DVB or analog?

Click the picture first (left) before reading further on. Only then you can clearly see the difference between the two shots. Both are captured on a Apple computer monitor. They both originate from the same broadcasted program by a local TV station (VRT een, in Belgium) but the sharper one (top) has been rendered from decoding the VRT's Digital 'over the air' signal (DVB-Digital Video Broadcasting) whereas the second is decoded from the station's analog signal distributed via the local TV cable company. I actually used a Miglia TVMini decoder for the 'over the air' signal and an EyeTV USB for the cable signal.

The difference in quality is a few orders of magnitude without the shadow of a doubt. However, to experience the better quality of digital vs. analog distribution you need to own one of these flat panel TVs supporting 720p (HD Ready) or 1080p (Full HD). Either one is OK. Should you use one of the older TVs with no HD support, you will hardly notice any difference between the two. Even more, both shots would look a lot worse the the bottom one.

The point I am trying to make is the following. Here in Europe, since almost a year we have had a tsunami of new HDTV sales, anywhere you look around. Most folks spend the money and buy the panels but they have no clue how to take advantage of the goodies. You see, 95%+ of all European broadcasts are non HD. Cable companies offer digital (MPEG) distribution of TV programs in standard PAL resolution via the Cable but you need a set-top box for decoding those. Few stations offer free over the air DVB broadcasts. The sales argument used by Cable companies, as they are trying to sell you their digital decoders, is focused mainly on the extra channels/programs and on the ability to time-shift live programs. Nobody really talks about the difference in picture quality demonstrated by the shots here above. Pathetic!

The moral of the story is that you should normally not go out to buy a new TV until either of two things take place... a) your old TV implodes and finds its way to the junkyard or b) your favorite channels start broadcasting in HD and you got some extra pennies to spare. In any case your best choice will be without doubt a flat HDTV panel. It's stupid to buy anything else nowadays. So, the thought for the day is this: since you've decided to go buy the latest and brightest HDTV, then don't be stingy... just give a few more drachmas and buy one of the Cable Company's digital decoders. Trust me, the quality improvement that you'll experience is at least equal or even better compared to standard DVD quality (remember the shot above).

You also get an additional bonus when you buy one of those digital decoders that can record live programmes. With traditional VHS, first generation copies were a mess, second gen were for the dogs... (60 % of original quality lost, trust me... I know). With today's direct to hard disk digital recorders offered by some cable decoders the quality of the recorded content is IDENTICAL (for all practical purposes) to the live broadcast! Incroyable mais vrais as the Italians would say.

And then, when the real HD arrives, you will even see some more improvement, which is welcome too. Problem is... here in Europe we always want to plan changes in infrastructure thoroughly... and we are taking our time. In the US competition rules and there are hundreds of HD broadcasts over the entire nation. Here, we are still doing... experiments. Eventually, our grandschildren will enjoy high quality HD programmes while we'll be counting stars (and in this country, raindrops) from our graves...