HDTV FUNDAMENTALS
TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ABOUT THIS BOOK FOOLISH ASSUMPTIONS HOW THIS BOOK IS ORGANIZED PART I: HDTV FUNDAMENTALS PART II: LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT PART III: HDTV CHANNELS PART IV: MOVIE MACHINES PART V: MONITOR MADNESS PART VI: SENSORY OVERLOAD PART VII: GEEK STUFF PART VIII: THE PART OF TENS ICONS USED IN THIS BOOK WHERE TO GO FROM HERE CHAPTER 1: WHAT THE HECK IS HDTV? OH, SAY, CAN YOU ATSC? POWERFUL PERFORMANCE VIDEO STANDARDS AUDIO STANDARDS PERPLEXING PITFALLS CHAPTER 2: SHOPPING SMART THE 50,000-FOOT VIEW OF HDTV FLAT-PANEL HDTVS PROJECTION HDTVS CRT HDTVS WHAT’S IMPORTANT IN AN HDTV BUDGETING FOR HDTV FINDING THE RIGHT SIZE MATCHING YOUR HD NEEDS CONNECTING THE OTHER GIZMOS ACCESSING YOUR HDTV CHANNELS GETTING YOUR ANALOG CHANNELS WORKING WITH YOUR OTHER SOURCES WHICH FEATURES MATTER? CHAPTER 3: CABLES AND CONNECTIONS VIDEO CONNECTIONS HIGH-DEFINITION VIDEO TRADITIONAL VIDEO AUDIO CONNECTIONS DIGITIZING YOUR AUDIO ATTACHING ANALOG AUDIO CHAPTER 4: HOOKING UP YOUR HDTV MAKING CONNECTIONS JACK PANELS CONNECTING BASIC TV SOURCES CONNECTING DVRS AND VCRS OTHER CONNECTIONS CHAPTER 5: ENHANCING YOUR HDTV WHY YOU NEED TO CALIBRATE GETTING YOUR SETTINGS RIGHT GETTING CALIBRATED DOING IT YOURSELF BRINGING IN THE PROS CHAPTER 6: MAGIC BLACK BOXES WHAT THE HECK’S A VIDEO PROCESSOR? GOING UP OR GOING DOWN? DE-INTERLACING YOUR VIDEO GETTING FANCY WITH SCALING CHOOSING SCALERS CHAPTER 7: WHO’S SHOWING HDTV? LOOKING AT WHO HAS HDTV BROADCASTERS CABLE AND SATELLITE NETWORKS SPECIALIZED HDTV STATIONS MAKING YOUR CHOICE ALL HDTV SIGNALS ARE NOT EQUAL CHAPTER 8: SOMETHING’S IN THE AIR FINDING LOCAL HD BROADCASTS TUNING IN BUILDING ON A BUILT-IN TUNER ADDING ON A TUNER ANTENNAS A TO Z CHOOSING THE RIGHT ANTENNA INSTALLING YOUR HDTV ANTENNA CHAPTER 9: THE CABLE GUY HIGH-DEFINITION CABLE GETTING ON THE QAM BANDWAGON ENCRYPTING AND DECRYPTING DIGITAL CABLE DEFINING DIGITAL GETTING THE BENEFITS GETTING THE DIGITAL BOX ANALOG CABLE GOING BOXLESS CHAPTER 10: ROCKET SCIENCE PLANNING A SATELLITE TV SYSTEM SERVICE EQUIPMENT AVAILABILITY CHOOSING A DBS PROVIDER PROGRAMMING DIGITAL VIDEO RECORDER (DVR) CHAPTER 11: DVDS LEARNING ABOUT THE DVD DISC DEALING WITH TODAY’S DVDS DECIPHERING DVD RECORDERS FINDING DVDS IN UNUSUAL PLACES HOME THEATER IN A BOX DVD/VCR