Content
The first thing you have to know about content is that it basically comes in 2 forms: up converted content, and HD content. whats the difference you say? Well as you would guess, up until a few years ago when HD came about, everything was shot/recorded etc to be used on standard definition television. Now that television networks are starting to add HD capabilities to their stations, a lot of that content has been up converted to an HD signal from its original non-HD signal. Now, since stations are slowly converting over to HD, a lot of things are being shot from the beginning to be broadcast as a HD signal.

As you would guess, the shows that are shot from the beginning to be broadcast in HD will have a better quality picture than the shows that have been up converted. Thats not to say that the up converted shows will not look good, its just that the shows that have been up converted from a lesser signal have varying results, some look good, some don’t. So keep that in mind when you view different HD stations.

Where to get HD
Now we come to the meat of the whole HD thing. If you want to start watching HD television, you need to input HD content to your TV. A lot of people don’t figure this out until way later, but right out of the box, you will most likely not be watching HDTV. To watch HD you need to have HD inputed (is that a word?) to your television in one of the following ways:

  • Over the air- Most of your local television stations are now broadcasting alternate HD signals along with the regular standard def signals. To receive those signals, you need a over the air HD tuner. A lot of HDTV’s come with them built in, but some don’t, in that case you will have to buy one….or your Cable or Satellite receiver may have one built in but more on that later. To get your HD signals, you have to get a antenna to connect to your over the air receiver. Depending on the signal in your area, you may be able to get away with just your regular ole rabbit ears, but Antenna’ s made specifically to pick up HD stations can also be bought (some are outdoor antenna that will have to be mounted on your roof), To get more information about what local HD stations are in your area and what type of antenna will work you can check out antennaweb (click here)
  • Cable/Satellite- The easiest and most common way of getting HD content is through your Cable tv or Satellite TV provider. Most providers now offer a HD package that has a set of HD stations for an extra fee. Also when you sign up for these stations, you will have to get a HD receiver from those providers. like I mentioned before, some of the receivers that you get from your Cable or Satellite provider are capable of picking up over the air signals also, but you still will need to have a separate antenna (that a lot of times they will provide)
  • Game consoles- The original Xbox, Xbox360, and PS3 are capable of HD output, with those systems you have to go into the systems control panel and turn that functionality on, along with making sure you are using the right cables to connect those consoles to your television. Also, some of the older console systems, such as the Gamecube, PS2, and Nintendo Wii are capable of 480p output (progressive scan). like the newer ones, you have to actually turn that functionality on through the console itself.
  • HDDVD and BluRay- Those are the 2 new HD formats for DVD movies. I’m not going to go into detail about the 2 formats…that would be a whole other article…but both are capable of displaying movies made for those formats in HD, with resolutions up to the new 1080p format. The Xbox360 and PS3 are both capable of 1080p output also, but those 2 consoles and those 2 HD Movies formats are the only way to get 1080p to your television.

Conclusion
So there you have it, hopefully you will have a little better understanding of what all you need to do to get your HDTV displaying HD content. So remember this, you need to connect a HD input, whether its from your Cable, Satellite, over the air, Next gen console, or next gen DVD movie player. And it has to be connected to your HDTV using either Component, HDMI, DVI, or VGA connection. you may have to change the setting in your input device to tell it to output the content in the desired HD resolution, and you will be watching some good ole HDTV in no time.

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