May not be HD compatible
For a country that prides itself on our high-tech superiority. our populous’ technical literacy is on par with its declining scientific literacy. While admittedly Best Buy — never one to let truth or fairness get in the way of selling an extended warranty — might have ulterior motives in sponsoring this survey, it sure feels right.
Survey Says: Best Buy Says You Don’t Know What You’re Doing With HD
Best Buy hired a firm to take a survey of the state of the American public’s knowledge of HDTV, and sad results are in. You don’t know what the hell is going on with your television.
Half of HDTV owners who responded to Best Buy’s survey “admit they are either not watching HD programming, or they aren’t sure if they are. Of these respondents, 35% didn’t realize they needed to subscribe to HD programming to watch HDTV.” Ok, this is sad. Just… sad.
The survey also suggested that ignorance about how to set up the HDTV was a source of embarrassment:
“While 41% of HDTV owners admit to knowing little to nothing at all about HD, they would not want to admit that to friends and family; Half (52%) of HDTV owners agree it would be difficult to admit their HDTV wasn’t set up right after showing off to friends and family. ”
The unsurprising news is that this survey is essentially a sales pitch for Best Buy’s overpriced cables and installation packages—both of which you can skip, along with the extended warranty… if you know what you’re doing.
Obviously, many people don’t, so do us a favor. Tell a friend everything you know about HDTV.
how long are you going to marvel at the amazing picture detail?
I get the chills when I hear a well-recorded CD, especially if all I’ve heard before is the same music as an mp3 or on the radio. But in the end it’s like anything else, you get used to it. And also, it’s now impossible to buy non-HDTV sets so we have no choice.
FWIW when ESPN broadcasts HD….my 8-year old Dish receiver and 10-year old 36″ Sony tube (with S-Video, baby! LOL) provides an outstanding image…way better than anything I’ve seen before on this system. Finally, the broadcasters are using the full capabilities of NTSC. And it’s a lot better than most of you HD fans might imagine. But yeah, it’s not “HD.”
#30 – Max Exter
“Nobody is likely to argue this point.”
Au contraire, mon frere. Many do.
“The question is, when you are watching TV how long are you going to marvel at the amazing picture detail?”
Who said anything about “marveling at” it? Once the new wears off – as with TVs larger than 12″, color, flat CRTs, etc, etc – you then proceed to enjoy the newer, higher res that you have. You accept it.
“Odds are that unless you’re watching crap, it won’t be for very long.”
Well, I don’t watch crap. They’re not built for watching crap. But they are sold to anyone who comes up with the purchase price, and that means that people who have no taste will also buy them. So what? How does that affect me? I watch what I choose, the tasteless sheeple are not in control of my viewing…
I can watch T5E, Coppola’s Dracula, Blade Runner, A Clockwork Orange, Sleepy Hollow, Aeon Flux, Babel… and on and on. All more than worthwhile motion picture art, and all more enjoyable in 1080p.
…or are you one of those who refused to buy a color TV until the BBC went color?
“Aside from higher definition, in what way is the viewer experience improved?”
Considering that ‘high definition’ is not only the point of the tech, it’s even the NAME – what kind of question is that?
A visual medium which provides more visual detail is, objectively, by definition, a superior medium. The fact that technology can be used for trivial purposes is no reflection on the technology itself. Because someone else buys an HD set and watches Norbert on it doesn’t make HD sets any less than what they are.
• • • • • •
#31 – RBG
“I would think that the extra electronics the SD must travel through would add to picture noise and degradation.”
Well then, try not to think. In an ANALOG signal chain, each stage adds some degree of noise and distortion to the signal; HD is a digital bitstream, and at no point does analog noise get introduced into that digital signal. 0s and 1s in, the same string of 0s and 1s out.
>>I can watch T5E, Coppola’s Dracula, Blade Runner, A
>>Clockwork Orange, Sleepy Hollow, Aeon Flux, Babel…
Wow! Holy shit! You are obviously one sophisto-fucking-cated son of a bitch! And after those six shows…..Norbert? The Daily Show? Dancing with the Stars?
I prefer to save my money for Real Life things to do. There’s no resolution higher than that. I saw Blade Runner in Super Duper High Def (at the movie theater) and on a plain old 10-yr-old Sony TV, and the experience was just the same.
I guess my tastes just aren’t as highbrow as yours. On the other hand, I’m not a “kept man” with my older paramour paying my bills.
To each their own.
I am as concerned about the English literacy of the populace as I am about the tech literacy of the “populous”.
