Zenith DTV1080 warranty TV Signal Formats, Standards Comparison Table

2-2. TV Signal Formats

Standards Comparison Table

Signal Format	Analog (NTSC)	HD Digital (ATSC/DIRECTV)
Total Lines	525	1125
Active Lines	480	1080
Sound	Stereo (2 ch)	Surround (5.1 ch)
Aspect Ratio	4 : 3	16 : 9
Max Resolution	720 X 480	1920 X 1080

What makes HD digital signals (including SD signals) special is that they provide a high reso- lution and wide format, like a movie (16:9 TV aspect ratio). On the other hand, analog signals have the standard or normal format (4:3 TV aspect ratio). Thus, you receive programs with two distinct formats. Like a wide movie screen, the HD digital signals are formatted more like the way we actually see; our field of vision is more rectangular than square. So, when we view movies in a wide screen format, the image fills more of our field of vision yielding a stronger visual impact.

HD digital program signals use smaller pixels that are closer together. In the area taken up by a single pixel of a standard NTSC signal, HD digital signals will have four and a half pixels, four times the detail. The more pixels in a given area, the better the picture.

Some NTSC televisions can display a picture 720 pixels wide by 480 pixels high, that's a total of 345,600 pixels. HD digital signals can have a resolution of 1920 x 1080, that's 2,073,600 pixels, or six times more pixels than the older resolution. Pictures will be crisper and cleaner, with more detail in every close-up and every panorama.

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