NBC Fights for Proper Television Displays

With the extra cost involved with creating HDTV broadcasts, it should come to know surprise that NBC Universal has become a little upset with some cable and satellite companies. It seems some companies are currently downconverting the HDTV signals and plan to continue doing so. Obviously, this compromises the quality of the finial image seen by viewers at home. In addition, it changes the format in which the broadcast was supposed to be seen.

Rather than downconverting the broadcasts, NBC Universal is promoting Active Format Descriptor (AFD) technology. Although this does not prevent the broadcast from being downconverted, it does ensure the aspect ratio stays the same. This way, while the images may not be of the highest quality possible, they are at least still viewed in the proper format.

NBC Universal has already banded together with Tribune Co. and Hearst-Argyle and formed what they are referring to as the “AFD Ready” initiative. The goal of this initiative is to promote the use of AFD technology. This way, viewers with 4:3 sets won’t end up with a small image on their screen when watching widescreen broadcasts. Similarly, those with widescreen televisions won’t have to worry about images being cut off when they watch 4:3 broadcasts.