Still a mystery ...
USA Today said last week that a Frank N. Magid Associates' Report confirmed that consumers are still "confused over what HDTV is and whether it costs extra to get programming" (in the HD format). The study found that 47% of consumers buying an HD set now planned to watch TV programs in HD, versus 63% two years ago. Moreover, 30% of HDTV owners have yet to add HD service through their cable or satellite provider, and those that have, complain that HD stations tend to occupy the farthest reaches of the channel range (Channels 800 and up, etc.).
Commentary ...
The success of DTV has always depended upon a voluntary cooperative between government, consumers, the consumer electronics industry, broadcasters, cablers, satellite operators, and retailing with each faction pulling their own weight at just the right time. If the confusion that is cited in the Magid report is left unchecked...
[url=http://www.hdtvmagazine.com/articles/2006/12/still_a_mystery.php]Read the Full Article[/url]
Still a Mystery…
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larrykenney
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- Location: San Francisco, CA
Still a mystery ...
In response to Dale's article, I think there are many things fighting the transition to HD. Let me discuss several of them as I see it.
First, the stores that are selling the HDTV's are not showing HD in all its glory. Instead of connecting up an OTA, cable or satellite feed of true HD to all of the sets on display, they play a DVD of various programs and sales pitches. If they really wanted to show what the sets will do, and allow the consumer to compare one set to another, they should display a real HD picture on all of them. Many shoppers have never seen real HD!
At one local store here in San Francisco, I asked to see an OTA signal so that I could see what a real HD picture looked like and they said they had no way to do that. At another store they were able to show me an HD feed from DirecTV and at another they had one antenna connection from a roof antenna and they had to move the set over to that area to connect it to the antenna. There was no way to do any comparison of the various sets. I think the retailers need education on how to sell HDTV!
The second thing fighting the transition is the broadcasters themselves. Here in San Francisco we're lucky to have some competent stations, and most of the time we have good pictures and good 5.1 audio, but even here we have the occasional problem. In other cities, there are many stations that are not paying any attention to their HD signal, and don't seem to care if the video and audio is sent out correctly. Some forget to take the HD feed altogether. Many can't transmit HD at all. Until the stations start transmitting quality HD with quality 5.1 audio whenever it's available to them, we're going to have trouble convincing people they should buy an HD set.
Broadcasters are also limiting the quality of their HD picture due to so much multicasting. Our local PBS station has five digital sub-channels and their HD picture suffers as a result. Stations seem to think that the more sub-channels they offer the better, and they don't seem to care if it affects their HD picture.
My sister and brother-in-law in New Mexico recently bought a 40-inch Sony HD, brought it home and hooked it up to the antenna they've been using for NTSC and found they couldn't receive any DTV stations. None of the digital stations there have the coverage of the analog stations. They're going to have to go with a satellite feed for their HD and spend $40+ a month that they didn't have to spend before.
Many viewers don't want to put up an outside antenna, so they use something inside and get lousy reception, then they complain about the intermittent signal, the lack of reception altogether, or they have to play with the antenna whenever they change channels. This is not helping the HD cause.
The distributors of the HD signal... cable companies and satellite companies... are not helping because they not sending out many of the HD stations that are available, some of their receivers tend to malfunction frequently, and viewers are getting break up and pixelation. On top of that they're sending "HD Lite", rather than full spectrum HD on many channels, so the viewers aren't getting the maximum HD experience. More reliable equipment and full quality pictures from all available channels is what we should be getting from these companies.
Those are just some of the bumps in the road on the way to the full acceptance of HDTV. I'm sure there are many others.
Larry Kenney
San Francisco
First, the stores that are selling the HDTV's are not showing HD in all its glory. Instead of connecting up an OTA, cable or satellite feed of true HD to all of the sets on display, they play a DVD of various programs and sales pitches. If they really wanted to show what the sets will do, and allow the consumer to compare one set to another, they should display a real HD picture on all of them. Many shoppers have never seen real HD!
At one local store here in San Francisco, I asked to see an OTA signal so that I could see what a real HD picture looked like and they said they had no way to do that. At another store they were able to show me an HD feed from DirecTV and at another they had one antenna connection from a roof antenna and they had to move the set over to that area to connect it to the antenna. There was no way to do any comparison of the various sets. I think the retailers need education on how to sell HDTV!
The second thing fighting the transition is the broadcasters themselves. Here in San Francisco we're lucky to have some competent stations, and most of the time we have good pictures and good 5.1 audio, but even here we have the occasional problem. In other cities, there are many stations that are not paying any attention to their HD signal, and don't seem to care if the video and audio is sent out correctly. Some forget to take the HD feed altogether. Many can't transmit HD at all. Until the stations start transmitting quality HD with quality 5.1 audio whenever it's available to them, we're going to have trouble convincing people they should buy an HD set.
