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Digital television has moved from some cool futuristic concept to a product that will become part of the consumer electronics mainstream before the end of this century.
With a format and specifications in place, broadcasters and manufacturers are working in earnest so that commercial broadcasts can begin sometime in 1998.
Gary J. Shapiro, president of the Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association, contends that "HDTV will be to the late 1990s what the VCR was to the 1980s-a must-have product that can sell at a premium price."
ATV products are likely to fall into two categories, at least at first, HDTV and standard ATV.
HDTV will feature a 16:9 screen and 1080 lines of resolution, and likely will not be built in screen sizes below 28 inches. The sets will be offered in direct cathode ray tube (like today's standard TVs), front and rear CRT projection, front and rear LCD projection, LCD flat panels and plasma discharge flat panels.
Standard ATV sets will look much like today's 4:3 sets, but with clearer pictures. Some may offer higher resolution than the current 500 to 700 standard in NTSC sets, but the price, and screen sizes, will generally be smaller.
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