MM – you want me to keep on listing movies? I don’t watch TV – I download the Simpsons and, until it was cancelled, Veronica Mars. I have more than enough fine films to keep my TV busy for a long time, and when I feel like the outdoors, I also have this amazing new invention which gives me 24/7 access to “real life” – it’s called a ‘door.’
“… and on a plain old 10-yr-old Sony TV, and the experience was just the same.”
Well, excuse the living shit outta me for not possessing a lack of discrimination on a par w/ yours. Mebbe I’ll go hit myself in the head with a hammer for a little while, so I won’t offend you by committing the unforgivable sin of having taste or intelligence…
“On the other hand, I’m not a “kept man” with my older paramour paying my bills.”
Me, neither. I just get paid well for taking care of the day-to-day issues that well-off people pay people like me to take care of – which is one of the perks of being well-off. I’m sensing a lotta class resentment and ‘sour grapes’ there, old chum. 😉
>>Veronica Mars
Veronica Mars??? OMG, that is SO gay! I don’t think you have to worry about committing the sin of having taste or intelligence for your TV viewing habits, m’hijito. And even if you did, God would for give you.
>>I just get paid well for taking care of the day-to-day issues that
>>well-off people pay people like me to take care of
As I said 😉
>>I’m sensing a lotta class resentment and ’sour grapes’ there,
>>old chum.
Au contraire, mon frere. (Hey, I’m a poet and I didn’t know it!). If you were in the same class as me, you’d be paying others to take care of day-to-day issues, rather than doing the taking-care-of for older women.
In any case, you stick with Veronica Mars and the Simpsons in $5999 high-definition. I’ve got a Real LIfe to live 🙂 🙂
A few things
HD signals at stores tend to suck. They distribute the same signal anywhere from 10 to 100 times and it is never adjusted properly from set to set. Even though the signal is digital it does degrade and it leads to pixelazation. Anyone who has owned an HDMI cable over 25 feet will know what I mean.
If you cant see the quality difference you are either blind, not paying attention, or are probably looking at a cheap crap tv. Sometimes the saying “You get what you pay for” does hold true. A “truly” good HDTV cost anywhere from $3500 to $100,000. The sub $1000 and the $2500 TV can look nice but they are not the best picture quality. If you ever get a chance take a look close up at a Pioneer Elite with a Blue ray attached and calibrated against one of the sub $1000 and $2500 sets. You cant miss the difference. I wont even mention some of the more expensive projection units because those are simply out of reach for most people.
As far as Monster cable. I see all the time people talking crap about the price of the cables. I agree they are expensive but if you are running 10 ft or more you should make the plunge. I went through 4 different cable manufactures and none delivered the image quality I would expect from a digital 1.3 HDMI signal. If you are 10 ft and under go with the Logitech 10ft HDMI cable it is a very well constructed cable for $50
Cable and Sat broadcasters do such a bad job at compression of the signals that If I can get a movie on HD DVD or Blu Ray I do.
>>A “truly” good HDTV cost anywhere from $3500 to $100,000.
Better you than me, suckah.
>>If you ever get a chance take a look close up at a Pioneer Elite with
>>a Blue ray attached and calibrated against one of the sub $1000
>>and $2500 sets. You cant miss the difference.
Oh, I’m sure it’s a nice crisp picture. However, Veronica Mars is still Veronica Mars, whether you watch it on a TV set that costs $199 or one that costs $100,000.00.
Shit in high-def is still shit. At least with the SD version, you don’t have to see all the herpes scars and pimples on the porn actresses’ bits. And cartoons like the Simpsons, while amusing, are every bit as good on a 1969 Philco as they are on the latest bleeding-edge gizmo. So maybe you have to dick around a little with the tint control. Who really cares what color Bart’s hair is “in real life”?
#40, no, about Monster. Buy them off of eBay, the generics. Never buy Monster cables at retail, no matter what the distance.
If you really want the Monster brand, eBay can be 50% cheaper, because some employee working at the Distributor level buys an extra pallet.
Remember the store at least doubles the price, half that profit to the store, half to the sales clerk. On average, corruption may vary from chain/store.
I’ve used generic HDMI 25′ gold tipped between my laptop and my HDTV with NO LOSS just as sharp using a 6′, no ghosting, and paid 14.99 or some such figure, instead of 150$.
#29 – Hop – and moss – thank you for telling the neo-Luddites what’s what….
….When you’d bother to see what 1080p Blu-Ray looks like on a true HD set, done right, most of you would hush up about it… and start counting your pennies. 😉
I disagree with you and Hop and Moss… You are right that HD most certainly does look better when set up right… But it cost too much and I don’t give a shit who wins The Amazing Race (is that show even on anymore.
