This forum needs two things desperately.

1. A list of acronyms. Most of them I can pick up eventually but there are still I'm confused about. Some examples:

PQ - Picture Quality
OTA - Over-the-air (antenna)
D* - DirecTV or Dish Network (I think)
HDD - High Definition Discs (either Blu Ray or HD DVD I think)
SD DVD - Standard Definition DVD's
SDTV - Standard Definition TV

2. A Newbie Guide. There are too many people who come on here with really stupid questions, and it'd be nice to instead of trying to answer their question in an essay, to just send them to a link. I realize there are sticky's in a lot of the forums that explain some fundamentals, but nonetheless there isn't a comprehensive guide to all the basics. I also realize that if you do a search on the forum archives, that you can find an answer to almost every question you'd have... but people don't seem to ever use the search feature when first coming here. I think a newbie guide is really important, and it could explain everything from "what is HDTV" to "what TV is the best [differences between plasma/lcd/dlp etc" to "should I get an upconvert player" to "what is the difference between HD DVD and Blu Ray." I'm not sure who should write this, but I was thinking it could be a joint effort between all the members and we could start a thread and revise it until we come up with a draft we're happy with.

I started a little draft of what I'm talking about, but I'm no expert so this will probably need some editing. This is just one example of something that would be in the "newbie guide." With all the members arguing all-the-time about every little detail though, I'm sure everyone could make a really good guide to HDTV and everything about it.


"What is HDTV?"
HDTV is High Definition Television. High Definition Television is a digital television format, which combines high-resolution video and theater like sound to create a movie theater quality TV viewing experience. It is an improved television system which provides approximately twice the vertical and horizontal resolution of existing television standards, and which displays programs on a wider screen than standard telvision (16x9 as opposed to the conventional 4x3). It also provides audio quality approaching that of compact discs.

Now, there are many different formats HD can come in. These include 720p, 1080i, and 1080p. The 720 and 1080 numbers refer to the number of lines displayed horizontally on the screen [with a bigger number meaning a better picture], and the "p" and "i" in the names refers to "interlaced" and "progressive" (or how the picture is displayed on the screen.)

Progressive means the video is scanned from side to side, top to bottom: line 1, line 2, line 3 etc, up to the end of the frame. It's as simple as that. In fact, it's exactly how you'd expect video to be scanned if you didn't know any better!

Interlaced video is scanned from side to side, top to bottom, as well. The difference is that every 60th of a second, every other line making up the complete frame is scanned. Then, a 60th of a second later, the lines in-between the lines that have already appeared are scanned. Effectively, half the picture's vertical resolution is sent in the first 60th of a second, and the second half is sent in the second 60th of a second. When the video is played back, the whole thing happens in reverse, giving the appearance of a complete frame. Each of these "halves" of a frame is called a "field."

If you were to look at an interlaced picture on a screen for a 60th of a second, you'd only see half the vertical resolution — every other line. But, because our eyes and brains conveniently offer a "persistence" effect, when you look at the screen "normally," what you actually see is something approaching full resolution. Persistence allows us to accumulate visual data from the two distinct fields, making them seem like one complete image.

What it means to the viewer in laymen's terms: 1080i uses more lines to display a picture, and therefore has a higher resolution and clearer picture. However, while 720p uses less lines to display a picture, since it does not use the "interlacing" technique of displaying only half the picture per-frame, it is better for displaying fast-action sports such as football or baseball, since you never see the "interlacing" picture at work. And on some 1080i television sets, the display of some fast-moving objects can show "cross-hatching" and choppy images because the object is moving too fast for the interlacing technology to catch up to it. Therefore, 1080i is better for still-pictures and slow moving shows, while 720p is better for fast action movies and sports.

"True HD" is 1080p and takes advantage of both of these technologies (1080 lines with the progressive display technology), but no TV stations transmit in this format yet and thus most mediums will not be able to take advantage of this technology just yet. Currently, if you want to take full advantage of a 1080p screen, you will need a Blu Ray discs or HD DVD with the right player.

I started a little draft of what I'm talking about, but I'm no expert so this will probably need some editing. This is just one example of something that would be in the "newbie guide." With all the members arguing all-the-time about every little detail though, I'm sure everyone could make a really good guide to HDTV and everything about it.

Good idea.


"What is HDTV?"
HDTV is High Definition Television. High Definition Television is a digital television format, which combines high-resolution video and theater like sound to create a movie theater quality TV viewing experience. It is an improved television system which provides approximately twice the vertical and horizontal resolution of existing television standards, and which displays programs on a wider screen than standard telvision (16x9 as opposed to the conventional 4x3). It also provides audio quality approaching that of compact discs.

Correction - - has up to 6X the resolution of the older TV standard

Now, there are many different formats HD can come in. These include 720p, 1080i, and 1080p. The 720 and 1080 numbers refer to the number of lines displayed horizontally on the screen [with a bigger number meaning a better picture], and the "p" and "i" in the names refers to "interlaced" and "progressive" (or how the picture is displayed on the screen.)

