and popular standard. It has 1920 pixels across and 1080 pixels down. This means about 2.07 million pixels in each picture. Many TVs and screens use this.
  • 1080i: This standard also has 1920 pixels across and 1080 pixels down. However, it shows the picture in a slightly different way called interlaced. This means it shows half the picture at a time, then the other half very quickly.
  • 720p: This standard has 1280 pixels across and 720 pixels down. This means about 0.92 million pixels in each picture. It's still a good quality picture, much better than old TVs.

Comparing to Older TV Systems

To give you an idea, older TV systems like PAL plus had about 1024x576 pixels. NTSC had even fewer, around 853x480 pixels. As you can see, HDTV standards have many more pixels, making the picture much sharper and more detailed.

See also

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