I got a big box from New Egg today which says I am not a Neo-Luddite all over it.
I’m not anti-TV, but I don’t own because I just don’t care. But my PC can eat your PC for breakfast and that matters to me…
See I’m just a lazy a couch potato as you. It’s just that you like to sit on your ass and watch other people do things. I like to sit on my ass and do things myself. 😉
The sad truth is that is that TV is quickly becoming a thing of the past, at least if my teenagers are anything to go by…. for years I couldn’t get them away from the thing, and now that they each have a computer they could care less. Even old Simpson’s episodes don’t quite hold up to the fun worlds of YouTube, MySpace and MSN…..
>>The sad truth is that is that TV is quickly becoming a thing of
>>the past, at least if my teenagers are anything to go by….
So true. Shit is still shit, no matter how “hi” the “def”. Even YouTube is more entertaining than most of the garbage you can watch in hi-def, and how hi-def is YouTube???
Content trumps crispness every time, and most of the shit you can watch on a TV set is about as content-free as it gets.
MM – lay off the Pink Ladys, they’re affecting your brain. I didn’t say I watch the Simpsons in HD, I mentioned that and VM as the only commercial TV shows I bother with. VM is ‘gay’, huh? I guess you’re not only an ageist, you’re homophobic, too. Well, you just go back to whatever testosterone-soaked nonsense you think is “manly” enough for you to be seen watching. I can tell you’ve never seen VM, or you wouldn’t make the idiotic comments about it… and it certainly DOES look better in HD. Like I said, those grapes sure are sour, ain’t they? 😉
• • • • • • • •
#40 – J
“If you ever get a chance take a look close up at a Pioneer Elite with a Blue ray attached and calibrated against one of the sub $1000 and $2500 sets.”
Yep. That’s the benchmark for the under-$15,000 set. And the difference is more than obvious, it just about slaps you in the face. It’s taken me years to get over Pioneer’s (once-justified) rep for making middle-of-the-road stuff, but they’ve established themselves in the big leagues, fo’ sho’.
• • • • • •
Enough about friggin’ Monster cables. What was once the first serious premium speaker and interconnects has become an overpriced joke relying on name recognition by consumers who otherwise wouldn’t even know that such a thing as premium cables exist.
There are cables that are clearly better than generics – but they don’t come cheap, and they’re not sold at Best Buy. Look at the entry-level cables from AudioQuest, a top manufacturer of very, very serious cables. It”s criminal to spend thousands on equipment and then connect it with cheesy wiring.
• • • • • •
#43 – OFTLO
“But it cost too much and I don’t give a shit who wins The Amazing Race (is that show even on anymore.”
Costs too much for who? Too much for: a) them that can’t afford it; b) them as don’t give a shit about such things. If you love movies, and you have a reasonable income, no, it doesn’t ‘cost too much.’ For someone who only takes snapshots of the kids at the beach, a Nikon also ‘costs too much’ – it’s all relative to what’s important to you. We all have different interests and priorities, and what’s a ridiculous, unnecessary luxury to one person is an indispensible tool and a great bargain to someone else.
“But my PC can eat your PC for breakfast and that matters to me…”
Really? It can? How would you know that – been sneakin’ in my place while I’m out? – and it ‘matters to you’? Why should it? Are we in some competition I didn’t hear about?? 😉
#34
If you took two 35″ diagonal TVs where one was the top of line SD TV and a top of the line HD-ready TV that is wide aspect ratio but only 35″ diagonal and put them side by side and optimally configured with the SD getting a digital signal and the HD getting an HD signal, the question is whether the HD version will better *enough* to warrant the price difference. No question that HD is better at 50″+. The real question is that with a middle sized image is it better enough? What about at non-optimal distances from the image as in most homes? From my brief tests with a smaller HD TV and non-optimal distance, it would not be enough to get me to switch especially as horrid as the SD signals look stretched out on a wide screen. I’m assuming that wide screens allow for easy switching of the aspect ratio channel by channel or even better when it detects an HD signal?
That said, since I’m planning on getting a large TV at some point, I am obviously planning on getting HD at that point. It is a research project I just don’t have time for at the moment.
#36 – Lauren said:
>>I can watch T5E, Coppola’s Dracula, Blade Runner, A
>>Clockwork Orange, Sleepy Hollow, Aeon Flux, Babel…
Mustard said:
Wow! Holy shit! You are obviously one sophisto-fucking-cated son of a bitch! And after those six shows…..Norbert? The Daily Show? Dancing with the Stars?
