What Does It Mean When It Says a Television Is HD Ready?

[The Great Escape]

Will it still need an upgrade to display programs in Hi Def?

[merwin]

1. Something that plays HD, such as a DVD player, or digital cable

[Taverner]

2. That means it can do HD

But you will still need another box to make it do so.

HOWEVER, if you have Comcast in your area and they are doing HD their boxes will do that HD

[The Great Escape]

3. Actually They Do Have Comcast In My Area...

I currently have a dish but Comcast has a pretty good deal on a dish buy back program that I am considering.

[Nevernose]

4. Yes, sometimes. The advertising is very weird on this issue

Nine out of ten people I have found, though, have to buy an HD adpater for $100 to $200 dollars to play something on an HD channel. That's what it usually means.

Also rememeber that DVD is significantly less quality than HD. IF your HD ready TV is set to certain settings, then the picture will look funny, actually too clear, because DVD only plays at about half the clarity of HD (IIRC, something like DVD=600 lines of revolution vs. HD's 1200 lines vs. TV/VCR's 300). This will be useful in a couple of years, when blu-ray takes the market (or god-forbid HDVD), but certainy not immediately.

[The Great Escape]

6. Would You Suggest Waiting a Couple of Years?

I was looking at an LCD from Dell...it is advertised as HD Ready...would the wait be worth it?

[Nevernose]

7. I'd recommend the 16x9 LCD HDTV from Toshiba, especially the "LCD" part

It will play with superb quality anything released in the next five to ten years.

It will play the blu-ray stuff just fine when it comes out in 2006 or 2007, and is easily the best TV i've seen ever. If you don't belive me, just go to your local electronics store and check out the Toshiba LCDs -- I've never seen TV like that, and that's only at half the capacity. An HD adapter is requierd for most sets, though, I believe. I also know that Voom has more HD channels than anyone else.

[merwin]

8. DVD is 720x480, HDTV is 1280x720 (16:9 ratio)

DVD will show up better on a HDTV than a regular TV, simply because of the higher quality and sharpness of HDTV's even when projecting non-HDTV material.

[Nevernose]

9. But not as good as HD is capable of

DVD does show up better, though not as good as one may think. Ibelive I rounded, though, into usable numbers (it's been a long time since I followed this stuff as a religion :) ). "HD" and "DVD" are easily confused terms, in my experience, though not syonnymous. HD is better, and anyone who buys an HDTV-compliant TV will be set for a number of years.

(though HDVD and HDTV have nothing to do with one another.

[merwin]

10. Having an HDTV and playing DVD is like

driving your ferrari in the city. Not utilizing the full potential, but still looks damn good :-)

[merwin]

11. Having an HDTV and playing DVD is like

driving your ferrari in the city. Not utilizing the full potential, but still looks damn good :-)

[JVS]

5. It means that the government can push a button and give you cancer with it

:tinfoilhat:

[Seabiscuit]

12. I remember a few years after CDs came onto the market

and the word "digital" because the latest buzz-word in consumer electronics...

Radio Shack even sold speakers they advertised as "digital ready".

WTF is that supposed to mean?

I hate those kinds of phrases, and I'd be wary of any manufacturer or sales store which used them.

Check the TV manual specifications. "HD Ready" *should* mean simply that it is capable or reproducing onscreen more than the horizontal and vertical lines of resolution necessary for the HD format. See another poster's post for the exact numbers.