Broadcasters are also limiting the quality of their HD picture due to so much multicasting. Our local PBS station has five digital sub-channels and their HD picture suffers as a result. Stations seem to think that the more sub-channels they offer the better, and they don't seem to care if it affects their HD picture.
My sister and brother-in-law in New Mexico recently bought a 40-inch Sony HD, brought it home and hooked it up to the antenna they've been using for NTSC and found they couldn't receive any DTV stations. None of the digital stations there have the coverage of the analog stations. They're going to have to go with a satellite feed for their HD and spend $40+ a month that they didn't have to spend before.
Many viewers don't want to put up an outside antenna, so they use something inside and get lousy reception, then they complain about the intermittent signal, the lack of reception altogether, or they have to play with the antenna whenever they change channels. This is not helping the HD cause.
The distributors of the HD signal... cable companies and satellite companies... are not helping because they not sending out many of the HD stations that are available, some of their receivers tend to malfunction frequently, and viewers are getting break up and pixelation. On top of that they're sending "HD Lite", rather than full spectrum HD on many channels, so the viewers aren't getting the maximum HD experience. More reliable equipment and full quality pictures from all available channels is what we should be getting from these companies.
Those are just some of the bumps in the road on the way to the full acceptance of HDTV. I'm sure there are many others.
Larry Kenney
San Francisco
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Richard
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Hi Larry,
ISF and HAA - The Expression of Art using Science
viewtopic.php?t=4450
Unfortunately, even if they did, the manufacturer sets up the display to induce your purchase, not for accuracy. Nobody can figure out the true performance of a display in the store as that requires a controlled environment and objective testing. The only way to figure out what is really going on is to read quality reviews that measure objective performance criteria first followed by their subjective experience and opinion.If they really wanted to show what the sets will do, and allow the consumer to compare one set to another, they should display a real HD picture on all of them.
ISF and HAA - The Expression of Art using Science
viewtopic.php?t=4450
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BobDiaz
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With around 2 years and 2 months to go before analog shutoff, I find it amazing that Consumers are still in the dark about what is going to happen. Roughly only 1 out of 4 people even have a clue about analog shutoff and even less know all the details.
I still can't understand why the Broadcast TV news shows aren't telling the public the facts. You would think it would be in their best interest to explain it to the public. However, it seems that news directors think that coverage about J-Lo's love life or Tom Cruse's wedding is MORE important than letting around 18 million households know that come February 17, 2009, their TVs could quit working.
I'll bet that AFTER February 2009, we'll see Lawyers creating a massive Class Action Lawsuit against TV manufacturers, Stores, and Broadcast Stations... In the end the Lawyers will get millions in legal fees and Consumers will get a coupon for $5 off their next TV/VCR purchase.
Bob Diaz
I still can't understand why the Broadcast TV news shows aren't telling the public the facts. You would think it would be in their best interest to explain it to the public. However, it seems that news directors think that coverage about J-Lo's love life or Tom Cruse's wedding is MORE important than letting around 18 million households know that come February 17, 2009, their TVs could quit working.
I'll bet that AFTER February 2009, we'll see Lawyers creating a massive Class Action Lawsuit against TV manufacturers, Stores, and Broadcast Stations... In the end the Lawyers will get millions in legal fees and Consumers will get a coupon for $5 off their next TV/VCR purchase.
Bob Diaz
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ggotch5445
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- Joined: Wed Dec 07, 2005 1:44 pm
The electronics industry never seems to be especially good about educating the general public. If I was one of the manufacturers, or broadcasters, I would take every opportunity to demo HD, and educate folks about it. When an elctronics item finally "takes off", it is usually because the public has found it on their own, and has made "it happen". More formats fail simply because of poor education-promotion-lack of either.
So many consumers are so totally confused about HD, and there is so much info helping to confuse. Someone needs to step forward to explain 720p, 1080i, 16:9, HDMI, etc. I am talking, we need full page newspaper ads explaining the ABCs of HD!
All of these items, plus all of the different kinds of display! And even then, HD programing, for one reason or another, is not always consistent in quality.
I am a long time audio/video fan (back to LPs and laserdiscs), and have taken the HD plunge with my newly acquired Sony KDS60-A2000. I love what this set does for regular DVDs, and I love what HD programing there is so far, but I am so sympathetic to the average consumer, and the confusion out there!
So many consumers are so totally confused about HD, and there is so much info helping to confuse. Someone needs to step forward to explain 720p, 1080i, 16:9, HDMI, etc. I am talking, we need full page newspaper ads explaining the ABCs of HD!
All of these items, plus all of the different kinds of display! And even then, HD programing, for one reason or another, is not always consistent in quality.
I am a long time audio/video fan (back to LPs and laserdiscs), and have taken the HD plunge with my newly acquired Sony KDS60-A2000. I love what this set does for regular DVDs, and I love what HD programing there is so far, but I am so sympathetic to the average consumer, and the confusion out there!