Oh come on man… I can (and should) make fun of Aeon Flux as well as the next guy (and I actually own a copy), but those others are respectable films… Besides… Taste is what taste is… Sure, I think Dancing with the Stars is a sucktastic pile of crap, but as declarative a statement as that is, it’s just my subjective opinion. (even if it is indisputably true)
And movies are the only reason I would buy an HD set… One can ooh and ahhh over Discovery Channel documentaries in High Def, and they are pretty, but there is nothing on TV today, in my opinion, that needs any technology that wasn’t available in 1990.
But movies… I can see laying out the bucks to get as close to a theater experience as one can… But I can also see your point of view that the best resolution is found watching a real sunset… whereas I think the best resolution is found on my 22″ LCD Widescreen with mouse and keyboard and a copy of whatever game features the latest eye candy and firepower… My $$ goes to my PC gear.
During television’s 60 years video has been transmitted over AM radio. In fact video is transmitted over vestigial side band AM radio. (Another way of saying “Really Crappy AM radio.”)
Saying HDTV isn’t necessary is like saying FM radio should never have been allowed to operate. One of the local stations runs an HD channel and a SD channel on its digital transmitter. The SD channel looks 10 times better a normal over the air SD channel.
Not much point in arguing because analog transmission ends in February 2009.
Perry
Yes, all the decent sets I know of can be (but often aren’t) set to automatically switch aspect ratios as needed.
You don’t have to go nuts – a Sharp Aquos 42″, a true 1080p HD with a great picture, feature set and reliability, easily gotten for under $1300 – plus an under-$400 upconverting Denon universal disc player with genuine Faroudja scaling crcuitry – and good cables, and you’re good to go for under $2000. However, you won’t be able to watch Blu-Ray true-1080p movies, unless you spring for the (ouch!) Sony S300 for another $450 or so. But then you’d have the full HD experience (except for the 5.1, 6.1 or 7.1 audio, of course, which is another ball of fish…) and get most of the performance you’d get from a 3X as expensive TV/player combo…
34. LTG
No, I disagree. I think it is good to try to think. Now try to think how standard definition analog to digital electronics and conversion does not add noise and compromise to the original analog signal. Even transcoding from one digital format to another adds digital artifacts.
“Well then, try not to think. In an ANALOG signal chain, each stage adds some degree of noise and distortion to the signal; HD is a digital bitstream, and at no point does analog noise get introduced into that digital signal. 0s and 1s in, the same string of 0s and 1s out.”
RBG
I’m one of those people. So what? I have a 55″ sony rear projection LCD (720p) and it only gets to play DVDs. I have no no cable, no broadcast TV, and no HD of any kind. Regular DVD movies look fine on this TV, I see no need to pay Comcast $80/mo or to partake in the idiotic HDDVD format wars. I would say the survey results are more a result of consumer disincentive to pay money for useless stuff than an indication of consumer miseducation.
if theres black bars on the side of the picture, it aint HD
I remember the first time I heard a CD. We also had a cassette tape of the same album and tried them side by side. Aahh, yes, there is a difference. Not much, but I could tell side by side. (geeze, I hate that song Money for Nothing)
I remember the first DVD movie I watched. My Bro-in-law was showing it off. WOW, that is much cleaner picture than a VHS. Phuck it, I got bored real quick, the movie was crap. (Some Pearl Harbor attack remake from around 2000 starring some pretty faced kid)
Now, along comes High Definition TV. If I don’t get one, I’m a luddite. As I see it, the only thing this will do for my life is lighten my wallet and enrich some Chinese or South Korean TV maker.
There is nothing wrong with my Sanyo 23” analog, SD TV. And when I run the DVD through my less than expensive stereo, it sounds pretty good. Not heaven, but I’m comfortable.
54 if theres black bars on the side of the picture, it aint HD
Not entirely true. If you watch a HD playback of “The Maltese Falcon” there will be black bars or something on the sides. Some old movies will not fill a 16:9 screen.
Perry
#46 Lauren the Ghoti
AudioQuest makes really good stuff they just don’t make it at longer lengths. I have to disagree on Monster they, at least with the HDMI cables, make a very solid and high quality product I have one that is 50′ and There is no failure at all.
#41 Mister Mustard
“Shit in high-def is still shit”
I couldn’t agree more
#42 Mark Derail
“I’ve used generic HDMI 25′ gold tipped between my laptop and my HDTV with NO LOSS just as sharp using a 6′, no ghosting, and paid 14.99 or some such figure, instead of 150$. ”
I call Bullshit! Show me the receipt or send me a link to a place that sells 25′ HDMI of any reasonable quality.
