All TV station in the US were made to switch over to digital. What kind of leap to they have to make to broadcast that 16:9? Is there alot of extra cost in doing that?


What about broadcasting HD? Can they send a HD signal through a standard cable line?

I'm asking these questions because I might buy a SD 4:3 camera. I look at HD right now as it cost to much, the upgrades cost too much and the delivery is not really going, plus that will not be cheap either.

Nothing is required to broadcast 16:9 SD, they don't even need to go digital, the two issues are completely unrelated. To broadcast in 16:9 they simply need to pop an anamorphic tape into their deck. It will look squashed on regular TV sets, with everyone too tall and skinny (some of us may not object to that ;-) But if you have a widescreen TV it will look correct and fill the screen as long as you select the proper viewing mode.

Anamorphic 16:9 is written to tape exactly the same as 4:3. It's just "squashed" in the horizontal dimension. It's up to your TV to stretch it back to the proper proportions. But the resolution will still be 720x480. The difference is that the pixels are just stretched wider.

Same way 4:3 looks like crap on a widescreen. So what are they going to do? I guess at some point they all just go 16:9 because of HD. So your saying a TV station could put a 16:9 tape in for one show then a 4:3 for the next?

I don't have a widescreen but I guess some can adjust for 16:9.

How does a letterboxed show look on a widesrceen?

In the Uk we simulcast. TV programmes are generally shot 16:9 and protected for 14:9. So for example the BBC will broadcast the 14:9 version on their analogue signal (because 14:9 was deemed a good compromise between full widescreen and not annoying 4:3 TV owners with borders), and 16:9 anamorphic on their digital signal.

I have no idea whether the TV stations will ever broadcast in multiple SD formats. But a clean signal in anamorphic 16:9 should look OK on a widescreen TV. Widescreen TV's have a "zoom" function to fill the screen with a letterboxed broadcast. It wouldn't fool you into thinking you're watching HDTV, but usually it looks pretty good on my 39" plasma and 22" LCD.

HD is standard for all US/Canadian networks in 2007. It will only be a few years before electronics stores barely carry any SD TVs.

How many of you have hi-def TVs? My family doesn't, but my dad is thinking of getting one in the new year. I think we should hold off as long as possible to wait for better technology and lower prices.

Look, just when will people flippin' well realise that HD will NOT be standard in 2007. DIGITAL broadcasting is supposed to be the standard at some point (2009 now?) for the US. But digital does NOT mean HD!

Digital encompasses a whole load of standards including 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i and whatever else. SD will be around for a looooooong time yet.