RCA DTC210 Analog TV, Digital TV, NTSC, ATSC, SDTV, and Hdtv, Analog TV Ntsc, Digital TV Atsc

Chapter 1: Introduction

What kinds of TV programming can I watch with the DIRECTV® HD Receiver?

Your HD (High-Definition) Receiver lets you receive television programs from a wide range of sources, and display them on virtually any TV or monitor.

Using the AIR IN, SATELLITE IN, and CABLE IN jacks on the back of the HD Receiver, you can receive television programs from:

•HDTV and SDTV DIRECTV® programming via digital satellites (through the SATELLITE IN jack).

•Local off-air analog television broadcasts (NTSC), and local off-air digital broadcasts (ATSC) (through the AIR IN jack).

•Unscrambled analog cable TV services for unscrambled cable programming (through the CABLE IN jack).

To view cable TV or DIRECTV programming, programming subscriptions are also required.

Analog TV, Digital TV, NTSC, ATSC, SDTV, and HDTV

The following list shows the differences between the types of signals your HD Receiver can decode.

Analog TV – NTSC

Analog TV is the TV you’re probably most familiar with. Most of the TV broadcasts you receive via a standard off-air antenna or from your local cable company are analog TV broadcasts. NTSC (National Television Standards Committee) refers to the group that first established the standards used for conventional analog television broadcasts and TV equipment.

Digital TV – ATSC

Digital television (sometimes called DTV) is a newer method of broadcasting TV signals that delivers higher quality audio and video. Digital TV is broadcast in two sets of formats, SDTV and HDTV. ATSC (Advanced Television Systems Committee) has been working to establish the standards for digital television broadcasts and digital television equipment — including both SDTV and HDTV.

SDTV

SDTV is a digital TV format that provides a high quality picture at resolutions that can be displayed on standard TV sets (see more on resolutions on the next page).

HDTV

HDTV is a digital TV format that provides the highest quality picture at resolutions that can be displayed on computer monitors and HDTV-ready TV displays.

What equipment is required to view HDTV programming?

To view HDTV programming, you'll need a television set or HD monitor in addition to your HD Receiver. For access to DIRECTV High-Definition programming, you'll need a triple LNB Multi-Satellite antenna, along with a DIRECTV HD Receiver and an HD monitor.

To receive analog and digital off-air television broadcasts, you’ll need an off-air antenna (reception may vary based on geographic location). To receive cable TV programming, you’ll need a cable TV connection (provided by your local cable TV service provider).

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