what does NTSC/ATSC/QAM stand for?

Question

looking at flat screen tv's, need to know what all the abbr. mean

Answer 1

NTSC = National Television Standards Council (also widely referred to as Never The Same Colour)
It is the standard TV system in the US and is not compatible with UK or European transmission systems (which use PAL = Phase Alternate Line)

ATSC = Advanced Television Standard Council
a digital format for the USA designed to replace NTSC

QAM = Quadrature Amplitude Modulation. a purely digital transmission format.

Of these, the most important for future use is - in my opinion - ATSC

Answer 2

Ntsc Stands For

Answer 3

simply,

NTSC is what the current broadcasters use for tv 2-13 and 14-83. This is analog broadcasting.

ATSC is what the FCC mandates the broadcasters to use by 2009. This is digital broadcasting. Some tv stations are already broadcasting digitally with ATSC and you can catch those broadcasts with a UHF antenna. For instance in my area, Fox and CBS broadcast the football playoffs in HD and I was able to receive those with an antenna hooked up to my HDTV.

QAM is what some cable companies use to transmit digital TV signals. With a QAM tuner you would be able to receive and unencrypted digital signals your cable provider was sending. However, most cable companies scramble their digital signals so you can only get them via a digital cable box.

Answer 4

NTSC is Low Definition Channels

ATSC is High Definition Channels

QAM is Cable Channels

Simple....isn't it?

Thennnnnnn you get into Native Resolution and 1080 720 540 etc...
Go with 1080 Native Resolution unless your TV is SMALLER than 32 inches....then 720 would be adequate.....

Answer 5

Better off with a Vizio from walmart