High-definition television (HDTV) - Native formats, parameters, standards, conversion

High-definition (HD) images are now available on television: HDTV (high-definition television). Initiated in analog form in the mid-1980s by the Japanese, then by the Europeans, and temporarily abandoned, HDTV was not really revived until the digital television project in the United States. This process led to international standards in the mid-1990s.

This dossier not only updates the [TE 5 674] dossier published in February 2004, "Images haute définition: entre cinéma numérique et télévision HD", but also completes it with a detailed functional and technical presentation of the entire HD television chain. It is divided into three parts:

• the first part deals with formats. This 1 ^er document [TE 5 680] describes the native parameters of images produced by HDTV and the corresponding standards. The following document [TE 5 681] details the compression formats used to reduce the bit rate of HD digital video, making it possible to capture, transport, store, transmit and receive HD images in the world of television. It also presents the problem of encapsulating HD images in data file container or transport formats;

• Part 2, consisting of three documents, will explain the main functions of capturing/recording, editing [TE 5 682] , broadcasting and distribution [TE 5 683] , displaying and evaluating the quality of HD images [TE 5 684] , "from glass to glass", from the glass of the camera lens to the glass of the flat screen;

• Part 3 will highlight an important component of HDTV: multichannel sound