HDTV's big-screen reality
By Erica Ogg
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
September 5, 2006 4:00 AM PDT
When it comes to high-definition television, size matters.
So says the maker of the largest plasma TV on the market. Paul Liao, chief technology officer of Panasonic North America, says high-quality HDTV comes down to a specific equation: The larger screens get, and the closer you sit, the more lifelike the viewing experience. Or as he put it recently at a conference in Beverly Hills, "You get beyond a sense of reality."
When watching a movie on a 50-inch HDTV, viewers need to sit about 6 feet away to achieve that hyperreal feeling. Any closer, and you'll be able to pick out individual pixels, Liao said. If you go bigger--say, 65 inches--you can sit at least 6.5 feet away. (For similar formulas, see CNET's Ultimate HDTV buying guide.)
Sounds simple, but getting the full HD experience takes more than just a flashy TV, an expensive video player and appropriately arranged seating. And as sports fans head to the electronics store to pump up their home entertainment systems for this year's football season, they should know what kind of sticker shock they're in for, what gear they need and which TV channels offer HD content.
"It's not enough anymore to have great hardware or great video or great content. One leg doesn't make things happen."
"It's not enough anymore to have great hardware or great video or great content. One leg doesn't make things happen. You really need that unified ecosystem of all that infrastructure built up and available to people," said Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis at The NPD Group.
Several types of televisions can be considered "high definition." In general, HDTVs are set apart from standard-definition TVs by their high screen resolutions and rectangular displays. HDTVs come in display resolutions of 720p (720 lines of detail) or 1080i (1,080 lines of detail). A standard TV has 480 lines. The "p" refers to progressive scan, in which each of the picture frames that appear are drawn line by line from top to bottom on the screen, causing on-screen action to appear smoother. The "i" stands for interlaced, meaning that every second line of a picture is drawn in sequence.
HDTVs that display 1080p content are relatively new to the HD world. They have the reputation of being the best for TV viewing, since they combine the smooth image of progressive scan with the sharpness of 1,080 lines of resolution.
That said, the proverbial HD ecosystem is still evolving. The idea of high-definition entertainment isn't exactly new--Japanese consumer electronics companies began working on it two decades ago--but the sheer amount of content available today is. Currently, more than 600 hours of television is being broadcast or delivered through cable or satellite in crystal-clear resolution and wide-screen format. The sports industry, in particular, has become a sweet spot for HD broadcasts, and ESPN has been leading the way, presenting games, news and ads in high definition.
But buying high-definition DVDs could be tricky for some time to come, thanks to a nasty battle between backers of the HD DVD and Blu-ray formats. By the end of the year, 55 film titles will be available in the Blu-ray format, and 71 will be available in HD DVD, according to the Digital Entertainment Group, a format-neutral trade association of leading consumer electronics manufacturers, movie studios and music companies.
As with most new technology, getting into HD isn't cheap. Not only do you need a TV capable of receiving a high-definition signal, but to watch those slick high-capacity discs, expect to pay between $400 and $800 for an HD DVD player and about $1,000 for a player that runs the Blu-ray format.
The cost of a high-end HDTV can be steep as well, but market analysts say prices are dropping pretty swiftly. The average price of a 40- to 42-inch liquid crystal display TV, for example, was a little more than $2,900 in the second quarter. By the end of the year, research firm iSuppli sees prices for LCD televisions dropping to less than $2,200.
It makes sense, then, that iSuppli reports that 29.6 million HDTV units have been shipped worldwide in the first half of 2006, compared to 16.9 million the previous year. The firm expects a total of 69.4 million units to ship by the end of the year, which is 64 percent more than the number of units shipped in 2005.
HDTV's big-screen realityAs prices for high-definition flat screens and players drop, consumers shell out cash and clear living-room walls. Read now
The finer points of HDTVChoosing a high-definition television can be tough. Here's a basic guide through the industry's alphabet soup. Read now
First and goal for HDTVSports programming is helping it become a mainstream phenomenon and a big moneymaker. Read now
Season's over, so Cuban cheers for HDBillionaire entrepreneur high-fives high-def sports viewing, boos slow movie downloads. Read now
HDTVs on displayAre you ready for "Gilligan's Island" in HD? The latest tech hits the conference carpet. View all
Worst-dressed gadgets?Panasonic's Blu-ray player looks like "2001: A Space Odyssey" prop. HP's HD DVD player mimics old dual-cassette deck. View all
High hopes for high definition
HDTV is the life of the DisplaySearch party
HDTV hardware makers fight customer confusion
HDTV--the clincher in war between cable and phone?
A superthin, superlight flat screen
TV industry frets over high definition
What's HDTV without the HD?
Industry groups seek HD dominance
Microsoft inks cable deal for HDTV support
Hitachi announces HDTV models
HDTV market to boom, study says
Clearing up the HDTV picture
Flat-panel TVs can't topple tubes--just yet
The 'Benefactor' behind HDTV
Tuning up for HDTV
Will HDTV antipiracy plan unplug digital networks?
University of Texas installs Ron Jeremy-size HDTV
Why does that new widescreen HDTV look so weird?
