What's the big deal with HDTV?

High-definition television is quickly becoming the preferred mode of television viewing. But what makes HDTV so appealing?

Scott Mealiff, production coordinator for TV8-WSCS, Sheboygan's community cable TV station, said HDTV's appeal is in its crystal-clear picture.

"The most obvious (appeal) is it has a sharper image," Mealiff said. "It's a bigger, sharper image with much more resolution than a standard TV."

According to How Stuff Works (howstuffworks.com), standard TV sets, which receive an analog signal, have a resolution of approximately 704 by 480 pixels (the density of illuminated dots on a display screen), while HDTV sets have a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels, giving its picture more clarity.

The set's picture is also formatted differently. The aspect ratio of a normal television is 4:3, a very box-like picture. High-definition's aspect ratio of 16:9, which gives it a look more akin to a widescreen movie theater screen, Mealiff said.

Darryl Hicks, manager of Rex TV and Appliance Center, 1004 S. Taylor Drive, said more and more people have been coming to his store in search of HDTV's better picture.

"Ninety-nine percent of the TVs we sell today are HDTV-capable," Hicks said. "They can run anywhere from $500 to $5,000, depending on size and technology."

HDTV, which is already the standard in other parts of the world, has been available in the area through satellite service providers and from network broadcasters in surrounding markets — Green Bay and Milwaukee. Broadcast television stations have until February 2009 to make the transition to broadcasting completely in digital, at that time everyone will either have to buy a new TV or purchase a converter box to watch broadcast television.

HDTV isn't a perfect system. For television networks, the investment to switch to broadcasting HDTV is expensive, for viewers, HDTV only works if their TV set picks up the entire signal, Mealiff said. So while there are no fuzzy pictures with high-definition TV, if you're not in the station's optimal broadcast range your set won't pick up anything.

"That's just the nature of digital, it's on or it's off," Mealiff said.

Charter's service would provide local customers with a direct connection with the local networks, meaning a more vivid image with no atmospheric disturbance, as well as HDTV offerings from cable networks such as TNT, HBO, Discovery Channel, Cinemax and ESPN.