I still don’t want HDTV
I am a gadget freak. I love technology, gadgets, audio and video toys. I am typically the first guy on the block with a new device. I’ve had PVRs since before there were Tivos. I had LaserVision and and flying-rease head VCRs when people were just getting VHS decks. I still have one of the only linear-tracking tone-arm turntables on the market, and that is coupled with a tiny moving coil cartridge instead of a brute force magnetic media cartridge.
I must confess though, that I do not have High Definition Television (HDTV) and I still have no interest in getting HDTV. You see, along with my gadget-freak status I also inherited a keen sense for being scammed. Frankly the whole HDTV marketing push is a scam, shrewedly designed to separate consumers from their money for no additional services.
The key question anyone considering an HDTV purchase should answer is: Where is the High Definition content and is that content something I am interested in seeing?
For me, there is basically still nothing available that I am interested in seeing. Blue Planet on HD Discovery stands out as a notable exception - and that would be amazing… but is it amazing enough to justify thousands of dollars in new gear?
A few sports games are reliably high definition now. Beer commercials are all high definition (hell - the beer companies have figured out how to sneak what looks like HDTV into my old standard definition equipment!). One channel of HBO or Showtime or The Movie Channel is often high definition at least some of the time. PBS is reliably high definition, unless it is one of the really popular shows PBS viewers insist on seeing regardless of source, so it is usually standard definition then.
The fight between HD DVD and Blue Ray is a joke, because no consumers are interested in either format. We are perfectly happy with standard DVDs, and still sorting out the difference between animorphic widescreen and letterboxed or pan and scanned. Most consumers don’t even know the difference between those last three terms. So most DVD sales are now, and will continue to be for some time, standard definition DVDs.
There is a possibility that content off the internet via Democracy and/or iTunes Music Store will change this dramatically, but I consider that remote. Fans like me will pay to bring Terra: The Nature of Our World to high definition screens (still computer for me, at least until my Apple TV gets here); but that is still very little content.
So for now, and for some time to come, I am firmly happy with my standard definition television.
Which means, no need for upconversion, down conversion; no need for HDTV tuners, no need for special expensive and confusingly labeled devices. No need to be scammed.
This entry was posted on Monday, January 22nd, 2007 at 1:20 pm and is filed under Personal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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on January 22nd, 2007 at 2:58 pm
HD Sports.
Some HD broadcast shows on the major 3.
Definitely HD PBS.
on January 23rd, 2007 at 8:45 am
HD Sports
While I agree that if you are a sports fan there is serious merit to the HDTV argument. A lot of sports are in HD now, and you really can see so much more. Be prepared to pay over $1000 more than you would for a standard definition TV setup of the same size picture, but serious sports heads probably are willing.
I am not a sports fan. I love to play some sports, not watch them.
Some HD broadcast shows on the major 3.
The “major 3″ has become an oxymoronic phrase. I have not been interested in anything the so-called major three networks have produced since Barney Miller. Watching reality TV is nauseating, and they stopped investing in quality television a long, long time ago. All the quality moved to cable/satellite years ago. Watching sitcoms does not require HD. The thought of Reality shows in HD makes me ill. I’ll stick to sindicated re-runs of shows they made 10 years ago, thank you, and the stuff coming out on HBO, SciFi, Discovery, and WB.
HD PBS
Ok, you score with this one. Far more of PBS’s programming is HD than the last time I looked, and that is encouraging. The PBS + Nature Show + sporadic movies on HBO/Showtime/Movie_Channel argument does carry some weight now… the question is, is it enough to merit a replacement HDTV, HDtuner/receiver/cable_box, HD-PVR, HD-DVD or Blue-Ray?
on January 24th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
Alright. This one I had to comment on :-))
With channels that you will like and like some of the other comments
1. PBS HD - Can’t wait for Americas Ballroom Challenge!
2. Discovery HD
3. NGC HD
4. Wealth HD
5. MHD (Music Television HD)
to start with.
For someone like me - love the fact that there are sports in HD - not a big draw to you but thats a +1 for HD for me.
Also I decided to kill Netflix since I hardly ever have time for movies - but I do have various movie channels available in HD - and with a DVR that makes HD movies available to me on demand.
Now even all the local channels - which while I mostly agree with you have crap on them - shows such as 24 - I wouldnt watch them without HD any more.
Plus with HD its not just the video content - most audio is delivered with 5.1 or the like!
As far as cost goes - yes it is much more than you will shell out for a regular TV.
But the question is how big do you want to go?
My setup cost just over 1K - and I have HD with a 106″ screen - simple Projector on the wall setup - with a picture far better than any SD box.
Content for HD is increasing at a pretty darn good pace.
My personal opinion is that jumping on the HD bandwagon at this time is much like the deicision to buy a computer at any time - you will always pay more for your hardware than the guy who buys it a week later!
Now the TV hardware you purchase should be 1080p compatible to work with new generation DVD formats.
But these new generation DVD formats - Blu Ray vs. HD DVD - that I agree with you can probably wait while the world still figures out which way they are going to go - and perhaps have that technology become more affordable.
ok Enough ranting on HD. Back to work!