There is a class of digital television that is getting a lot of press right now. HDTV is the highest DTV resolution in the new set of standards . This combination creates a stunning image with stunning sound. HDTV requires new production and transmission equipment at the HDTV stations as well as new equipment for reception by the consumer. Of the eighteen DTV formats, six are HDTV formats five of which are based on progressive scanning and one using interlaced scanning.
Stations are free to choose which formats to broadcast.
In an interlaced format, the screen shows every odd line at one scan of the screen, and then follows that up with the even lines in a second scan. For smaller screens this is less noticeable. As screens get large the problem with interlacing is flicker. This provides for a much smoother picture, but uses slightly more bandwidth. Compression software, very similar to what is used in personal computing, allows this to happen.