Lack of HD Broadcast Standards Frustrating to Consumers

If you have noticed a difference in image quality from one HD channel to another, you may be scratching your head and wondering why. The reality is that there are no true HDTV standards set for broadcasters in the industry. Therefore, there is a wide range of possibilities when it comes to what is deemed as “HDTV.”

Technically speaking, a broadcaster can be considered to be broadcasting in HD if the signal provides either 720 horizontal lines of pixels that are progressively scanned, which would be 720p, or if they broadcasting in 1080i an offering 1080 lines of interlaced pixels. The broadcaster would also be broadcasting in HD if it was broadcasting with 1080 lines of progressively scanned pixels, which would be 1080p, but no one is currently broadcasting in that way.

Of course, there is more involved with image quality than simply broadcasting in 720p or 1080i. Namely, the quality of the pixels will have an impact on the overall quality of the picture. After all, if you have 1080 lines of poor quality pixels, you still aren’t going to get a great final image.

The lack of HD standards is precisely why you can flip from one HD channel to another and experience much poorer quality. Discovery HD Theater is a good example of quality HD broadcasting, while many other channels are not quite so good.

Clearly, a standard must be established in order to guarantee the quality of image that consumers deserve.