The HDTV juggernaut gathers steam
Editors: Jim Kerstetter, Zoë Slocum
Design: Mitjahm Simmons
Production: Jessica Kashiwabara
Many of us are more than willing to pay 15-20% higher price for 1080P and the quality of picture it delivers over and above 1080i. Just because ViewSonic clearly does not want to Spend the R&D money to deliver a high end product.
Please do not insult consumers intelligence by saying we do not need it. I cringe everytime I come to Tokyo and I can not buy the latest 1080P Sony Bravia LCD TV or have to wait 6-9 months for a Japanese product to be ready to be marketed in the America
Should they cater to a NICHE market like yourself & the high end group, or cater to the main "general consumer" market - guess where the majoriy of the profit comes fom. if they make 5% profit on the unit price & that goes up 15-25% for p rather than i, then their profit is LESS than 5% of 15-20% - and the unit sales volume is TINY - (as a business proposition) it's high RISK low ROI.
Given the choice, most people are going to save the 15-2% & buy i rather than p.
Big business is NOT in the business of catering to your whims. They are in business to do business (to misquote Monty Broooster) - that's about the mass market.
All the talk about "the HD experience" and so on is just so much Hollywood hype, and again I am almost tired to death of hearing/reading about it, here in C|net newsletters and elsewhere. If and when all TV goes to digital (to hear Cnet and everyone else talk about it, it is far more a matter of when than if), I will call my cable company and have them install an ATSC cable box ahead of my 19" analog TV.Until or unless the price of FP sets 20 inches and larger drops well below $500, however, I have no intention of scrapping my seven-year-old RCA CTC185 19" TV. I realize I won't be seeing my favorite shows in HD on that set (if there is anything left worth watching by then), but as long as I can get the stations I want to see I won't worry about it. Worst case, I will simply go to basic cable when digital becomes the law of the land and watch other programming on DVDs (I have a subscription to Netflix and watch these discs more than I watch regular TV these days).
Speaking of DVD, I don't think any of us have anything to worry about if or when DVDs go from whatever the standard is now to Blu-ray. I am reasonably sure that DVD rental services such as Netflix.com, Blockbuster, et al. will keep up with the technology and will have discs in the new formats available for rental, so that ordinary viewers, most of whom don't know or care how regular TV works, let alone HD or DVD, will not have to be concerned about standards.
If the FCC had to go from analog to digital, why on earth didn't they use the same approach as they used when they approved the standards for color TV, i. e. making the signal compatible, backwards compatible or whatever with standard TVs? Again, I think it's just a matter of the FCC wanting to sell off the analog frequencies; they don't seem to care about picture quality or anything else high-definition television promises to offer. I say fix the programming content first, as today's TV programming leaves much to be desired. The anti-obscenity rules are a step in the right direction, IMHO, but the sheer content of television programming is from hunger and won't look one bit better in HD than it does now, as I said earlier. I have no intention of abandoning TV when the new standards become law, but I'll be watching mostly DVDs, with the basic cable channels, from that point on--the same as I've been doing since I got a DVD player almost two years ago.
I guess you could go with HD-DVD or BR and get a few titles....if you are brave enough to pick one.
1080P is 5 years min from mainstream. Regular HD is just now coming into mainstream.
"Copy Protection
The DVI/HDMI output is blocked"
Many TVs & projects loudly (and apparently, legally) proclaim to be "fully HDTV compatible", but if they do not also support the HDCP standard they are now literally useless. Most manufactures do not offer any kind of firmware upgrade/etc to fix the problem - you're just screwed. (Note to manufactures: Not a smart way to treat your valuable "early adopter" customers who shelled out $thousands$ on your early models; that will not exactly encourage "customer loyalty").
So BUYER BEWARE! If you get a HDTV or projector, especially an older one, make sure it specifically supports HDCP!
I'm all for the content creators making a profit, but not at the expense of my fair use rights.
Are there any major products/lines/brands that no longer come with component video I/O?
-Mister Winky
<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html" target="_newWindow">http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html</a>
Time to let the suckers buy the overpriced junk, and wait till the smoke and mirrors have evapourated with prejudice!
Oh well, fence sitting appears to be the best option, at this point in time!
Screens as big as 100 inches will be much more reasonably priced than the ridiculous prices they are currently charging for plasma and LCDs. I advise anyone thinking about purchasing an HDTV to wait just a little longer. A much better technology is on the immediate horizon.
Here is an article I found about it:
<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.smarthouse.com.au/TVs_And_Large_Display/SED?" target="_newWindow">http://www.smarthouse.com.au/TVs_And_Large_Display/SED?</a>
print=1&Article=/TVs%20And%20Large%20Display/SED/
K5L6G9C4
I just bought a CRT based HDTV. It's big and heavy, but it's
picture quality blows away LCDs and it looked as good, if not
better than the plasmas and DLPs I compared it too. The price
was particularly good too.
If SED pans out, I think that will be my technology of choice
going forward. It has all the advantages of a CRT minus the
volume / weight problems.
Thanks for mentioning that.
On top of that, I, like many folks my age (read that as the majority of folks who can afford these sets, BTW), wear bifocals. I guess I'd have to buy a special pair of glasses for TV viewing.
Nope. I'll be happy with a 42-inch TV in my rather large living room, on the wall opposite my sofa. And, based on anecdotal evidence, I'm not convinced that the higher resolution HD sets will offer quality that I'll be able to see.
mark d.