Is HDTV's future really that bright?
By Richard Lawler 
posted Sep 20th 2005 5:17PM
posted Sep 20th 2005 5:17PM
Just when I thought I couldn't get any further ahead of the curve, here comes a curveball. At least one person thinks 2006 may not be the year HDTV sweeps the nation, leaving rainbows and sugarplums in its path. Say it ain't so, Joe, say it ain't so. His main complaints:
- No cable ready HD Tivo and the existing HD DVR's are not up to snuff
- Why separate channels for the HD version?
- Commercials still in SD
- Too many different connectors
1. my Scientific Atlanta HD-DVR is pretty awesome. i've never used TIVO, but I understand it makes clicking noises as you fast-forward and that seems anoying.
2. seperate channels is stupid, esp. since TWC puts all HD channels in the 200 range and labels them as the local call letters (i.e. WRAL-HD and WRAL-SD) so its hard to know which one is CBS, NBC, etc.
3. so???? that's why we have DVR
4. how is HDMI is too many connectors?
I am a long-time TiVo user, but now have an SA 8300HD. the interface is not as good, the DVR is not as feature-laden BUT it is dual tuner and in HD. I don't use the TiVo much anymore. IF there was a cable-ready HD TiVo at a reasonable price I'd switch in a heartbeat, but I am satisfied with the Cable DVR.
The screen adjustment is a good point, but I prefer to set MY preference, not some generic preferance. Some folks like to stretch to fit the widscreen, I find it annoying. Choice is good, though confusion IS bad.
Agreed: What's wrong with HD-DVRs? My Hughes works fine, and it's running the TiVo software. I don't care if there are saperate channels for HD, and even though it's a horrible imposition that threatens the very quality of life itself, I can life with SD commercials.
Gregreallyhas no idea what he is talking about. The said part is some one will be looking to decide to buy a HDTV and read his post and think twice. Yes HDTV's future is really bright.
Dang i wish i typed better....
Oh yeah that picture you used in the post was perfect.
I agree with most of the comments already written. My Moxi HD-DVR is a god-sent. The thing works wonderfully and having seperate channels was always a mystery to me but I can delete the other channels off of my list so as they won't show up. HD is not and will not die or even stay at this growth rate. It will excede expectations. Has it not already.
this is very true... I'm in the bay area, freaking' tech capitol of the world, and what do I get? The four broadcast networks, espn, and three show-off hdnets... that's it. I'm on comcast, and it's like, uh..... any cable networks in HD? Do I pay extra for them? How does that work?
Ok...you made one good point, about the cable ready DVR's. It seems that they are all waiting for a thing called Interactive Cable Ready. Cable company threw the current version together to get the FCC out of there hair, If I made PVR's I would wait too. The current version is horrible. On the other topics you are off your rocker....For one I used to sell HDTV's and I spent at least 1 hour every day explaining to customers how to hook up a VCR.....not an HDTV, you must not be properly educated on the connection types and what they are used for...take a trip to your local (privately owned) electronics store buddy.
> but I understand it [Tivo] makes clicking noises as you fast-forward and that seems anoying.
This can be turned on and off in the Tivo setup screen. If you've never used a Tivo, you should try it. The Tivo user interface is amazing and you will be spoiled for life.
Being an OTA guy, I know nothing about HD cable, but I do see all the adds for new TVs with cablecards. Are the cable companies supporting cablecards? Anybody using them?
My TV has a QAM tuner, but no cablecard. Is this useless or what?
And what was the purpose of HDMI anyway? How is it an improvement over DMI? It just seems superfluous, a way to sell more cables!
With that said, look at the Circuit City results yesterday. That POS is making money because of HD. Money doesn't lie, the future of HD is now, and it is bright.
Buzzcut,
Cable cards are a great piece of technology. They allow people to receive the same amount of channels from their cable companies that they would with a cable box. With that being said though, they DO NOT allow for the same futures such as: on screen guide, Pay-per-view, or On-Demand. Eventually they will but not yet. Therefore, some people use them, but the majority do not.
Qam tuners are used to pull in unencyrpided digital cable satations. They also with together with the cable card to pull in all the cable stations as the cable card decrypts and the QAM tunes.
HDMI is a new type of high definition cable that can handle both a 1080p signal plus 7 channels of audio. DVI can only do the video. We are going to have a large article for our buying guide in a few weeks about the different cables HDTV users have to choose from.
I'm not saying that the future of HD isn't bright.
I agree that HD is likely to do very well in the next 12 months. All I'm saying is that I recently purchased and installed an HDTV set in my home and I've run into a number of problems and issues I didn't expect.
The transition may be problematic for some more novice people and it will likely be a few years before many of these issues are ironed out.
Thanks for your comments.
Even you ACE ;)
- Greg Raiz