HDTV technology

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HDTV you want to buy, a HDTV, I say you don’t need it. Having one will not improve the quality of you life one by measly-ass point. I guess its ok if you are rich. To find out if you are rich enough, if you buy gadgets without having to know the price of it then you are rich enough.

I'm not a big TV watcher, and I don't think there's anything out there being broadcasted that entices me to buy and watch it on a television costing in the thousands. I certainly agree with you on that one...watching television will certainly not improve your life...in fact, it usually makes it worse! Not only because it gives you a warped perspective on what real life is, but also because watching TV is a solitary activity devoid of physical or mental exersize, and there' s no social interaction with it eather. It's better to find a hobby, or get up and out and do something!

Still, even though I don't like watching TV very much, I still enjoy the technology. I guess the same reason a sport fisherman fishes. I enjoy designing, installing, setting up, and operating audiovisual technology. Owning it or not is immaterial. So, to satisfy my enjoyment of working with the technology, I got a job doing just that! Of course, I don't tell my customers that television is bad and there's nothing worth watching, or I wouldn't have the enjoyment of setting up some really cool multimedia systems!

The HDTV technology is great, and I love the clear pictures that look like one can just reach through the screen. There's all sorts of different display technologies on the market today from the old tube TV's to plasmas, LCD's, projectors, DLP's you name it. It's an exciting time to be in this industry! Lots of changes going on, and lots of new stuff coming out! ...I'm just glad I'm not the one wasting the money on something that's gonna be obsolete in a few years! Still, people love the stuff, and I have no problem making it look really good!

My favorite though is building the TV studios. My company has done several HDTV studios and stations over the past few years. The professional video cameras, and editing equipment is really neat stuff. If anything, I like making and editing my own TV shows, especially because I just enjoy putting my hands on the technology and using it to work for me! My problem is that I don't have much creative story writing in me, so I hafta leave the scripting up to others!

As far as I know, in 2207, all commercial channels have to be in HDTV form...

Kind regards,
Chris

By 2207 I think that HDTV will be an antiquated, and long obsolete format. relegated primarily to History Museums

However, by 2007, all commercial broadcasts in the USA at any rate, will be in digital format as proscribed by the FCC. In order to watch the new format on regular TV sets, you will need a D/A Converter box.

Oh, I just realised what I typed. Stupid me.

By 2007, all TV stations must be broadcasting a DIGITAL feed...their old analog NTSC transmitters though will still be able to transmit until 2009.

There's a little bit of confustion with HDTV, and Digital TV. These two terms are used interchangably, but they are NOT the same!! ! Digital TV, or the technical term, ATSC broadcasting is necessary to deliver an HTDV picture, but not all Digital TV / ATSC broadcasts are in HDTV. There are several different video resolutions that can be transmitted. For most simple stuff like newscasts and things, they will probably be in standard definition. Most stations are using HDTV resolutions for their prime-time shows though.

Here's a rundown of the terms:

NTSC: Classic analog broadcasting method, been around since the 50's, only delivers standard definition at 480i
ATSC: The broadcasting format to deliver high-definiteion and digital television. transmits televison, sound, and other information as binary computer data.
Digital TV: a more common way of talking about ATSC
HDTV: The highest resolutions of digital / ATSC television. Usually designating 720P, 1080i, and 1080P resolutions

What to buy: If you're concerned about the future compatibility of the TV set you wish to buy, make sure it has an ATSC digital tuner in it. TV's advertised as "High definition, or HDTV ready" means that what you have is a high definition televion, but not a DIGITAL television! You will need an external tuner to watch digital television programming on it.

If you're not concerned about compatibility, you can just buy an ATSC tuner for around $100. You will NEED one of these after 2009 to recieve television off the air. CATV companies, will still continue to broadcast analog signals for quite some time. Check with your provider for when they will change over. They will usually provide you with the proper decoder box for their system without you needing to buy anything. Satellite TV companies are ALREADY broadcasting in digital, so no change will be necessary to your setup. In order to receive satellite HDTV however, you will need an HDTV satellite box. Both Dish and DirectTV both offer these right now if you choose to get an HDTV (does NOT need to be an ATSC digital TV, since the satellite box is doing the tuning and decoding)

Yes, I know it's confusing. IN fact, I've heard there's even going to be a government subsidy to give everyone vouchers to buy ATSC tuners so they can receive digital TV stations on their old TV's! Don't you just love Washington!! !

They just came out with HD Radio in the US (Been in England for awhile I believe) within the past couple of years. Sounds really good. AM sounds like FM. FM sounds like a CD and can have sub channels with more programming.

Only problem is it trashes the analog signals. AM stations will have a hiss noise on regular radio so say if a station is on 560 it will be a LOUD hiss on 550 and 570 and faint to moderate hiss anywhere from 530-590

FM HD makes the processing sound poopy.

It also causes a tough delay. I can get 2 Radio Disney AMs here. 1 WRDZ La Grange and 2 WKSH Sussex (Chicag/Milwaukee) WRDZ is in AM stereo, but haven't converted to HD. WKSH is HD. WKSH is delayed a good 30 seconds behind WRDZ and the Radio Disney network.

Radios still aren't much available yet. The ones that are cost 2-300 bucks. At its current state, the only people that would really invest in a HD Radio would be radio nerds like me.


As for HD TV, I don't like the fact that the FCC is mandating it. By making all the analog stations go off the air in 2009, they are basically trashing people's TVs. Luckally, I have cable.

They just converted a few analog stations to digital on my cable system. (You have to have a cable box as expected) They just recently added their first HD-2 channel (WTMJ's NBC Weather Plus)

and as for HDTVs, they still are WAY too expensive and show little sign of coming down in price.

Dtv uses 720x480 as the min. size. Will work on a ntsc tv screen like d-cable and d-sat uses now only over the air. Basicly a dumb viewing term with a tuner with d to a box . For a real d-tv it uses a display has it's own processer and ram a smart viewing term. As for the hdtv type it's matter of a screen type and viewing size. the analog hdtv that uses a analog tuner has been around awhile now. what's new is d-hdtv with a processer and ram. See this site about a interface that use plug from air/sat/dvr/cable/dvd/cam to a smart hdtv viewer term.
http://www.hdmi.org/

What have I done, I shouldn't have got you started.

There are quite a few HD versions of channels on sky digital here,sky movies is one group of channels with HD,can't think of any others and don't have my box on at the moment.

I don't want a HDTV,I'd like one of those big LCD TVs if I ever want to get a new TV [as if I could afford one anyway].

Not necessarily,there are people with credit and store cards and with no real sense of value,common cause of debt.

There are LCD HDTVs, you know. Of course for now, the HDTV aspect of it is optional. PS: Most of the smaller LCD sets I've seen look absolutely horrible on analog. That's part of why I favor plasma.