Correction - refers to the number of vertical lines - the 1920 and 1280 refers to the pixel count per line - change 720P to 1280x720P and add 1920 before the 1080i and 1080P

Progressive means the video is scanned from side to side, top to bottom: line 1, line 2, line 3 etc, up to the end of the frame. It's as simple as that. In fact, it's exactly how you'd expect video to be scanned if you didn't know any better!

Progressive means that the frame - all vertical lines - are shown in one complete scan at 1/60 of a second.

Interlaced video is scanned from side to side, top to bottom, as well. The difference is that every 60th of a second, every other line making up the complete frame is scanned. Then, a 60th of a second later, the lines in-between the lines that have already appeared are scanned. Effectively, half the picture's vertical resolution is sent in the first 60th of a second, and the second half is sent in the second 60th of a second. When the video is played back, the whole thing happens in reverse, giving the appearance of a complete frame. Each of these "halves" of a frame is called a "field."

OK - just need to mention that a complete frame/field is shown once every 1/30 of a second

If you were to look at an interlaced picture on a screen for a 60th of a second, you'd only see half the vertical resolution — every other line. But, because our eyes and brains conveniently offer a "persistence" effect, when you look at the screen "normally," what you actually see is something approaching full resolution. Persistence allows us to accumulate visual data from the two distinct fields, making them seem like one complete image.

Sounds OK to me - not sure about the termonology - will trust you.

What it means to the viewer in laymen's terms: 1080i uses more lines to display a picture, and therefore has a higher resolution and clearer picture. However, while 720p uses less lines to display a picture, since it does not use the "interlacing" technique of displaying only half the picture per-frame, it is better for displaying fast-action sports such as football or baseball, since you never see the "interlacing" picture at work. And on some 1080i television sets, the display of some fast-moving objects can show "cross-hatching" and choppy images because the object is moving too fast for the interlacing technology to catch up to it. Therefore, 1080i is better for still-pictures and slow moving shows, while 720p is better for fast action movies and sports.

In laymans terms - OK

"True HD" is 1080p and takes advantage of both of these technologies (1080 lines with the progressive display technology), but no TV stations transmit in this format yet and thus most mediums will not be able to take advantage of this technology just yet. Currently, if you want to take full advantage of a 1080p screen, you will need a Blu Ray discs or HD DVD with the right player.

"True HD" or "Full HD" are marketing terms coined by Sony and others to sell 1080P displays. Not sure you want to leave that in your tutalage to newbee's - unless you are a Sony salesman in disquise;)

Nice thread and a good start. Lot of thought and effort into it . . kudo's to you.

Think about what a newbee really needs to know and refine your thread. You are definitely on the right track.

HDD - stands for Hard Drives!

HDD - stands for Hard Drives!

We have been using this for a while now - no harm

Others:

IMO - In My Opinion
IMHO - In My Humble Opinion
AFAIK - As Far As I Know
UP DVD - An upconverting DVD player
SAL - Stand-A-Lone HD Player

the "Stickys" seem to answer most general questoins, but I'm with you I wish Newbies would read first post later....

One of the reasons why the HDF has grown and been popular is we don't necessarily require or even encourage new members to read the entire forum or search relentlessly before posting their questions like so many other forums do. That is the reason why we started the High Definition Blog (http://www.highdefinitionblog.com) to have another site that collects HDTV information that can be referred to for answers. Saves me a lot of typing. Other members who are able to answer questions are usually willing to provide the answers as well.

But the bottom line is most newbies would rather just dive in and post their question.

"But the bottom line is most newbies would rather just dive in and post their question"

That applies to just about everything. I read the instructions if I cannot get something to work on my own. That is why there are long instructions and short instructions with a lot of computer hardware that comes out - the short instructions are to get the thing working and the long are for tweaks, etc.

A lot of software has eliminated any reading at all in favor of on-screen help. Sometimes (as with Excel, which I have used for years) it can be irritating when the "assistant" pops up with suggestions or an offer to help. But I understand why it must be there.

But that is the way it is - the way we Americans do things, and it works most of the time.

A have to agree that common background information would be nice if it can be found and searched easily.
What I see here is a great start.
I think it would also be great if we could include confirmable data and massivley agreed upon opinions about comparisons between techs like FV LCD vs Plasmas, RP LCD, DLP/ila, LCos/SXRD and basic info on the known future techs such as SED, FED, Oled etc.

IE: it has been historically accurate to say the plasma's have superior contrast to LCD, however recent LCD's seem to be not only closing the gap but surpassing. ( This is by speck only, I have not seen them reviewd )

Also some periferal technologies such as HDMI 1.1 - 1.3 and all that that implies, ie: big huge colour, All the various Audio codecs.
Upscaling, and how some suck, and other do well, not all are equal.
All the sort of things that would help people choose not only TVs but players of any sort ( DVD, HD DVD, Blu ray)

Most of this stuff can be found if you search, but I have not ever found a single repository, and the searches can take some time. With all the people involved in this forum contributing, and debating the relavance of the submitted data, it should be possible to accumulate an acurate database of true specifications, as well as a collection of opintions that are agreed upon by the magority.
both subjective and objectives opinions should be available, again as long as their is a sufficient mass in agreement of the opinion. Perhaps there when opinions are offered, there could be a percentage , or counter showing how many people are in agreement.

