HDTV vs color television

[OvenMaster]

Originally Posted by RVonse

You won't see much difference at 27". You'll start to see somewhat more difference between the formats at 48-60".... So if your only goal is to only watch at 27" then I agree with you that the difference would not be worth a massive premium.

I wholeheartedly agree. Large-screen HDTV's do look somewhat better. My problem is that I have a very small house. I simply do not have room for anything bigger than a 27" screen. I'd imagine that most people who live in small houses or apartments will be in the same situation.

Tom

[Sandy G]

Frenchy- Crime Story ?!? Awww, man, I KNEW there was a reason I like you !! I LOVED that show-I dunno what I liked the best, The women-they were about all a tad on the trashy side-Yeah, baby !, the cars, the music, or the fact about all the guys that played on it were UGLY-at least for TV-they looked like regular people. I loved the episode when Paulie takes Ray into the desert to hide-and almost gets incinerated in an A-bomb test...or any of the episodes that had Joseph Wisemam (Manny Wisebord) in 'em...And of course, who could fergit the opening/closing theme-a totally kick-ass version of "Runaway" by Del Shannon. Natcherly, since I liked that show, it had to die an early death...whereas dreck like "Friends" goes on forever and ever...-Sandy G.

[frenchy]

[QUOTE=vintagecollect]HDTV looks greatest on smaller screen as pixels are closer together as so does NTSC. 1 year ago Sears had a $500 HDTV, 25" or 27" that had one of the BEST HD pictures I had ever seen for TWO important reasons over sets costing ten times as much. Screen size was big enough to watch, but NOT too large to dilute high definition picture qualities. Two, this was a direct view CRT that cannot be rivaled in Contrast, shapness , and brightness(DLP rear projection sets are close but no cigar), also limited viewing angle of DLP set. >>>

I have a Hitachi rear projection with the 3 crts in it, 51 inch (same crts and chassis that were in their 65 inch set so it is PLENTY bright on this sucker). It also lets you dial in the convergence of the beams perfectly with an electronic grid you can tweak, can basically make it perfect.
While a small screen and a large screen might be able to both create 1080i HDTV, I wanted a big screen to get the full effect at normal viewing distance. If I'd gottem a little 27 incher, I'd have had to set 3 feet away from the screen to even be able to pick out the detail that was there. And if I didn't sit that far, it would be too small for the picture to have any impact whether it was HDTV detail or not.

[Pete Deksnis]

There's another parallel between early color and HDTV. Don't recall exactly in the early '60's when the Tonight Show went color, but last Monday Letterman went true HD (1920 x 1080i). Probably there were not many viewers for either advanced-format startup; he joked that eight or so were seeing him in HD. His show has been taped in HD for about two years, but not broadcast that way till now... maybe they wanted a backlog of shows to rebroadcast? The only advantage to HD were some jaw-dropping outdoor shots of Broadway, IMO.

[NowhereMan 1966]

Originally Posted by bobgary

I'd actually like to see what HDTV looks like, as my Sony Wega has the ability to display the HDTV resolutions. Unfortunately, I'd have to buy an HDTV tuner and antenna. I'm also in a "fringe" area, quite a distance from the transmitter, so the antenna would have to be mounted high, and that would cost a lot. As an alternative, my cable company offers HD content. But from what I've read, the HD off of cable isn't the same as OTA HDTV, so it wouldn't be the same. So no HDTV for me right now.

But Frenchy is right, perhaps it isn't that the TV content has gotten bad, but one moves out of that "target audience" that the 5th Avenue execs spend so much time studying and predicting. I have no interest in "reality television" - people stranded on islands, amateur talent shows, or getting hired and fired by Donald Trump. Most of the sit-coms today are just annoying to watch. It's all about dumb sexual innuendos. The "news" shows which claim to offer in-depth analysis of serious subjects are nothing more than voyeurism. I'm not interested in hearing how some kid shot his grandmother in the head so that he could buy a bag of crap. If you want to read about when your favorite TV show went bad, check out Jump The Shark.

Yeah, I know what you mean, I don't like to watch a lot of new stuff on TV, although I admit I have a guilty pleasure of watching CBS' Survivor, but reality TV beyond that just blows chunks. I saw an HDTV set at our local Comcast cable TV place and the picture is not as good as what I get on our current set, a 1982 Zenith System 3 25" model, then again, I'm terminally nearsighted so take that as you will. I do dislike how a lot of TV today is nothing but dumb sex jokes and insipid humor. I do like Cartoon Network's "Adult Swim" with its parodies on the old Hana-Barbera cartoons.

[frenchy]

Originally Posted by Pete Deksnis

Monday Letterman went true HD (1920 x 1080i). Probably there were not many viewers for either advanced-format startup; he joked that eight or so were seeing him in HD. His show has been taped in HD for about two years, but not broadcast that way till now... maybe they wanted a backlog of shows to rebroadcast? The only advantage to HD were some jaw-dropping outdoor shots of Broadway, IMO.

That, and now you can actually count how many hairs Dave has left >(: o)
I haven't watched Letterman in maybe 6 months, but just happened to turn it on on that very Monday and boom there he was in HD.
Only thing I would suggest is they maybe zoom in on him and his guest a bit more.

[frenchy]

Originally Posted by vintagecollect

IT HAS GOT TO BE NTSC backward compatible for this reason. Most will be reluctant probaly since just spent money for HDTV conversion. ANY standard will be abandoned if costs public too much/ not feasable anyways.

"No one expects the public to junk the more than 30 million monochrome sets now in our homes just because color television is available..."

- W. H Buchsbaum, Corlor TV Servicing, 1955

Actually I believe HDTV is catching on MUCH faster in sales than color TV did, and color WAS backwards compatible.

[oldtvman]

I agree with a lot of things you guys say, but for those of you who lived way back when, the distractions that exist today were non-existant back then, most families had one television the world outside television at the time was the movies, radio and a few events such as local sporting events, but for most of us kids we were left up to what we could invent to do, so I say that is why color back then for me was such an amazing event. Sure I watch HDTV, but there is also dvd's, computers, 500 channel cable systems, and so on and so on. I guess the magnitude of color back then with the intense hard core engineering was a marvel for the time.

[oldtvman]

I forgot back then you watched what was in color, now if you dont like what's on in hd, you can throw in a dvd and get a very good picture

[3Guncolor]

Color at the time was much bigger then HD is today. People liked HD but it is no big deal.
Too many other channles and choices. Remember at the time a lot of citys only had 2 or 3 channels.

[uofmtiger]

I have no desire to see HDTV. If the programming was worth something, I may rethink that. As long as the nets are shoveling shit, my sets will be showing DVD's of Archie Bunker, Hogan's Heroes, etc

HDNET showed Hogans Heros in HD for months. You would have been in heaven.

Actually I believe HDTV is catching on MUCH faster in sales than color TV did, and color WAS backwards compatible.

My cable box will show the same HD broadcast on my analog TV (via coax) as it will on my HDTV (via HDMI, component, or firewire). Obviously, the program is downscaled somehow over the coax output, but it does seem to be backward compatible.

and in my mind there is little comparison between the excitment of seeing color tv for the first time vs seeing digital television, keep in although the picture quality has improved, the program material has not, i still wonder why I spend the money I do to subscribe to directv with 160 channels and nothing on.

While I can't argue with how it felt to get color because it has been around my entire life, I bet many people said "why do I need color? I have Andy Griffith, Dick Van Dyke, and The Three Stooges in B&W."

For me, HDTV makes a bigger impact when watching movies. HDNet has converted 35mm film to HD specs with great results. Seeing movies like(the original) "Oceans 11" in HD is truly awe inspiring. Then when you have movies like "Winged Migration", "Blade Runner", etc.. (on this month) it is worth gathering around the TV for a Friday night at the movies.

In my eyes, an even greater impact is made with sports in HD. The widescreen shows more of the game and everything is in perfect focus. If you have ever watched one football game in HD and then switched to standard broadcasting, you would truly appreciate what HDTV brings to the table.

Is it a more exciting change than color? I have no idea, but I do know that people spend more time in front of the TV nowadays (for xbox, dvds, cable TV, etc..), so more people may appreciate the change.

[andy]

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[uofmtiger]

I'm sure everything will be worked out eventually, but it will be many years before we have the equivalent of a HDTV VHS deck.

Actually, they are already out and I own one. They can playback DVHS tapes and record HD over a firewire connection. I have a new cable box that has a hard drive for time shifting and a firewire output for dropping to HD VHS tape (or SVHS tape after modification). This is the best of both words.

In retrospect, if I had to make a choice, I prefer a hard disc Tivo-like ability over tape. I had the choice a while back when a company called 169time was making it possible (and still is) to record HD programming from Directv or Dish via a modified satellite box. Directv also had a HDTivo available that could not be modified. I picked the HDTivo because it is much more convenient and easier to use than VHS. Actually, for my life, Tivo/PVRs are even more important than HDTV. I do not want the TV to decide my schedule and the 30 second skip is a real time saver.

For OTA signals, it is very easy to record even without a cable box. All you need is a HDTV Wonder card on your computer and you can record off the air directly to your computer.

[uofmtiger]

There's a big push to copy protect TV so that you can't record it.

Forgot to add that cable providers have already signed the "plug n play" mandate that allows for recording off of firewire. Firewire will probably not be available on the new HD DVD recorders, but it is possible to record HDTV if you have a firewire enabled cable box and a DVHS recorder.

For starters, the fact that there will be two incompatible formats is a big mistake

Could not agree more! I have heard that the two camps have been in talks to discuss using one format, but it may not (and probably will not) happen. I have a lot of HD content available to me all of the time via local networks and HD cable/satellite channels. I would love HD DVD, but I will not be adopting the format for a long time. I want to let the fight play out for a while first.

[oldtvman]

Frenchy the first HD picture I ever seen was at the consumer electronics show in Chicago in the 1980's it was a 70" Panasonic dsplay the picture was very good