DVD/PVR PEERING INTO THE HIGH-DEF FUTURE CHAPTER 12: GETTING INTO DVRS DVR LEARNING THE BENEFITS MAKING THE CONNECTION HD DVRS STANDARD DVRS WHAT TO LOOK FOR FINDING A DVR THAT FITS CHAPTER 13: TAPING TIME CHECKING OUT YOUR DIGITAL OPTIONS CONNECTING VCRS TO HDTVS LOOKING CLOSER AT D-VHS CHAPTER 14: GAMING CONSOLES UNDERSTANDING CONSOLES MEET THE CONSOLES THE PLAYSTATION GAMING WITH THE CUBE X (BOX) MARKS THE SPOT CONNECTING TO YOUR HDTV DEALING WITH AUDIO CHAPTER 15: CAMCORDERS YOUR RUN-OF-THE-MILL SD CAMCORDER CONNECTING YOUR CAMCORDER TO YOUR HDTV ENTER HD CAMCORDERS CHECKING OUT THE FIRST HDV CAMCORDER CHAPTER 16: GADGETS HOME THEATER PCS VIDEO JUKEBOXES JUKEBOX DO THE ROKU LOOKING FOR HDTV GADGETS CHAPTER 17: HOME NETWORKING LAYERING YOUR HOUSE THE CENTER OF YOUR HDTV NET GETTING SIGNALS TO YOUR HDTV TAPPING INTO PC/INTERNET CONTENT REVVING UP YOUR RF DISTRIBUTION SHARING SIGNALS IN YOUR HOUSE USING COAXIAL CABLES USING WIRELESS SYSTEMS USING UTP CABLING CHAPTER 18: UNDERSTANDING AUDIO GRASPING AUDIO BASICS SURROUND-SOUND MANIA ENTER THE MATRIX INTRODUCING THE FORMATS DEALING WITH BUILT-IN AUDIO CHAPTER 19: HOME THEATER AUDIO BOXING UP YOUR HOME THEATER RECEIVING HOME-THEATER SOUNDS CHAPTER 20: SETTING THE MOOD CHOOSING YOUR HDTV’S HOME SOUNDS RIGHT? CONTROLLING SOUND IN YOUR THEATER LIGHTS EVERYONE, ACTION! CONTROLLING LIGHTING IN YOUR HDTV THEATER CHAPTER 21: TV ENGINEERING 101 LINES AND PIXELS GOING WITH LINES PICKING PIXELS DEFINING STANDARD AND HIGH RESOLUTIONS SCANNING AND INTERLACING FIELDS, FRAMES AND YOUR TV DOING THE PULLDOWN CHAPTER 22: PROJECTING A GOOD IMAGE PROJECTION HDTV DESIGN REAR PROJECTION FRONT PROJECTION PROJECTION TV SYSTEMS CRT LCD DLP LCOS SCREENS CHAPTER 23: THIN IS IN LOVING YOUR LCD EVERYONE’S CRAZY ABOUT PLASMA CHAPTER 24: GOOD OL’ TUBES ALL ABOUT CRTS CRT PROS AND CONS NAVIGATING THE CRT JUNGLE DEALING WITH ASPECT RATIOS GETTING FLAT CHAPTER 25: TEN PLACES TO BUY AN HDTV CRUTCHFIELD GATEWAY DISH NETWORK CIRCUIT CITY BEST BUY CLUBMAC SUPER WAREHOUSE BEST DIGITAL ONLINE MICROSOFT SONY ELECTRONICS CHAPTER 26: TEN (OR SO) HDTV ACCESSORIES KICK SOME BUTT (WITH TRANSDUCERS) MOTION SIMULATORS POWER CONDITIONER DVD CHANGER CONTROLLERS SHOW HDTV OUTDOORS CREATURE DOUBLE FEATURE IN 3D WIRELESS HEADPHONES IN SEARCH OF THAT GREAT REMOTE CONTROL TYPES OF REMOTES SEXY REMOTES BRING HOLLYWOOD HOME