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HD TV Receiver Basic Information

Camp HD Admin — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 22:17:09 +0000

What exactly a HD TV Receiver is?

It is a device that receives and decodes high definition TV signals. You need a HD TV or HDTV receiver if you have a HD ready TV. Confused? Don’t be. Just think of the old cable converter box that you have before. It makes your non-cable TV to be a cable ready TV. Same thing goes with an HDTV receiver, It makes your HD Ready TV to view high definition programming. Sometimes this HD TV receiver is called as a HDTV Tuner or a HDTV Decoder.

Question before you by a HD TV receiver:

Before you purchase a HD TV receiver ask this question first. Does your HDTV has a receiver built-in??? Go find your TV manual and look if it states that it has a built-in HDTV receiver. If it does not, then it will say HD ready.

Another question you should ask is whether you plan on watching high definition TV being directly broadcasted from the TV station or will you be acquiring the HDTV signal from your cable TV or satellite TV provider. Most of the time, many cable and satellite TV providers can provide you with a set top box that also includes a HDTV receiver. Most cable or satellite TV companies allow you to rent these set top boxes for only a few dollars per month. In addition, you should know that many DVR’s such as TiVo, include a HDTV receiver with many of their devices. This way you don’t need to go out and purchase a receiver to record, watch or store your high definition programs.

One great feature that you have to look for an HD TV receiver is the capability to hook up components to your HDTV receiver. The best HD TV receivers are those who have an output for HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface). This gives you the maximum and ultimate viewing pleasure of your HDTV.

Optimizing and Fine Tuning your HDTV

Camp HD Admin — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 01:45:21 +0000

Optimizing and Fine Tuning your HDTV

HDTV Basic Optimization

Understanding the basic functionality of your HDTV’s remote control can do a lot to optimize the viewing experience of your HDTV. Electrical showrooms display HDTV’s with a view to creating maximum impact. This often means for example that brightness levels are set to high for the average user, and can be to the detriment of the viewing experience in the home. The good news is that these type of setting can easily be optimized.

Room Lighting

Most of the time, lights are being turned off when we are about to watch a movie. The suggested recommendation for HDTV is to use controlled lighting to deliver a better HD picture. Unless you’re watching it through a projector or you’re sitting at a minimum viewing distance, you shouldn’t watch a movie in a complete darkness. This often result to eyestrain.

For bright plasmas and smaller direct-view sets, the ideal setup is to place a dim light directly behind the TV and leave the rest of the room dark.
You should also prevent any light in the room from reflecting off the TV, as glare will hamper image fidelity.
Watching at night is best, but if you watch during the day, thick curtains will really improve the picture.

Brightness

What is Brightness? This is also called black level. This actually adjusts how dark the black section of the picture appears.

What it does? Excessive brightness can result in a two-dimensional, washed-out look with reduced color saturation. Images with brightness set too low lose detail in shadows, and distinctions between dark areas disappear in pools of black.

How to set the brightness of HDTV?

Turn up the brightness to full, then reduce until just at the point you notice a loss of shadow detail – for example, when people’s eyes disappear into the depths under their brows, then you’ve set brightness too low. Some plasma, LCD, DLP, and LCoS TVs won’t ever look black, so you’ll need a setup disc to properly configure their brightness.

Contrast

What is Contrast? Also called picture or white level, contrast controls the intensity of the white parts of the image and determines the overall light output of the display.

How to set the contrast of HDTV?

Display a still image from DVD of a white object with some visible details – such as someone wearing a white button-up shirt or a shot of a glacier from the Ice Age DVD. Adjust the control up all the way, then reduce it until you can make out all the details in the white (such as buttons on a shirt or cracks in the ice). In general, TVs look best when contrast is set between 30 and 50 percent.

Color

What is color? Also called saturation, this control adjusts how intense the colors look.

What it does? When there’s too much color, the set looks garish and unrealistic. It’s most noticeable with reds, which are often accentuated (pushed) by the TV’s color decoder. On the other hand, too little color diminishes the impact of the picture, making it look drab. Setting color to zero results in a black-and-white image.

How to set the color of HDTV?

If available find an image of someone with light, delicate skin tones, preferably a close-up of a face, on a DVD. Turn up the color control until it looks like the person has sunburn, then reduce it until the skin looks natural, without too much red. If the rest of the colors look too drab, you can increase color slightly at the expense of accurate skin tones.

Watch Sports, Movies and US TV Series in High Definition (HD)

Camp HD Admin — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 00:03:19 +0000

Watch Sports, Movies and US TV Series in High Definition (HD)

Would you like to know who’s broadcasting in High Definition (HD)? Cnet.com made a huge listing of channels for sports, movies and US TV series that offers HD programming. Check this out!

