What Is HDTV? > The Future of TV

In the new digital era, broadcasters can offer free, over-the-air television in higher resolution and better picture quality than is possible under the current system. If broadcasters so choose, they can deliver HDTV with theater-quality pictures and CD-quality sound. Or a broadcaster can offer several different TV programs at the same time (called "multicasting"), but in two lower resolution formats - EDTV which is the same quality as most DVD's (480p), and SDTV, which is the same resolution as today's analog broadcasts (480i). Even with fewer than 480 lines of resolution, the picture and sound quality of SDTV still is better than analog TV. With all the new DTV programming on-air, there's no shortage of digital entertainment for your new HDTV. It is important to note that currently most broadcasters broadcast HD signals, and do not broadcast multiple lower resolution signals.