The Dish Network satellite TV provider is not only one of America's most progressive TV companies but also has a reputation for being at the forefront of the latest technical changes in the provision of programming options. Along with the introduction of plasma and LCD televisions, HDTV (high definition television) programs are becoming more and more popular.

Before 1996 all television was in the Analog format. With the introduction of Digital TV in that year the writing was on the wall for Analog, even though it took almost 13 years for Digital TV to take over completely. In early 2009 broadcasters were compelled by federal law to cease transmission in Analog and to convert to the Digital format. However by this date, most major broadcasters had already converted.

Digital TV (SDTV) gave a superior picture and clearer sound than the out-of-date Analog system. Viewers had a TV viewing experience far in excess of what Analog could ever provide.

However in the years since the start of Digital transmission, television technology has improved even further and now one of the latest features is High Definition TV (HDTV). This again is a vast improvement on its predecessor the SDTV and provides a greatly improved television viewing experience.

HDTV is becoming more and more popular with new television buyers particularly at times when an important sporting event such as the Olympic Games or Super Bowl is due to start. HDTV is particularly suited to sporting events - the movement of an athlete or a ball is crisp and precise. There is no 'shadow' behind the athlete during fast movement.

High definition TV began in the late 90s to much acclaim from the TV experts because of the precise, improved picture clarity and clearer sound. The quality of HDTV cannot be matched by standard definition TV, a point understood by someone seeing HDTV for the first time. Once the superiority of HDTV has been acknowledged, a family will not go back to the inferior SDTV format.

A TV's picture quality is determined by the number of vertical lines needed to make up the picture. Between 480 and 576 lines are used by SDTV. The newer HDTV format uses up to 1080 lines, with the minimum at 720 lines. 1080 lines means the picture quality is up to 5 times better than SDTV. This greatly improved resolution is the reason many families are switching to HDTV.

However to receive high definition reception other factors need to be taken into account in addition to the type of television:

1. A suitable tuner will be needed. This could be incorporated in the TV, or else a set-top box unit may be necessary.

2. An appropriate satellite dish will be needed if the viewer subscribes to a satellite TV provider. Because of the advantages satellite TV has over cable TV, it’s regarded as providing the best HDTV programming viewing.

3. The viewer will need to be signed up to receive HD programs from the TV program provider.

4. The whole system will need to be configured correctly.

The increasing public interest and demand for HDTV is influencing the TV providers, both cable and satellite, to provide an increasing number of HDTV deals and programming options for their subscribers. For example of the two major satellite TV providers, the Dish Network HDTV packages at present provides over 140 channels in HD format, with many planned for the future

Families today are looking for improvements in their life-styles, and the increasing popularity of a home entertainment system with the most up-to-date features is testament to this. The centerpiece of such a system is a HDTV, along with programs from either a satellite TV provider such as Dish Network, or a cable TV company.