High Definition Television (HDTV) is a digital broadcast signal that delivers a wide-screen, high resolution picture with six channels of digital sound. 

The most apparent difference between HDTV and conventional television broadcasts is that the High Definition Television screen is much wider. 

The second noticeable difference is that High Definition has over twice the sharpness and clarity of conventional TV broadcasts. The color resolution is also much superior. 

The third significant difference is that the picture imperfections such as snow (weak signal), double images (ghosting or multi-path) and picture sparkles (impulse noise) don't occur with High Definition Television.  

The transition from the conventional television system to the new high definition model began a few years ago.  In the United States, the majority of prime time programming is now being provided in high definition.  The FCC has mandated that all US TV stations broadcast DTV signals by May 2006.

The migration from analog television to high definition television is expected to accelerate as more HDTV programming becomes available and the cost of high definition TV sets fall at a projected rate of 20% per year.