RCA L50000 manual Digital Signal and Sound

Chapter 1 Introduction

A 4:3 aspect ratio shows less of the image than the widescreen, 16:9 apsect ratio that is part of the HDTV standards.

When the standards were being developed for television broadcasting in 1941 by the NTSC (the National Television Standards Committee), it made sense to adopt the 4 x 3 aspect ratio that the film industry was using at that time.

As TVs dropped in price and people prospered in the 1950s, the movie industry had to find a way to get people out of their living rooms and back to the movie theatres. That’s when they created the 16 x 9 (also written 16:9) aspect ratio (also called widescreen format). When the standards for HDTV were being developed by the ATSC (Advanced Television Standards Committee) the 16 x 9 aspect ratio was chosen as the format for HDTV.

This widescreen format makes sense because it’s much closer to the way we see. Our field of vision is actually much wider than tall because of our peripheral vision.

Digital Signal and Sound

Digital signals can be compressed, enabling a much more robust signal with no variation in quality. Digital signals, in contrast to analog signals that are used with regular TVs, can be reproduced precisely.

Another requirement of HDTV is the ability to reproduce 5.1 Dolby Digital sound. Connect a home theatre system to your LCOS and you’ll never “go out” to a movie or sporting event again — watching at home will be better than the real thing!

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