This of cource would be a lot of work, and I don't expect anything, but though I would add my wish list.

Sorry, forgot to add, a consolidated searchable list of links to reviews or products, orgainized in multiple ways. ie: either by size, or by tech (plasma, lcd, rear projection), or recievers, or all players, just blu-ray, just HD DVD, just upscaling DVDs etc.

again, just a wish list item. I hope others will agree, and be willing to contribute.

But the bottom line is most newbies would rather just dive in and post their question.

Yeah I figure most people will still continue to just post elementary questions, but I was hoping that maybe we could answer them by telling them to go to the newbie guide and just read one paragraph in there. (i.e. "go to the high definition lounge, look for the post "beginner's guide" and look under the question "what is the difference between plasma screens and LCD screens?"

Now that I think more about how to make the newbie guide, it's more like a FAQ / beginner's guide... because I'd want to include the questions that seemed to get asked over and over again, like "should i get an lcd or plasma?", "should i get an upconverter?", "blu ray or hd dvd?" etc.

If it's alright with everyone, in the next week or so I wanted to post a very rough version of a Beginner's Guide in the High Definition Lounge (since it gets a lot more traffic than this forum), and just let everyone correct the post and add whatever they want. And then possibly if it worked out well, eventually make a brand new post that was cleaned up and accurate, and make it a sticky for easy access.

Oh yeah, one more acronym before I forget:

PDP - Plasma Display Panel

You can add:

FPD = Flat Panel Display
MMD = Micro Mirror Display

When I first read this post I wondered what happened to the glossary. There used to be a glossary link in the top header. I don't know what happened to it. It is a HTML page that requires Cass to update so that may be why he took the link off of the header. I resurrected it and did some editing and added it to my blog here: Glossary (http://www.highdefinitionblog.com/?page_id=276)

I will try to index it in the future as time permits and any suggestions for terms or corrections would be appreciated. You can leave a comment on the blog or PM me here.

On a side note, it is very difficult to administer a common area of a forum for instructions and glossary information. Again that is why we started up the blog. Cass set it up and turned the administration of it over to me. The blog structure allows for more in depth discussion structure and is easier to update. More could be done here, but it requires an administrator to be able to do it and Cass is the only administrator. Time is the issue.

By the way while I'm on this subject, anyone who would like to add articles or essays to my blog, let me know. There have been a couple of authors that have worked in conjunction with me to develop some of the articles I have added to the blog. These are not just short posts, however, more like the submission that started this thread. I will act as editor and verify for accuracy, spelling, format, etc. Again just PM me.

But the bottom line is most newbies would rather just dive in and post their question.

That's the 'bread and butter' of this forum. It's probably why there are so many newbies and lurkers and having a friendly environment that encourages posting questions is a good thing. The search feature is great and one can learn a lot about the subject in question if given enough time, but the fastest route to an answer is often just posting the question. Fortunately there are many here that are happy to answer (again).

Agreed bruce,
The problem that any guide or tutorial will face is they are serial in their delivery. That is to say the subject is discussed in a one after another fashion. This leads to the need of a table of contents, index and cross reference to try to allow the reader to zero into the part of the subject they are interested in. Otherwise they are at the mercy, so to speak, to the order the author decided to organize the subject.

Some people realize the value of getting additional knowledge of a given subject beyond what they are looking for and are willing to read through an entire tutorial to get to what they originally wanted to know, but most people are not.

That is why being able to ask a specific question is such a valuable resource. Besides it gives us something to type!

My biggest problems with the Newbie post is that many times they post a valid question even if its been ask 1000 times before and then they dont check back in to see if anyone helped them. I hav'nt responded numerous times simply because I thought the Newbie would'nt be back, so why waste my time.....I know there is no cure for this..... just my observations

It has happened quite a bit. I always think in those situations that either they found the answer elsewhere or just don't know how to type thanks!

In any case, there is the possibility that it could help some lurker out, so I chalk it up to that.

It has happened quite a bit. I always think in those situations that either they found the answer elsewhere or just don't know how to type thanks!

In any case, there is the possibility that it could help some lurker out, so I chalk it up to that.

It seems to be centered around a time issue - if they can't get an answer in 1 hour of posting they seem to dissappear. That is why I will try to respond as quickly as I can if I can help the poster.

I know you and I piggy-back many times to help someone - a good "braintrust":D

We do, but I try not to step on others that help. If I have something to add or clarify, I will add it otherwise I move to the next post. I used to be a lot busier in the past before we got so many more "braintrusts."

We do, but I try not to step on others that help. If I have something to add or clarify, I will add it otherwise I move to the next post. I used to be a lot busier in the past before we got so many more "braintrusts."

When I first joined (and still do), I thought you were an HD god. :D

Honest to goodness, when someone would post a question, I would just wait to see what your response was so I knew what was correct.

Thank you Lord.;)

Is Deity worship allowed on this forum? :)

Is Deity worship allowed on this forum? :)

I don't know, let's wait for rbinck's response. :D

:eek: