High Definition Television

[StirBlue]

Our television manager came on after the midday news and talked about how television reception was going to change in the next couple of years. Apparently older TV's are going to become obsolete. There are many brand name TV's on the market that are ridiculously cheap. Our family room TV bit the dust this year but I don't want to replace it until I know what type of TV that I will need within such a short time.
Does anyone know what the TV manager was talking about? I am guessing high definition was the terminology that he used.

 

[Candocook]

HD has been mandated as the TV that will be broadcast by 2009, I think. It has been moved back several times. You would do well to get a new TV that is HD capable.
You can still watch regular TV shows on an HD--there is a tier of cable channels for HD, if the broadcast (like sports events, etc.) are being actually broadcast in HD. The difference in the picture is quite amazing.
The new TVS are also a different "shape"--more rectangular (long/narrower) which takes a bit of getting used to. But they are mostly flat panel so you don't have that big back to contend with.
HHGregg has a good selection. Costco carries Vizio (or Visio) which our son has researched pretty well and it gets VERY good marks.
So, I would go to a good store and have them explain (for me, VERRRRYYY slowly) what the parameters are. It really isn't just a sales job. It WILL change in a few years.

 

[ncage1974]

Our television manager came on after the midday news and talked about how television reception was going to change in the next couple of years. Apparently older TV's are going to become obsolete. There are many brand name TV's on the market that are ridiculously cheap. Our family room TV bit the dust this year but I don't want to replace it until I know what type of TV that I will need within such a short time.
Does anyone know what the TV manager was talking about? I am guessing high definition was the terminology that he used.

Obsolete? I highly dought it. There are so many people at those best buy/circuit city type places that don't know their butt from a whole in the ground. All TV is going digital. All TV is definitly not going HIGH Def for a LONG LONG TIME. There just is not the bandwidth to do this. What kind of tv are you look for? Do you just want a standard tv say 32in or below or do you want a big screen? Let me know exactly what your looking for and ill try to give you some pointers.

Ncage

 

[ncage1974]

HD has been mandated as the TV that will be broadcast by 2009, I think. It has been moved back several times. You would do well to get a new TV that is HD capable.
You can still watch regular TV shows on an HD--there is a tier of cable channels for HD, if the broadcast (like sports events, etc.) are being actually broadcast in HD. The difference in the picture is quite amazing.
The new TVS are also a different "shape"--more rectangular (long/narrower) which takes a bit of getting used to. But they are mostly flat panel so you don't have that big back to contend with.
HHGregg has a good selection. Costco carries Vizio (or Visio) which our son has researched pretty well and it gets VERY good marks.
So, I would go to a good store and have them explain (for me, VERRRRYYY slowly) what the parameters are. It really isn't just a sales job. It WILL change in a few years.

Actually that is not true. All TV must be digital by 2009. There is a HUGE difference between digital and HD. Digital does not necasarily mean better. HD is definitly better. The country just wants the analog frequencies open for other uses like for the police ect. Otherwise they really wouldn't care. If you are happy right now with your tv picture then don't spend the extra money on high def. High def will cost you more money not only in the tv but in the programming package and on the dvr side too. For example i have a high def setup currently and i only get like 7-9 channels in high def which i rarely watch. Sometimes i turn it to HD Discover so me and my friends can go ohhhhhhhhhhhhh ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh but its going to be a long time before a majority of the channels are in high def.

Ncage

 

[GB]

HD has been mandated as the TV that will be broadcast by 2009

Actually this is incorrect. What you are thinking of is digital TV, not HD. All TV signals will go to digital instead of analog in Feb of 2009. If you have an analog TV then you will not be able to watch anything unless you get a converter which will probably run you about $50 or so.

All HD TV's are digital. Not all digital TV's are HD.

 

[TATTRAT]

Actually this is incorrect. What you are thinking of is digital TV, not HD. All TV signals will go to digital instead of analog in Feb of 2009. If you have an analog TV then you will not be able to watch anything unless you get a converter which will probably run you about $50 or so.

All HD TV's are digital. Not all digital TV's are HD.

+1

This is exactly right.

 

[mish]

Great topic, as I am confused about all the new tech out there. I've been thinking about a new TV, but there's plasma?, HD, digital, big screen... not sure what to buy. Will be following all the good advice here. Question about digital -- do you need a box? or special equipment from the local cable co? Recently I called Time-Warner, and the outgoing message asks to key in my phone #. I did, but reply was something like 'I'm not on file?' Is that because I don't have digital? service? TIA

 

[Yakuta]

Hi Mish, here is an article on the web that I have read before and is very good to clarify some of this jargon we keep hearing about.

Digital TV - A Cringely Crash Course

Also if you are in the market you are most likely comparing the following types of tv's

Plasma
LCD
DLP
Projection
Flat Screen Tube
Old Fashioned Tube

Each of these use different technologies in terms of light projection and hence produce a different picture quality. Some are crisper than others. Some of the older technolgies may not have the ability to receive High Definition signals (example old tubes) so you have to pay attention to whether they are HD compatible or not.

HD picture quality while good is nothing you cannot live with. I have Dish Network and they have atleast 15 HD channels and yes the picture is crisper and sharper but my husband who is a technology freak appreciates it more than me (Irony is that I work in IT and am also up to speed on it but just not as passionate about it as he is )

 

[GB]

For Hi Def your choices are plasma, lcd, and dlp. Plasma and LCD are the very think screens that can be mounted on the wall. Generally for screens larger than 42 inches you would be looking at a plasma and for the 42 and under screens you would be looking at an LCD. Both have advantages disadvantages. Plasma, for instance, is supposed to be better with fast moving images (think fast paces sports, car chases, etc.), but a negative is that they are susceptible to screen burn in. That is where an image actually burns into the screen and you see a shadow of it always. From what I understand they are making a lot of progress in getting that to not happen though.

I do not really know much about DLP.

I have an LCD. I spent a lot of money to get the TV of my dreams. We got a 40 inch Sony XBR2. I looked at plasma and lcd and this was by far the most amazing TV I ever had seen. High Def is mind blowing. Especially on Discovery shows with lots of nature. You feel like you are right there.

To get a feel for the differences between hi def and regular TV just go to a TV store. They will have demos running and you will be able to see the difference right away.

 

[shpj4]

The televisions of the future will go through digital instead of analog. I don't think that it will happen until at least 2009.

 

[mudbug]

Here we go again. Just when we had perfected our collection of albums, they went to 8-track tapes. Then they had to go to cassettes. Then they had to go to CDs. Now they have these Blue (Blu-?) ray things.

All I know is we are not pitching the perfectly good regular TVs we have until they burn out. OK, I'll buy a box to keep them going whenever they switch to digital or orbital or whatever.

Just please don't do away with the old equipment just yet. Some of my favorite movies are still only on VCR, and I still have to find David Bromberg's "How Late'll You Play Till?" and Norman Blake's "Whiskey Before Breakfast" on CD before the next shiny new death-ray gizmo comes out.