Is HDTV the same as digital TV?
Cox News Service
February 10, 2008
Q: In the minutes of our retirement community town meeting, I find that the property management committee is concerned about our having to change to HDTV in 2009. I'm pretty sure I've read in your column that HDTV and digital TV are two different things. Am I correct?
— Anne Townes
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A: All HDTV is digital, but not all digital is HDTV. Here's how to think of it. Draw a big circle and label it digital. Then draw a smaller circle inside it and label it HDTV.
HDTV is a subset, a part, of digital TV.
Digital just means the signal is sent out in the language of computers into tiny hunks of information that are assembled on the other end.
That conversion to digital means cleaner signals. It's the same sort of transition we all experienced long ago when music CDs replaced vinyl records.
The digital version offers a cleaner signal whether you're talking about music or pictures or both.
HDTV is digital. But it also has to meet some other criteria to be labeled HDTV. It will have a higher resolution (better pictures), it offers a wide-screen format and sound is more realistic, assuming you have a sound system and speakers designed to take advantage of it.
The Federal Communications Commission is requiring that stations move to digital — not to HDTV.
However, in practice, most will move to HDTV as well, since they are already going to the expense to upgrade equipment and will want to be able to offer as good a signal as their competitors.
Q: I noticed my flat monitor screen is dirty. How do I clean it?
— Mary Ellen Pollack
A: First, put down the Windex and step away. Windex will yellow LCD screens, so don't use it.
Use a half-and-half mixture of alcohol and water. Make sure you are using isopropyl alcohol and not "rubbing alcohol," which contains oils.
Spray it on the screen, like you would with Windex (but go easy) and rub in a soft downward motion (just rub one way, top to bottom). Use a soft, clean cloth.
If you worry that you'll somehow do something wrong, you can buy cleaning kits at most computer and consumer electronics stores.
Please send your questions to Bill Husted at bhusted@ajc.com. While he reads every e-mail, not all are answered. E-mails are selected for publication based on the likelihood that the answers will be of general interest.
