MJMANDALAY
03-14-2007, 08:19 PM
Saw this article in Sundays paper, I was wondering how true it is?
You've never seen TV like this
Sunday, March 11, 2007
I'm betting you didn't appreciate the full ramifications of the recent news that Verizon is expanding its fiber-optic service and now more than 160 New Jersey towns are wired.
Okay, you understood that makes New Jersey one of the most fiber-optic-wired states in the country and that's good news, since it means higher-speed Internet access.
But it also accelerates our rush toward high-definition television, or HDTV. And this is significant why?
Because as of February 2009, the FCC will require all television signals to be broadcast in high-definition. The analog signals that we've been getting since the dawn of television will disappear. That is to say, two years from now you're going to need High Definition Television whether you want it or not.
Yes, you will be able to buy a converter box so your old analog TV can receive HD signals. But eventually, make no mistake, you're going to have to buy an HDTV. It's not unlike what happened when CDs started to replace vinyl and word processors replaced typewriters. In theory, you didn't have to switch. In reality, it became almost impossible not to. Your favorite artists weren't sold on vinyl. No one repaired typewriters.
Besides, like CDs and computers, HDTV has the powerful lure of being a sleek new toy that offers something better -- in this case, a clearer picture -- and the industry, quite frankly, is confident you'll cave. It's no accident that, as of this month, the FCC is requiring that all new TV sets be HD or at least HD-ready.
So in honor of that milestone, I thought I should warn you what might lie ahead. Now you've probably bought so many TVs in your life that you could do it in your sleep, right? You visit a store, pick one out, load it into your car, take it home, plug it in and turn it on.
Well, those days are over, pal.
Just picking your HDTV practi cally requires an advanced electronics degree. And if you can get the thing working with fewer than three sub-contractors, you're getting away cheap.
First, you've got basic choices. LCD, plasma, rear-projection? Is "HD-ready" acceptable, or should you buy the full HD? What's your preferred DPI (dots per inch)? 720? 1080? Sure, 1080 is high-end now, but will it be middle-end by 2009?
If you have a satellite dish, you'll have to replace it -- plus your signal-converter box. (Enter Service Guy No. 1.)
That also means a new remote, with more indecipherable buttons.
Next there's installation. Unless you're a licensed electrician, you'll pay an hourly fee to the guys who deliver your new purchase. (Enter Service Guy No. 2.)
Then there's location. HDTVs are big and wide. You build rooms around them, not vice versa. (Enter your carpenter -- or Service Guy No. 3.)
Incidentally, you can't eliminate Service Guy No. 3 if you elect to hang the screen on your wall, which -- trust me -- is vastly more complicated than hanging a picture, especially if you don't want unsightly wires running up the wall into your new showpiece. Then come the extras. First, they'll want to sell you a universal remote clicker, I guess so your TV and your toaster oven can run on the same buttons. Then the salesman will strongly advise that you run the sound through your own high-end audio equipment.
Yes, it has its own built-in speakers, but for what you've already paid, do you want merely adequate sound? Enter your electrician -- though your $125-per-hour installers may also be able to handle it.
Wait, there's more.
Once your TV is HD, you'll need a new DVD/video player with digital signals. Sure, your old DVDs will play, but your new HD screen will pick up all their little flaws, the same way your turntable picked up the clicks in your vinyl records.
You'll also want to replace any DVDs and videos not formatted to your new screen shape, which, in fact, may be all of them. Otherwise, every movie or recorded program formatted for your old TV -- which has a 4:3 screen ratio compared to the 16:9 ratio of your new HDTV -- will have white margins down the side. (Just as wide-screen-formatted DVDs and videos appear as compressed horizontal strips on the set you have now.)
Oh, and you know those stun ning nature programs they run in the electronics stores to show you how great HD looks? To order them at home, at least on satellite, will run you an additional $11 a month.
