Enhanced-definition television
Encyclopedia
Enhanced-definition television, or extended-definition television, (EDTV) is a United States Consumer Electronics Association
(CEA) marketing shorthand term for certain digital television
(DTV) formats and devices. Specifically, this term defines formats that deliver a picture that is superior to that of standard-definition television
(SDTV), but not as detailed as high-definition television
(HDTV).
The term refers to devices capable of displaying 480 or 576-line signals in progressive scan
(commonly referred to as "480p
(NTSC)" and "576p
(PAL)" respectively) as opposed to interlaced scanning, commonly referred to as "480i
(NTSC)" or "576i
(PAL)". High-motion is optional for EDTV.
In other countries the outlook may be different.
, SCART
or S-Video
, higher bandwidth media must be used to accommodate the additional data transfer. To achieve EDTV, consumer electronic devices such as a progressive scan DVD player
or modern video game console must be connected through at least a component video
cable (typically using 3 RCA cables for video), a VGA connector
, or a DVI
or HDMI
connector. For over-the-air television broadcasts, EDTV content uses the same connectors as HDTV.
. Most EDTV displays use square pixels, yielding a resolution of 852 × 480. However since no broadcasts use this pixel count, such displays always scale anything they display. (The only sources of 852 × 480 video are internet downloads, such as from iTunes, and some video games). Unlike 1080i and SDTV formats, plasma displays can show EDTV signals without the need to de-interlace them first. This can result in a reduction of motion artifacts.
conversion internally before feeding the output to (usually) an interlaced display, or here, a progressive 576p or 480p.
The progressive 24 fps DVD will have a unifying effect on PAL
and NTSC
, just as film does, perhaps needing conversion of the number of lines but without a conflict between field and frame rate. The player converts the video to the more conventional video formats on the fly, by simply repeating each field. For PAL (referring here to 625 line 575 active line used with PAL as well as the chrominance aspects) by repeating each frame twice with a corresponding interlace, and for NTSC by repeating some 480p frames 2 times and others 3 times (3:2 pulldown), to make 24 fps material play at 30fps, or 60 fields per second.
On an EDTV display, or on HDTVs in 480p mode, DVD players can display progressive disc content without needing to convert it to interlaced format. Various signal processing tricks are then used to fake progressive scan, and the quality of this depends on how good the upconversion process is.
Blu-ray Disc
and HD DVD
formats can encode all EDTV forms but because HDTV is a primary selling point of Blu-ray/HD DVDs, to date, this has been used only on certain bonus content.
, with NiGHTS into Dreams...
, Christmas NiGHTS, Panzer Dragoon II Zwei
and High Velocity being the only supported games. The Dreamcast expanded on this, becoming the first mainstream console with a VGA output, supporting EDTV. The PlayStation 2
, Nintendo GameCube
, Xbox
and Wii
are also EDTV compatible with a component connection. The Xbox 360
can output 480p via YPBPR
component
, VGA
and HDMI
(newer models only) cables. The PlayStation 3
outputs EDTV via its HDMI and component video (YPBPR) connections; 480p is only available on NTSC consoles while 576p is only available on PAL consoles.
Consumer Electronics Association
The Consumer Electronics Association is a standards and trade organization for the consumer electronics industry in the United States. The Consumer Electronics Association is the preeminent trade association promoting growth in the $173 billion U.S...
(CEA) marketing shorthand term for certain digital television
Digital television
Digital television is the transmission of audio and video by digital signals, in contrast to the analog signals used by analog TV...
(DTV) formats and devices. Specifically, this term defines formats that deliver a picture that is superior to that of standard-definition television
Standard-definition television
Sorete-definition television is a television system that uses a resolution that is not considered to be either enhanced-definition television or high-definition television . The term is usually used in reference to digital television, in particular when broadcasting at the same resolution as...
(SDTV), but not as detailed as high-definition television
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
(HDTV).
The term refers to devices capable of displaying 480 or 576-line signals in progressive scan
Progressive scan
Progressive scanning is a way of displaying, storing, or transmitting moving images in which all the lines of each frame are drawn in sequence...