	ABC Prime-time shows: Cavemen; Pushing Daisies; Boston Legal; Brothers & Sisters; Desperate Housewives; Grey’s Anatomy; Lost; Men in Trees; Ugly Betty; made-for-TV movies; theatrical films News, reality, and late night: Dancing With the Stars; Good Morning America Sports: Selected NBA games, selected NCAA football Specials: 2008 Academy Awards Resolution: 720p
	CBS Prime-time shows: Cold Case; The Big Bang Theory; Cane; CSI: Miami; CSI: NY; Criminal Minds; NCIS; Numb3rs; Two and a Half Men; The Unit; Without a Trace; The Young and the Restless (daytime); made-for-TV movies; theatrical films News, reality, and late night: The Late Show with David Letterman Specials: The Grammys Sports: NFL (AFC), NCAA Final Four, selected NCAA football Resolution: 1080i
	Fox Prime-time shows: 24; Back to You; Bones; House; K-Ville; Prison Break; Til’ Death News, reality, and late night: American Idol, Fox News Sunday Sports: NFL, MLB, NASCAR Resolution: 720p
	NBC Prime-time shows: 30 Rock; ER; Heroes; Law & Order: Special Victims Unit; The Office; Chuck Specials: Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade News, reality, and late night: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno; Late Night with Conan O’Brien; Saturday Night Live Sports: Sunday Night Football, NHL, NASCAR racing Resolution: 1080i
	PBS Shows: Highlights include American Masters; Austin City Limits; Frontline; Tracks Ahead; Chefs A’Field; Soundstage; American Experience; Nova Sports and specials: N/A Resolution: 1080i
	The CW Prime-time shows: Everybody Hates Chris; The Game; Girlfriends; One Tree Hill; Smallville; Supernatural; Aliens in America; Reaper; Gossip Girl Resolution: 1080i
	A&E HD Prime-time shows: Dog The Bounty Hunter; Criss Angel Mindfreak; Gene Simmons Family Jewels, Cold Case Files; The First 48; CSI Miami; The Sopranos Resolution: 1080i
	Animal Planet HD Prime-time shows: Meerkat Manor; The Blue Planet; It’s Me or the Dog Resolution: 1080i
	Cinemax HD Selected movies
	Discovery HD Prime-time shows: MythBusters; Dirty Jobs; Man vs. Wild; Build it Bigger; Survivorman Resolution: 1080i
	Discovery HD Theater Shows: Selected programming from the Discovery Channel library Resolution: 1080i
	ESPN HD Shows: SportsCenter; Monday Night Countdown; NFL Countdown; NFL Live; NFL Primetime; Baseball Tonight; selected episodes of SportsCentury; Playmakers; ESPN original programming; other studio shows Sports: Monday Night Football; Sunday Night Baseball; other selected NFL, MLB, and NBA games; college football and basketball; numerous other HD sports events yearly Resolution: 720p
	ESPN2 HD Sports: NBA; MLB; college football, baseball, and basketball; tennis; rodeo Resolution: 720p
	The Food Network HD Description: HD version of Food Network; will also feature programming from Fine Living. Shows include: Barefoot Contessa; Everyday Italian; Good Eats; Iron Chef America Resolution: 1080i
	Golf Channel HD Shows: The Big Break; Fore Inventors Only; Golf Central Sports: Selected golf events all year long Resolution: 1080i
	HBO HDTV Shows: Big Love; Entourage; Rome; The Sopranos; The Wire; Tell Me You Love Me Sports and specials: Original HBO programming; World Championship Boxing; selected HBO comedy specials; Inside the NFL Resolution: 1080i
	HDNet Shows: Original HDNet series include True Music; HDNet World Reports; HDNet Concert Series; Bikini Destinations; Get Out; Art Mann Presents; Deadline; Sound Off with Matt Pinfield; Dan Rather Reports; other TV series include The Fugitive; Hogan’s Heroes; Smallville; Hack; Wiseguy; Charlie’s Angels; The Agency; Odyssey 5; The Handler Sports and specials: NASCAR Grand National Division; selected games from the NHL; USOC; CART; Major League Soccer; boxing; and horse racing Resolution: 1080i
	HDNet Movies Shows: Movies include Boiler Room; Species; Silence of the Lambs; The Hunt for Red October; etc. Sports and specials: N/A Resolution: 1080i
	HGTV HD Shows: World’s Most Extreme Home; Small Space, Big Style; Design Remix; Decorating Cents Resolution: 1080i
	The History Channel HD Shows: Simulcast of regular History Channel programming including: Boneyard; Cities of the Underworld; Dogfights; Ice Road Truckers; Modern Marvels; Lost Worlds Resolution: 1080i
	MHD (aka MTV-HD) Shows: MTV Unplugged; MHD Roadie Trip; MTV Life & Rhymes; MTV2 $2 Bill concerts; VH1 Storytellers; CMT Crossroads; MHD Top Ten; MHD Video Stew Specials: MTV Video Awards; CMT Music Awards; Music with Attitude concert specials Resolution: 1080i
	Mojo Prime-time shows: London Live; I Bet You; Three Sheets; Timeless; Uncorked with Billy Merritt; Dr. Danger; The Show Resolution: 1080i
	The Movie Channel HD Movies: Includes D2: The Mighty Ducks; Ghostbusters; Blue Steel; Who’s Harry Crumb?; Beyond Borders; Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London; Muriel’s Wedding; Saw; Uptown Girls; Amityville 3D; Houseguest; Last Action Hero; Soul Plane; Marci X Sports and specials: N/A Resolution: 1080i
	The National Geographic Channel HD Description: HD simulcast of National Geographic Channel Resolution: 720p
	NBA HD Shows: N/A Sports and specials: More than 200 games in 2007-2008 season, including the NBA, WNBA, International and Euroleague, and the Entertainer’s Basketball Classic Resolution: 1080i
	NFL Network HD Shows: NFL Films (TBA) Sports: Selected regular-season NFL games in 2007 season Resolution: 1080i
	NHL HD Sports: Selected games from the 2007-2008 season Resolution: 1080i
	Showtime HDTV Shows: Brotherhood; Californication; The Tudors; Dexter; The L Word; Weeds; selected movies Resolution: 1080i
	Starz HD Shows: Simulcast of Starz channel with movies in HD Resolution: 1080i
	The Science Channel HD Shows: Simulcast of The Science Channel with selected programming in HD; Mars Rising Resolution: 1080i
	TLC HD Shows: Simulcast of TLC with selected programming in HD; Little People, Big World Resolution: 1080i
	TNT-HD Shows: Without a Trace; Alias; Cold Case; ER; Law & Order (selected episodes); The Closer; selected movies Sports: NBA games and All-Star weekend, NASCAR Resolution: 1080i
	Universal HD Shows: Law & Order: SVU; The Equalizer; Monk; Battlestar Galactica; Medical Investigation; selected movies Sports: NCAA football, Dew Action Sports Tour; various Extreme Sports competitions Resolution: 1080i
	Versus HD Shows: Simulcast of Versus programming, selected shows in HD Sports: Selected games from the regular 2007-2008 NHL season and playoffs, selected NCAA Football games, various PBR events Resolution: 1080i

