Samsung 30-inch EDTV
May 2001
As Good As Green Eggs and Ham
by Grant Clauser
Hopefully you know something about high definition television. Briefly, it's the high resolution version of digital television. But you may not know that there are actually several variations of digital television, one of which is referred to as enhanced definition television. EDTV differs from HDTV in that it can be in either a standard 4:3 aspect ratio or 16:9 and a minimum resolution of 480 progressive lines. HDTV on the other hand has a minimum resolution of either 720 progressive or 1080 interlaced.
Is this important? The truth is that most people who are now enjoying their "HDTV's are enjoying the 480p resolution they get from DVDs either from progressive scan DVD players or from their TVs' internal line doublers. Because of the lack of HDTV broadcasts and the limited number of people who have purchased HDTV tuners to go with their TVs, few HDTV owners ever see the full resolution their HDTVs are capable of displaying.
Samsung realized, wisely I think, that if EDTV resolution is all most people are watching anyway, and those people are very happy with it, then why not simply build TVs to EDTV specification rather than throwing all that extra resolution capability away. A good idea?
If you've ever sat in front of a widescreen TV with a progressive scan DVD hooked up to it you'd see the beauty that 480p EDTV can be. Except on very large TVs, most people would be hard pressed to tell the difference between 480p and 1080i HDTV. But some people insist that anything less then high definition is not worth watching. Those people remind me of the character who won't eat his green eggs and ham, that is, until he tries it.
So that brings us to Samsung's 30-inch widescreen TSK3092WF DynaFlat EDTV. This DynaFlat, as the name implies, is of the flat screen tube variety made popular by Sony's line of Wega TVs. It also sports the 16:9 aspect ratio that has made DVD lovers so giddy. The kicker to this TV, of course, is that it can display 480 progressive pictures either from a DTV set-top-box tuner (Samsung makes an off-air tuner for about $700) or from a progressive scan DVD player. Non-progressive or digital sources, such as regular cable, satellite TV, VCR or standard DVD player get upconverted to 480p via the TV's internal line doubler, which Samsung calls a Pro Chip.
by Grant Clauser
Hopefully you know something about high definition television. Briefly, it's the high resolution version of digital television. But you may not know that there are actually several variations of digital television, one of which is referred to as enhanced definition television. EDTV differs from HDTV in that it can be in either a standard 4:3 aspect ratio or 16:9 and a minimum resolution of 480 progressive lines. HDTV on the other hand has a minimum resolution of either 720 progressive or 1080 interlaced.
Is this important? The truth is that most people who are now enjoying their "HDTV's are enjoying the 480p resolution they get from DVDs either from progressive scan DVD players or from their TVs' internal line doublers. Because of the lack of HDTV broadcasts and the limited number of people who have purchased HDTV tuners to go with their TVs, few HDTV owners ever see the full resolution their HDTVs are capable of displaying.
Samsung realized, wisely I think, that if EDTV resolution is all most people are watching anyway, and those people are very happy with it, then why not simply build TVs to EDTV specification rather than throwing all that extra resolution capability away. A good idea?
If you've ever sat in front of a widescreen TV with a progressive scan DVD hooked up to it you'd see the beauty that 480p EDTV can be. Except on very large TVs, most people would be hard pressed to tell the difference between 480p and 1080i HDTV. But some people insist that anything less then high definition is not worth watching. Those people remind me of the character who won't eat his green eggs and ham, that is, until he tries it.
So that brings us to Samsung's 30-inch widescreen TSK3092WF DynaFlat EDTV. This DynaFlat, as the name implies, is of the flat screen tube variety made popular by Sony's line of Wega TVs. It also sports the 16:9 aspect ratio that has made DVD lovers so giddy. The kicker to this TV, of course, is that it can display 480 progressive pictures either from a DTV set-top-box tuner (Samsung makes an off-air tuner for about $700) or from a progressive scan DVD player. Non-progressive or digital sources, such as regular cable, satellite TV, VCR or standard DVD player get upconverted to 480p via the TV's internal line doubler, which Samsung calls a Pro Chip.
