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Difference Between DTV and HTDV

Digital Television and HDTV

Know the difference between DTV and HDTV.

What's the difference between digital television (DTV) and high-definition TV (HDTV)? With DTV, the information is transferred in "data bits" and the space required to transmit the bits is much smaller than what is required for analog television. Digital pictures are free from ghost and snow that can affect an analog reception. In short, your picture and sound quality are vastly improved.

HDTV is the next step up from DTV. HDTV uses about the same bandwidth as analog, but HDTV transmits more than six times the information—leading to a huge theater-like improvement in sound and quality. With HDTV, you can view programs in the 16:9 wide-screen format that you see in movie theaters. Keep in mind to experience all the benefits of HDTV, you will need some additional equipment. Specifically, you would need an HDTV-ready television as well as an HDTV receiver. Your cable or satellite provider can provide you with a receiver.