Watch NCAA and UAAP on HDTV

Camp HD Admin — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 03:45:38 +0000

Watch NCAA and UAAP on HDTV

One more reason to be a happy basketball fanatic. For your viewing pleasure, Sky Cable Philippines specially those subscribers who has an HD box will enjoy full packed and exciting collegiate basketball games in High Definition (HD) as ABS-CBN launched it’s HDTV test broadcast of NCAA and UAAP basketball.

Balls HD, a sky cable channel 166, will air the live telecast of the UAAP games on HD from 2PM to 7PM every Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, whereas the NCAA games on HD will air every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

What you need in order to watch HDTV on a PC

Camp HD Admin — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 10:41:37 +0000

What you need in order to watch HDTV on a PC

Flat screen monitor with HDTV capability
HDTV tuner card OR
Software to watch HDTV programs

Flat screen monitor with HDTV capability

Most flat screen today are capable of displaying HDTV quality resolutions and there are two common interfaces that are available with these HDTV screens. One is the DVI or the Digital Visual Interface and the other is HDMI or what we call High Definition Multimedia Interface. I recommend monitors with HDMI inputs because it provides reald HD experience for viewing.

HDTV Tuner Card

If you happen to be residing in the Philippines like me, then we are not lucky enough. Unfortunately HD OTA (over-the-air) broadcasting is not yet available here. But for those people who are in the United States, HD OTA is readily avaialable. Just couple your HDTV tuner card with a Phillips Silver Sensor HD UHF antenna and you’re good to go.

Software to watch HDTV programs

High speed internet connection is needed if you want to use a software for HDTV. The recommended broadband connection speed is at least 1 mbps to 2 mbps. This will I say the most practical and easiest way to watch HDTV programs on your computer. Just download the HDTV software and you’re all set.

If you don’t have the software to access HDTV-channels on PC, you can check this* out.