I do not understand the meaning of 'HD Ready' vis a vis high definition televisions. Is this true high definition or, that the tv will display "high definition" programs at normal resolution rather than at high definition.

What is required for true high definition, in terms of scan lines(verticle & horizontal), aspect ratio etc?

If there are models currently available what is the best make/model?

All current TVs seem to have the same pixel number, is this OK for high definition or should these be increased for true high definition?

[Starburst]

HD Ready is a standard created by the manufacturing industry to support the HD standards as defined by the EBU and individual EU broadcasters.
Broadcast HD in the EU comes in two flavours, 720p and 1080i both of which are HD but obviously an agrument can be made that under the current standards anything less than 1080p is not true HD.

EICTA HD Ready specs....


1. Display, display engine
The minimum native resolution of the display (e.g. LCD, PDP) or display
engine (e.g. DLP) is 720 physical lines in wide aspect ratio.

2. Video Interfaces

The display device accepts HD input via:
Analogue YPbPr1, and DVI or HDMI

HD capable inputs accept the following HD video formats:

1280x720 @ 50 and 60Hz progressive (“720p”), and
1920x1080 @ 50 and 60Hz interlaced (“1080i”)
The DVI or HDMI input supports content protection (HDCP)


However as always the economics and technical limitations of the market come into play, simply put HD Ready sets a minimum spec for a HD display which will provide the level of performance a consumer would expect given the minimum 720p broadcast resolutions.
Of course in an ideal world the minimum resolution would have been 1920*1080 but the TV market simply could not offer those products even at a premium price, the technology wasn't there yet and even now there are only a handful of displays on the market and then only in Japan and the US at huge prices

Worth remembering that SONY coined the phrase "True HD" to combat the Xbox360.
In terms of HD displays the HD spec allows for two HD resolutions and as long as you buy a HD Ready display you are buying a TV that can accept any of the future HD sources. Like I said buying a 1280*720 or 1366*768 display now will be far cheaper than buying a 1920*1080 display and at this time it's likely there will be plenty of native 720p broadcasts to maximise the performance of these lower res panels. If you feed a 1080i source into a 1280*720 display it will be scaled down but still blow standard definition out the water but the flip side is if you have a 720p source feeding a 1920*1080 display the source will have to be scaled up and still far surpass any SD material.

As you may have figured out there are still compromises to be made but I suspect for many the price difference between the displays and the selection at the "lower" end will be far more attractive to the average consumer.

oh

so if I was going to buy a "HD" TV what at the moment would be the best option? and is it worth the wiat for the top end tv's to become mainstream in the uk?

[Starburst]

Originally Posted by scribble

oh

so if I was going to buy a "HD" TV what at the moment would be the best option? and is it worth the wiat for the top end tv's to become mainstream in the uk?

Depends

Ask yourself if you bought a HD Ready display now what would you be viewing on it. If you were not going to buy into broadcast High Def or perhaps HD consoles or HD-DVD/Blu-ray in due course then you would perhaps be better off waiting.
However if you are going to make use of High Def material then buy the best you can now and enjoy it for a few years or buy a cheap & cheerful display and change it as soon as you can afford a good 'un.
Of course you may just want a flat panel, they do look nice but remember that all flat panels tend to have issues to one degree or another with standard definiton analogue/digital sources which may mean a decent CRT is the better short term solution.

Can you get a high def CRT set?

[Starburst]

Originally Posted by scribble

Can you get a high def CRT set?

There may be one or two in the UK (not HD Ready) but they have their own issues such as geometry and convergence which don't effect flat panel displays.

The CRT market is dying and since the UK were 4 or 5 years behind the US in HD broadcasts there has never been a real need for a cheap alternative to LCD, Plasma or DLP as their prices have collapsed in the last 12 months.
It will not be long before even getting a decent choice of CRT is hard to find

tah, lcd it is

[Stephen Neal]

Originally Posted by scribble

Can you get a high def CRT set?

In the US you can get CRT sets that will accept 1080/60i and 720/60p (though most convert 720p to 1080i for display), as well as 480/60i and 480/60p. VERY few of these - if any - will also accept 1080/50i, 720/50p or 576/50i or 576/50p - so are no use in the UK.

There are a couple of (Samsung and JVC) CRT sets on sale in the UK with component inputs that will accept 1080/50i (though not all cope with 1080/60i) and 576/50i - though they don't accept 720/50p or 720/60p AIUI. Similarly there are/were a few 1080/50i and 576/50i CRT sets on sale in Australia for their HD broadcasts - though importing one is hardly practical (you may have magnetic field issues as well), and they weren't cheap.

AFAIK there are NO "HD Ready" direct-view CRT displays on-sale in Europe, so if you are looking for a future-proof HD display, direct-view CRT, sadly, isn't currently an option. Unless some niche manufacturers build one, it isn't likely to be an option (at least at a decent quality) in the future either, as most mainstream high-end manufacturers are ceasing high-end CRT production ASAP. (This is true even for broadcast video monitors used in studios)

AIUI no CRT TVs on sale in Europe have HDMI+HDCP inputs and full 1080/50i, 1080/60i, 720/50p, 720/60p, 576/50i and 480/60i (plus 576/50p and 480/60p) compatibility.

[Stephen Neal]

Originally Posted by Starburst

There may be one or two in the UK (not HD Ready) but they have their own issues such as geometry and convergence which don't effect flat panel displays.

The CRT market is dying and since the UK were 4 or 5 years behind the US in HD broadcasts there has never been a real need for a cheap alternative to LCD, Plasma or DLP as their prices have collapsed in the last 12 months.
It will not be long before even getting a decent choice of CRT is hard to find

Though sadly the best flat panels still seem to suffer in comparison with the best CRTs in areas of gamma, black-level and colour gamut, and when dealing with 1080i material (with the exception of ALiS panels) you aren't seeing the real interlaced picture, but a de-interlaced version. Real issues when you are making picture quality judgements.

Manufacturers like Sony are trying to convince that their latest LCD broadcast monitors are equal to CRTs in most situations for quality purposes, but not everyone really believes them. (At least one broadcaster has been buying Sony HD CRT monitors early for this reason...)

(I know there is also an argument that monitoring interlaced on an interlaceed display is pointless when everyone at home is watching de-interlaced, but there are still valid reasons - especially when trying to correct picture faults)