HD ready is a certification program introduced in 2005 by EICTA (European Information, Communications and Consumer Electronics Technology Industry Associations), now

DIGITALEUROPE DIGITALEUROPE is a European trade association that represents the digital technology industry. It is led by the Director General. The members include 105 major technology companies and 4national trade associations It seeks to ensure industry ...

. HD ready minimum native resolution is 720 rows in widescreen ratio. There are currently four different labels: "HD ready", "HD TV", "HD ready 1080p", "HD TV 1080p". The logos are assigned to television equipment capable of certain features. In the United States, a similar "HD Ready" term usually refers to any display that is capable of accepting and displaying a high-definition signal at either

720p 720p (720 lines progressive) is a progressive HD signal format with 720 horizontal lines/1280 columns and an aspect ratio (AR) of 16:9, normally known as widescreen HD (1.78:1). All major HD broadcasting standards (such as SMPTE 292M) includ ...

1080i In high-definition television (HDTV) and video display technology, 1080i is a video display format with 1080 lines of vertical resolution and Interlaced video, interlaced scanning method. This format was once a standard in HDTV. It was particular ...

1080p 1080p (1920 × 1080 progressively displayed pixels; also known as Full HD or FHD, and BT.709) is a set of HDTV high-definition video modes characterized by 1,920 pixels displayed across the screen horizontally and 1,080 pixels down the sc ...

using a

component video Component video is an analog video signal that has been split into two or more component channels. In popular use, it refers to a type of component analog video (CAV) information that is transmitted or stored as three separate signals. Compo ...

or digital input, but does not have a built-in HD-capable tuner.

History

The "HD ready" certification program was introduced on January 19, 2005. The labels and relevant specifications are based on agreements between over 60 broadcasters and manufacturers of the European HDTV Forum at its second session in June 2004, held at the Betzdorf, Luxembourg headquarters of founding member

SES Astra SES Astra SA was a corporate subsidiary of SES, based in Betzdorf, in eastern Luxembourg, that maintained and operated the Astra series of geostationary communication satellites between 2001 and 2011. Formed in 1985 as Société Européenne ...

. The "HD ready" logo is used on television equipment capable of displaying High Definition (HD) pictures from an external source. However, it does not have to feature a digital tuner to decode an HD signal; devices with tuners were certified under a separate "HD TV" logo, which does not require a "HD ready" display device. Before the introduction of the "HD ready" certification, many TV sources and displays were being promoted as capable of displaying high definition pictures when they were in fact

SDTV Standard-definition television (SDTV; also standard definition or SD) is a television system that uses a resolution that is not considered to be either high or enhanced definition. ''Standard'' refers to offering a similar resolution to the ...

devices; according to Alexander Oudendijk, senior VP of marketing for Astra, in early 2005 there were 74 different devices being sold as ready for HD that were not. Devices advertised as HD-compatible or HD ready could take

HDTV High-definition television (HDTV) describes a television or video system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since at least 1933; in more recent times, it ref ...

-signal as an input (via analog -

YPbPr YPbPr or Y'P'bP'r, also written as , is a color space used in video electronics, in particular in reference to component video cables. Like YCBCR, it is based on gamma corrected RGB primaries; the two are numerically equivalent but YPBPR is de ...

or digital DVI or

HDMI High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) is a proprietary digital interface used to transmit high-quality video and audio signals between devices. It is commonly used to connect devices such as televisions, computer monitors, projectors, gam ...

), but they did not have enough pixels for true representation of even the lower HD resolution (1280 × 720) ( plasma-based sets with 853 × 480 resolution,

CRT CRT or Crt most commonly refers to: * Cathode-ray tube, a display * Critical race theory, an academic framework of analysis CRT may also refer to: Law * Charitable remainder trust, United States * Civil Resolution Tribunal, Canada * Columbia ...

based sets only capable of

-resolution or

VGA Video Graphics Array (VGA) is a video display controller and accompanying de facto graphics standard, first introduced with the IBM PS/2 line of computers in 1987, which became ubiquitous in the IBM PC compatible industry within three years. T ...

-resolution, 640×480 pixels), much less the higher HD resolution (1920 × 1080), and so were unable to display the HD picture without downscaling to a lower resolution. Industry-sponsored labels such as "Full HD" were misleading as well, as they can refer to devices which do not fulfil some essential requirements such as having 1:1 pixel mapping with no overscan or accepting a 1080p signal. A UK

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

television programme found that separate labels for display devices and TV tuners/decoders confused purchasers, many of whom bought HD-ready equipment expecting to be able to receive HD with no additional equipment; they were sometimes actively misled by salespeople—a 2007

Ofcom The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, internet, telecommunications and mail, postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-rang ...

survey found that 12% were told explicitly that they could view analog SDTV transmissions in HD, 7% that no extra equipment was needed, and 14% that HD-ready sets would receive existing digital SDTV transmissions in HD.BBC1 TV "Rip off Britain" programme transmitted 25 November 2010 at 9:15 On August 30, 2007, 1080p versions of the logos and licensing agreements were introduced; as an improvement to the earlier scheme, "HD TV 1080p" logo now requires "HD ready 1080p" certification.

Requirements and logos

HD ready and HD ready 1080p logos are assigned to displays (including integrated television sets, computer monitors and projectors) which have certain capabilities to process and display high-definition source video signal, outlined in a table below. The HD TV logo is assigned to either integrated

digital television Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using Digital signal, digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television technology which used analog signals. At the time of its development it was considered an ...

sets (containing a display conforming to "HD ready" requirements) or standalone

set-top box A set-top box (STB), also known as a cable converter box, cable box, receiver, or simply box, and historically television decoder or a converter, is an information appliance device that generally contains a Tuner (radio)#Television, TV tuner inpu ...

es which are capable of receiving, decoding and outputting or displaying high-definition broadcasts (that is, include a DVB tuner for cable, terrestrial or satellite broadcasting, a video decoder which supports H.264/MPEG-4 AVC compression in 720p and 1080i signal formats, and either video outputs or an integrated display capable of handling such signals). The HD TV 1080p logo is assigned to integrated digital television sets which have a display conforming to "HD ready 1080p" requirements, a DVB tuner and a decoder capable of processing 1080p signal. In order to be labelled "HD ready 1080p" or "HD Ready" logo, a display device has to meet the following requirements:

References

External links

HD ready official UK website

High Definition Television and Logos - EICTA
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EICTA: Broadcast

License agreement and HD Ready 1080p requirements

HD Ready 1080p press release

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hd Ready Television technology High-definition television Audiovisual introductions in 2005 Symbols introduced in 2005 2005 establishments in the European Union