High Definition Television Standards.

The purpose of this report is to discuss the status and features of High Definition Television HDTV in the United States. HDTV is a new television standard which will replace the present NTSC standard as the governing standard for broadcast television transmission in the US since early in the 1950s. The new HDTV standard has three key elements which differentiate it from the present NTSC standard. The most basic difference is thefundamental increase in resolution. In fact the HDTV standard provides for six different scanning formats including both interlaced and non-interlaced progressive modes. Interlaced operation permits transmission of the conventional TV signal structure, while the progressive modes provide for interoperability with other imaging formats, including these used in computer systems. The second major difference is that the transmission format is digital rather than analog The new format conforms to the international MPEG-2 standard topromote compatability of the new US system withothers being developed throughout the world. The third major change is the audio system. The new audio system incorporates the Dolby AC-3 technology which will provide CD-quality sound in the digital TV receiver.