(commonly referred to as "480p
480p
480p is the shorthand name for a video display resolution. The p stands for progressive scan, i.e. non-interlaced. The 480 denotes a vertical resolution of 480 pixel high vertically scanning lines, usually with a horizontal resolution of 640 pixels and 4:3 aspect ratio or a horizontal resolution of...
(NTSC)" and "576p
576p
576p is the shorthand name for a video display resolution. The p stands for progressive scan, i.e. non-interlaced, the 576 for a vertical resolution of 576 lines, usually with a horizontal resolution of 720 or 704 pixels. The frame rate can be given explicitly after the letter.-576p25:In other...
(PAL)" respectively) as opposed to interlaced scanning, commonly referred to as "480i
480i
480i is the shorthand name for a video mode, namely the US NTSC television system or digital television systems with the same characteristics. The i, which is sometimes uppercase, stands for interlaced, the 480 for a vertical frame resolution of 480 lines containing picture information; while NTSC...
(NTSC)" or "576i
576i
576i is a standard-definition video mode used in PAL and SECAM countries. In digital applications it is usually referred to as "576i", in analogue contexts it is often quoted as "625 lines"...
(PAL)". High-motion is optional for EDTV.
In other countries the outlook may be different.
Connectivity
As EDTV signals require more bandwidth than is feasible with SDTV connection standards, such as composite videoComposite video
Composite video is the format of an analog television signal before it is combined with a sound signal and modulated onto an RF carrier. In contrast to component video it contains all required video information, including colors in a single line-level signal...
, SCART
SCART
SCART is a French-originated standard and associated 21-pin connector for connecting audio-visual equipment together...
or S-Video
S-Video
Separate Video, more commonly known as S-Video and Y/C, is often referred to by JVC as both an S-VHS connector and as Super Video. It is an analog video transmission scheme, in which video information is encoded on two channels: luma and chroma...
, higher bandwidth media must be used to accommodate the additional data transfer. To achieve EDTV, consumer electronic devices such as a progressive scan DVD player
Progressive scan DVD player
A progressive scan DVD player is a DVD player that can output video in a progressive scan format such as 480p or 576p . Players which can output resolutions higher than 480p or 576p are often called upconverting DVD players....
or modern video game console must be connected through at least a component video
Component video
Component video is a video signal that has been split into two or more component channels. In popular use, it refers to a type of component analog video information that is transmitted or stored as three separate signals...
cable (typically using 3 RCA cables for video), a VGA connector
VGA connector
A Video Graphics Array connector is a three-row 15-pin DE-15 connector. The 15-pin VGA connector is found on many video cards, computer monitors, and some high definition television sets...
, or a DVI
Digital Visual Interface
The Digital Visual Interface is a video interface standard covering the transmission of video between a source device and a display device. The DVI standard has achieved widespread acceptance in the PC industry, both in desktop PCs and monitors...
or HDMI
High-Definition Multimedia Interface
HDMI is a compact audio/video interface for transmitting uncompressed digital data. It is a digital alternative to consumer analog standards, such as radio frequency coaxial cable, composite video, S-Video, SCART, component video, D-Terminal, or VGA...
connector. For over-the-air television broadcasts, EDTV content uses the same connectors as HDTV.
Broadcast and displays
EDTV broadcasts use less digital bandwidth than HDTV, so TV stations can broadcast several EDTV stations at once. Like SDTV, EDTV signals are broadcast with non-square pixels. Because the same number of horizontal pixels are used in 4:3 and 16:9 broadcasts, the 16:9 mode is sometimes referred to as anamorphic widescreenAnamorphic widescreen
Anamorphic widescreen, when applied to DVD manufacture, is a video process that horizontally squeezes a widescreen image so that it can be stored in a standard 4:3 aspect ratio DVD image frame. Compatible playback equipment can then re-expand the horizontal dimension to show the original widescreen...