#43 OhForTheLoveOf
“I’m not anti-TV, but I don’t own because I just don’t care. But my PC can eat your PC for breakfast and that matters to me…”
Not to bring up the size of my penis but I really doubt your PC is even in the same league with mine. Then again I don’t own a computer that cost less than $10,000. My LOWEST graphics card alone probably cost more than you whole PC.
#48 OhForTheLoveOf
You obviously have never played WoW on a 120″ projection at 1920 x 1080
#55 Mr. Fusion
It is all about the experience. Are you willing to pay for it or not. to each his or her own.
J – all I say is, sure, you can go with the Monster – but only true suckaz are gonna pay list price for ’em…
#57 J, not bullshlt but eBay.
http://tinyurl.com/2t9sk9 link brings you to a bunch of Buy It Now, below 10$ for a 25′ DVI-D to HDMI, 28 or 24 AWG, gold tipped.
I think you’re just upset at having overpaid for a cable. 🙂
What’s important is the signal TYPE.
Analog – over 25′ – you need shielded twisted, yes quality will matter in picture quality. There are equivalent to Monster that exist, or, you can buy Monster off of eBay from a distributor and easily save 50%.
Digital? Hey, we’re sending 0’s and 1’s, as PULSES. Even if the pulses are weaker at the other end, the bits will still make it. Any decent quality will do. Last time I checked, HDMI is digital.
I’m not the only one, 100% of the Engadget.com readership agree too, they’ve even conducted decent tests.
If I use a Generic VGA over 10′ on my laptop to the HDTV = Bad Ghosting, lousy quality. When sending digital, HDMI or DVI, no problems with the generic.
1. Is HD radio so good that you can see the Ramones in you car?
2. Kenwood has NEW TERRESTRIAL radio…is this the future?
3. I have digital cable already, why would I buy another tv?
4. LOCAL analog tv (by roof antenna) is sharper than cable tv. 50 feet of coax vs miles of hard line and amps…no brainer.
5. A 32″ tv with a 3d y/c comb filter. This shows me more wringles and liver spots on Morley Saffer’s face. I don’t need this much detail!!!
6. I’m done being a beta tester that buys tv’s. I will wait till the resolution wars stop 780p vs 1080i…….
Wow I reiterate myself… you guys need to look at content made for hd resolution.
Rent, buy, or steal the movie 300. Go to the oracle at delphi scene. Look at the girls nipples in SD and HD. Really, the HD nipple is well defined, and the sd nipples are smudgy and blurry.
You want the well defined nipples. It really is no contest.
My suggestion: Get a LCD WUXGA (1920*1200) monitor that can take RCA, Component or S-Video, DVI, or even HDMI if that’s your bag for a signal for a heck of a lot less than any HDTV of comparable size. Cram any signal analog or digital into it, even any current flavor of HD and be done with it. Hell, all the cable/dish cos give you a tuner box anyways. But only do this if you actually have at least one signal source that uses that resolution size. If all else fails, at least you can hook your computer up to it…
#59 Mark Derail
“not bullshlt but eBay”
Like I said “of any reasonable quality.” Look at the specs of that crap vs AudioQuest or Monster.
“Digital? Hey, we’re sending 0’s and 1’s, as PULSES. Even if the pulses are weaker at the other end, the bits will still make it. Any decent quality will do. Last time I checked, HDMI is digital.”
Simply not true Just because something is digital doesn’t mean it doesn’t suffer from signal degradation. The same thing pretty much holds true for digital as it does analog. With digital the effects are different but there is still degradation. It usually results in patching, pixelazation, and dropout. The more data you push through it the more those effects you will see. There is such a thing as digital noise. Bad data results in inproper display of pixels and poor audio quality.
My guess would be the reason you don’t see a problem with your cheap cable is A. You got very lucky or B.You don’t use anything more than a basic HDMI signal, from your statement this seems to be at least part of the case. OR C.You don’t know what a good signal looks like. Hence the content of the original article.
BTW you are using it for PC output from DVI which only sends the video portion of the signal. Why don’t you try and push a 7.1 true HD signal through it at the same time and you may not be as happy with your purchase as you once were.
Ever plugged your digital camera or video camera into a sd tv and then into a hd tv?
If your camera is outputting hd then you are a complete idiot to stick with sd for viewing pleasure, Count those pixels, Go on.. Count them i tell you!
As for normal TV, i agree there is just not enough hd content for the average consumer but give it time. Count them, count those years.
But don’t forget the technofiles and richboys who buy all this flash gear at bleeding edge prices, if it wasn’t for them we would pay those prices, they are our buffer. , the more of them the better i reckon, they are the reason you can buy cheap second hand goods, when they upgrade. 🙂 Go on Count them, Count our Buffer Fools.