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A number of readers have brought up the issue of HD (hi-definition) TV and how NZ is really lagging in this area.

Well that's probably not a bad thing -- since there's little agreement anywhere in the world over HDTV standards.

The closest thing we have here right now is the 720 pixel horizontal resolution that can be had from a DVD but, although it's much better than broadcast standard resolution, it still falls far short of true HD.

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In a traditional 50Hz TV, each frame (or screen-full) of picture up into two slightly different images of 312 horizontal rows (well horizontal scan lines actually) and these are displayed in what's called an interlaced pattern.

At the time the current broadcast standards were defined, this was the only practical way to get reasonable resolution out of clunky old valve technology.

Unfortunately, interlaced displays tend to exhibit more flicker and unwanted side-effects -- such as the flickering of thin horizontal lines in a picture.

Today we've got hi-end TV sets that are smart enough to convert two previously interlaced frames to a digital image that is then displayed as a single smooth frame with seemingly higher resolution and no flicker. However, even though it looks a snot-load better than a traditional interlaced TV display, it's still not HD. So we wait.

Then there's the big battle over the good old DVD.

Movie studios aren't happy with the existing DVD format. The media doesn't have enough storage for true HD and the CSS protection system has been broken, which means that anyone with a home PC and DVD burner can copy any commercial title in just a few minutes.

The problem is that there are already two contenders trying to outdo each other to set the standard for the next generation of DVD disk. Of course they're incompatible so we end up with the old VHS/Beta situation all over again.

Who will win? Does it really matter?

The bottom line is that it's really a lack of agreement on standards and formats which is holding back the advance of TV technology right now. Few consumers are willing to spend big bucks to buy an HDTV for fear that they'll end up hitching their wagon to the wrong horse.

Likewise, people will probably be torn between the two DVD formats until a leader appears -- meaning that sales of these expensive players (about US$500) will stall until prices drop and a clear winner emerges.

Is it any wonder that the Net, Playstation and iPod are grabbing an ever-increasing amount of people's leisure time in preference to TV?

Tell us all and see what others have to say in The Aardvark Forums

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