. Most EDTV displays use square pixels, yielding a resolution of 852 × 480. However since no broadcasts use this pixel count, such displays always scale anything they display. (The only sources of 852 × 480 video are internet downloads, such as from iTunes, and some video games). Unlike 1080i and SDTV formats, plasma displays can show EDTV signals without the need to de-interlace them first. This can result in a reduction of motion artifacts.
DVDs
The progressive output of a DVD player can be considered the baseline for EDTV. Movies shot at 24 frames per second (fps) are often encoded onto a DVD at 24 fps progressive and most DVD players do the 2:2 or 3:2 pulldownTelecine
Telecine is transferring motion picture film into video and is performed in a color suite. The term is also used to refer to the equipment used in the post-production process....
conversion internally before feeding the output to (usually) an interlaced display, or here, a progressive 576p or 480p.
The progressive 24 fps DVD will have a unifying effect on PAL
PAL
PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system...
and NTSC
NTSC
NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...
, just as film does, perhaps needing conversion of the number of lines but without a conflict between field and frame rate. The player converts the video to the more conventional video formats on the fly, by simply repeating each field. For PAL (referring here to 625 line 575 active line used with PAL as well as the chrominance aspects) by repeating each frame twice with a corresponding interlace, and for NTSC by repeating some 480p frames 2 times and others 3 times (3:2 pulldown), to make 24 fps material play at 30fps, or 60 fields per second.
On an EDTV display, or on HDTVs in 480p mode, DVD players can display progressive disc content without needing to convert it to interlaced format. Various signal processing tricks are then used to fake progressive scan, and the quality of this depends on how good the upconversion process is.
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
and HD DVD
HD DVD
HD DVD is a discontinued high-density optical disc format for storing data and high-definition video.Supported principally by Toshiba, HD DVD was envisioned to be the successor to the standard DVD format...
formats can encode all EDTV forms but because HDTV is a primary selling point of Blu-ray/HD DVDs, to date, this has been used only on certain bonus content.
Gaming
The video resolution of video game consoles reached EDTV specifications starting with the Sega SaturnSega Saturn
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console that was first released by Sega on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America, and July 8, 1995 in Europe...
, with NiGHTS into Dreams...
NiGHTS into Dreams...
Nights into Dreams... , is a video game released by Sega in 1996 for the Sega Saturn video game system. The game's story follows two children entering a dream world, where they are aided by the main character, Nights...
, Christmas NiGHTS, Panzer Dragoon II Zwei
Panzer Dragoon II Zwei
Panzer Dragoon II Zwei is a rail shooter released exclusively for the Sega Saturn, it was the second Panzer Dragoon game released but it is a prequel of the series. It was developed by Team Andromeda, one of Sega's internal development studios.-Synopsis:...
and High Velocity being the only supported games. The Dreamcast expanded on this, becoming the first mainstream console with a VGA output, supporting EDTV. The PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
, Nintendo GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
, Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
and Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
are also EDTV compatible with a component connection. The Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
can output 480p via YPBPR
YPbPr
' is a color space used in video electronics, in particular in reference to component video cables. is the analog version of the YCBCR color space; the two are numerically equivalent, but YPBPR is designed for use in analog systems whereas YCBCR is intended for digital video. cables are also...
component
Component video
Component video is a video signal that has been split into two or more component channels. In popular use, it refers to a type of component analog video information that is transmitted or stored as three separate signals...
, VGA
Video Graphics Array
Video Graphics Array refers specifically to the display hardware first introduced with the IBM PS/2 line of computers in 1987, but through its widespread adoption has also come to mean either an analog computer display standard, the 15-pin D-subminiature VGA connector or the 640×480 resolution...
and HDMI
High-Definition Multimedia Interface
HDMI is a compact audio/video interface for transmitting uncompressed digital data. It is a digital alternative to consumer analog standards, such as radio frequency coaxial cable, composite video, S-Video, SCART, component video, D-Terminal, or VGA...
(newer models only) cables. The PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
outputs EDTV via its HDMI and component video (YPBPR) connections; 480p is only available on NTSC consoles while 576p is only available on PAL consoles.