A tech HDTV question

[Ontir]

I'm assuming that the HD standard is now the same internationally, so an HD telecast from Britain should be viewable directly on an American HDTV, but there's always a chance that the daft buggers who came up with that annoying region coding have done something similar for HDTV. Does anyone know conclusively what the standard is, internationally?

[the goddamn batman]

It's gotta be the same... though, here, local channels vary. Say, Channel 5 will be 1080p while Channel 7 will be 720p...

But DVD's are all the same. It's not like the UK version of The Dark Knight Blu Ray is 1075.6p or something. We're just talking screen resolutions, right? They've got to be all the same.

Right?

[Ontir]

Yeah, the resolutions are the same, but a UK "Dark Knight" won't generally play in a US DVD player because of region coding. I'm wondering if there's something similar in the broadcasting. If not, then a rooftop HD antenna might be able to bring in the BBC, Channel 4 and ITV here in the US.

[StoneGold]

Region coding is separate from what you're talking about. If you're just talking about purely dealing with resolution, the PAL vs. NTSC thing is over when it comes to HD sets. However, you still may have issues with your player trying to play the content, or region coding, which is an entirely separate issue from the old television standards issue.


But rereading what you wrote, if you're just talking about pirating a Divx/mkv copy of Doctor Who from the other night, you'd be fine, anyway.

[StoneGold]

Yeah, the resolutions are the same, but a UK "Dark Knight" won't generally play in a US DVD player because of region coding. I'm wondering if there's something similar in the broadcasting. If not, then a rooftop HD antenna might be able to bring in the BBC, Channel 4 and ITV here in the US.

I think the curve of the earth might defeat you there.

[Ontir]

I don't see why. People used to use big ol' dish antennas and get old-school TV signals from all over.