All televisions are Digital TV-Ready when connected to a DTV set-top box. This will produce an NTSC (analogue) quality picture. As a result, it is important to understand the different terms used to describe your televisions capabilities.
- An INTEGRATED Digital Television, be it SD, ED, or HD, must meet the specific display and audio criteria for its class, utilizing an ATSC compliant BUILT IN tuner.
- A DIGITAL READY Television, whether SD, ED, or HD, must also meet the specific display and audio characteristics of its class, utilizing an add-on DTV set-top box (STB) to decode the signals.
- HDTV-READY means the TV has a designated HDTV input, but does not have an ATSC tuner built in. These TVs require a DTV converter box that will allow the TV to display a HDTV program in its native 720p or 1080i transmission format, as well as reproducing or passing through Dolby Digital audio, which may include up to 5.1 discrete audio signals. The image on-screen must be in a 16:9 aspect ratio. Most HD sets are built with a screen in that aspect ratio, however, letterboxing a 720p or 1080i broadcast on a 4:3 display will still qualify as High Definition. Your set manufacturer will identify the number of active scanning lines in these cases.