Forewarned is forearmed.
http://www.nj.com/starledger/stories/index.ssf?/base/columns-0/11735922133590.xml&coll=1&thispag
You've never seen TV like this
Sunday, March 11, 2007
I'm betting you didn't appreciate the full ramifications of the recent news that Verizon is expanding its fiber-optic service and now more than 160 New Jersey towns are wired.
Okay, you understood that makes New Jersey one of the most fiber-optic-wired states in the country and that's good news, since it means higher-speed Internet access.
But it also accelerates our rush toward high-definition television, or HDTV. And this is significant why?
Because as of February 2009, the FCC will require all television signals to be broadcast in high-definition. The analog signals that we've been getting since the dawn of television will disappear. That is to say, two years from now you're going to need High Definition Television whether you want it or not.
Yes, you will be able to buy a converter box so your old analog TV can receive HD signals. But eventually, make no mistake, you're going to have to buy an HDTV. It's not unlike what happened when CDs started to replace vinyl and word processors replaced typewriters. In theory, you didn't have to switch. In reality, it became almost impossible not to. Your favorite artists weren't sold on vinyl. No one repaired typewriters.
Besides, like CDs and computers, HDTV has the powerful lure of being a sleek new toy that offers something better -- in this case, a clearer picture -- and the industry, quite frankly, is confident you'll cave. It's no accident that, as of this month, the FCC is requiring that all new TV sets be HD or at least HD-ready.
So in honor of that milestone, I thought I should warn you what might lie ahead. Now you've probably bought so many TVs in your life that you could do it in your sleep, right? You visit a store, pick one out, load it into your car, take it home, plug it in and turn it on.
Well, those days are over, pal.
Just picking your HDTV practi cally requires an advanced electronics degree. And if you can get the thing working with fewer than three sub-contractors, you're getting away cheap.
First, you've got basic choices. LCD, plasma, rear-projection? Is "HD-ready" acceptable, or should you buy the full HD? What's your preferred DPI (dots per inch)? 720? 1080? Sure, 1080 is high-end now, but will it be middle-end by 2009?
If you have a satellite dish, you'll have to replace it -- plus your signal-converter box. (Enter Service Guy No. 1.)
That also means a new remote, with more indecipherable buttons.
Next there's installation. Unless you're a licensed electrician, you'll pay an hourly fee to the guys who deliver your new purchase. (Enter Service Guy No. 2.)
Then there's location. HDTVs are big and wide. You build rooms around them, not vice versa. (Enter your carpenter -- or Service Guy No. 3.)
Incidentally, you can't eliminate Service Guy No. 3 if you elect to hang the screen on your wall, which -- trust me -- is vastly more complicated than hanging a picture, especially if you don't want unsightly wires running up the wall into your new showpiece. Then come the extras. First, they'll want to sell you a universal remote clicker, I guess so your TV and your toaster oven can run on the same buttons. Then the salesman will strongly advise that you run the sound through your own high-end audio equipment.
Yes, it has its own built-in speakers, but for what you've already paid, do you want merely adequate sound? Enter your electrician -- though your $125-per-hour installers may also be able to handle it.
Wait, there's more.
Once your TV is HD, you'll need a new DVD/video player with digital signals. Sure, your old DVDs will play, but your new HD screen will pick up all their little flaws, the same way your turntable picked up the clicks in your vinyl records.
You'll also want to replace any DVDs and videos not formatted to your new screen shape, which, in fact, may be all of them. Otherwise, every movie or recorded program formatted for your old TV -- which has a 4:3 screen ratio compared to the 16:9 ratio of your new HDTV -- will have white margins down the side. (Just as wide-screen-formatted DVDs and videos appear as compressed horizontal strips on the set you have now.)
Oh, and you know those stun ning nature programs they run in the electronics stores to show you how great HD looks? To order them at home, at least on satellite, will run you an additional $11 a month.
Forewarned is forearmed.
http://www.nj.com/starledger/stories/index.ssf?/base/columns-0/11735922133590.xml&coll=1&thispag