Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!hplabs!hpfcso!hpfcdj!myers
From: myers@hpfcdj.HP.COM (Bob Myers)
Newsgroups: sci.electronics
Subject: Re: Cable Competition at Last!
Message-ID: <17660146@hpfcdj.HP.COM>
Date: 28 Jan 91 19:58:21 GMT
References: <620@wybbs.mi.org>
Organization: Hewlett Packard -- Fort Collins, CO
Lines: 24

>>> 480 lines
>>
>>525 is standard.  You're talking about a picture which is not as
>>good as normal tv broadcasts.
>
>
>He's talking about 480 HORIZONTAL lines, not vertical lines. This is 
>considerably BETTER than broadcast (which is ~330 or so). This DBS sounds

Actually, no, he IS talking about vertical lines, not horizontal.  (Think
about it: the horizontal resolution is the number of *vertical* lines which
can be resolved).  And we should also point out that when we talk about
lines of *resolution*, this is actually (usually) referring to line *pairs*.
Speaking of "330 lines" resolution actually means something roughly equivalent
to a display with 660 *pixels* in each horizontal line.  (Broadcast TV being
an analog medium, the idea of "pixels" did not originate there and is 
somewhat of a foreign idea, if you consider the language that's typically 
used.)  And to get back to the original point, yes, a resolution of 480 lines
*is* better than what we're normally used to in broadcast television.


Bob Myers  KC0EW   HP Graphics Tech. Div.|  Opinions expressed here are not
                   Ft. Collins, Colorado |  those of my employer or any other
myers@fc.hp.com                          |  sentient life-form on this planet.