HD Radio

HD Radio offers a new and better way to broadcast radio programs. The "HD" in HD radio is a trademarked brand name that's given by its developer and that doesn't stand for anything. HD Radio technology is developed without any intention to replace traditional FM and AM radio broadcast. HD Radio is currently being broadcast along with conventional FM and AM signals.

The main difference of HD Radio compared to Amplitude Modulation (AM) and Frequency Modulation (FM) is the form of signal that it uses to carry information. Both AM and FM signals are analog radio waves while HD Radio signals are in the compressed digital form.

HD Radio Features

Digitizing radio broadcast has provided a lot of improvements to sound quality and broadcast signal quantity. With an HD radio, sounds produced are a lot better in quality as compared to conventional radio broadcast. AM and FM signals carry little amount of information. HD Radio signals carry a lot more. More information-carrying capability means better sound quality.

If one is familiar with audio and video compression, he should be able to understand why HD Radio produces better sounds that traditional AM and FM broadcast. One usually sees videos and audio with the same content and length but with different sizes. Once these files are played or viewed, one immediately notices the difference in quality between the two. The larger file plays better that than the smaller one. The smaller file has been reduced to a form where it only contains enough information to be viewed fairly.

Aside from better sound quality, HD Radio has multicasting or multiplexing capability. Multicasting refers to the ability of HD radio to carry multiple channels in one frequency. For example, if one tunes in to a certain radio frequency and this frequency is multicasting, the HD Radio will tell you so. One could then access the other channels on the said frequency through a separate dial on the HD Radio.

In addition to this, HD Radio also has the ability to carry information like text that could display song data, lyrics and many more options through the HD Radio display.

How HD Radio Works

There is very little difference between how HD radio and conventional radio work. A radio station is contracted to broadcast both HD and conventional radio signals. Once a radio station agrees to broadcast HD signals, it is then required to transmit both digital and analog audio broadcast. The digital signal passes through a computer system which compresses digital information. The analog signal is broadcast unaffected by the compression. Both signals are then transmitted at the same time. During broadcast, digital signals for HD Radio are less prone to interference, reflections and dropout. This eliminates the static and hissing sound from the audio produced.

Conventional radio is not equipped with the capability to receive HD Radio signals. Thus, to be able to enjoy the benefits of HD Radio one should purchase an HD Radio receiver. This receiver lets one enjoy FM, AM and HD Radio broadcast.