Originally Posted by Da_Rude_Baboon
The more important factor in buying an HDTV in the UK is how well it handels standard definition material

I agree with you there, some of them look absolute rubbish when displaying SD video

I have no problems with my 42" plasma hd ready tv. Its shows my desktop in 1280x720 (720p) and all the series i download are divx/xvids in HD 5.1 DS and play perfectly on the HDMI connected to DVI of the HTPC. Dont worry, those series will never show in my country. (or maybe in about 10 years) So the wont lose money from me anyway. And over here they are 200 years behind in the HD-TV.

There was even a a hostage situation and the so called "consumer terorist" killed himself in the end. the reason was: he buyed a widescreen tv and 10 years later there was still no widescreen tv transmisions to see on his widescreen tv. So he demanded to see the "Philips CAO" and let hem explain why they sell those widescreen tv's and there where no transmisions in widescreen (16:9) format.

Well we are 5 years further from that incident and guess what? we still dont have any widescreen transmissions here.... oh yeah.. maybe RTL will be transmiting in 16:9 (a almost 15 year old thing) for the end of this year. So HD will be like 10 years away? And i think by that time the USA will send 3d tv episodes of Startrek. While we are watching the 50th annavirsary of "The nanny" reruns in glorious 4:3 mono...

Yeah I have been doing research off and on for a year trying to decide what type of TV I want to buy. Funny thing was the more research I have done the more I found myself stearing toward a tube based HDTV. Until finally I decided that the lack of HD broadcasts/materials will keep me far away from HDTV's for at least another year. I have a number of criteria that must be met first:

1.) A display technology that offers a long life span, currently tube technology is not only is the best visual display but it also lasts 3 times longer then plasma or lcd technology.

2.) HD quality broadcasts are few and far between. I don't count channels or services that claim to provide 100% digital...that means squat! Try watching a video on YOUTUBE in 100% digital...does that look good to you? I have looked at DIRECTTV, DISH NETWORK, COX CABLE, & OTHER ADD ON HD SERVICES. The most it appears you can get is like 26 channels and 1/2 of them suck.

3.) $1000.00 is my cap, when I can get a 34"-36" widescreen tv that looks better in all the avaliable resolutions and codec types, no stretching/shrinking or color problems...I may consider it.

***The reason I only want a 34"-36" TV is cause unlike the average Joe Consumer I don't need to show off my TV to somehow make up for my lack of manhood. I would much rather hide the beast behind a nice cabinet when family comes over.

Originally Posted by Da_Rude_Baboon
Why are you wary of HDTVs? So long as you buy one with an 'HD Ready' sticker it has 720 lines of vertical resoloution and supports HDCP which is all you need. If your tv has a better picture with 1080i then 720p then its faulty and you will only see a difference with 1080p over 720p if your display is very large say 50" or over.

The more important factor in buying an HDTV in the UK is how well it handels standard definition material as thit is what the most of will be watching the majority of the time for a good few years yet.

I know for a fact that next year DIRECT TV will be offering like 200+ channels in HD, don't ask me which HD format cause I don't know. Still the bit rate will be a factor...right now even in standard it looks worse then CABLE.

Originally Posted by mi1stormlist
A display technology that offers a long life span, currently tube technology is not only is the best visual display but it also lasts 3 times longer then plasma or lcd technology.

Most current plasmas have a half life of 60,000 hours. Watch TV for 7 hours a day and that equals 20 years. You will probably replace your tv within that time.

Originally Posted by mi1stormilst
I know for a fact that next year DIRECT TV will be offering like 200+ channels in HD, don't ask me which HD format cause I don't know. Still the bit rate will be a factor...right now even in standard it looks worse then CABLE.

Originally Posted by Da_Rude_Baboon
The more important factor in buying an HDTV in the UK

Fantastic article!

Its funny that all these measures the RIAA, MPAA etc go to to try to protect 'their' data is actually forcing the average consumer away from buying and more towards piracy.

I wish the artists would realise that the RIAA and their cohorts etc are effectively middlemen, getting fat off their work and our stupidity.

Is there nothing that can be done?
Like creating a people-powered record label that isn't so hell-bent on burning the consumers so much they turn to piracy?
Kind of like creating the Linux of record labels?

Surely the best solution is to cut out the middlemen?
Artists get a higher percentage from the sale of their music and consumers can get the music for less in a format they want.
Isn't everyone a winner (apart from RIAA etc)?

Nice article. So many people are jumping in to this new-ish technology to make a buck and it's just getting silly. The consumers don't know whats going on, the manufacturers are probably finding it difficult to keep up with the changes and lack of clarity. But as usual, the money men know exactly whats going on. You can't use this black box without that black box and that sytem without this cable and so on. It seems to me that having a "standard" helped the consumer and the manufacturer at one time, as in, you knew if you bought a telly, took it home and plugged it in it would work, or, buy/rent/record a VHS tape it would play. Likewise for the manufacturer, make VHS players and they will sell, make yingyang video players and your out of business. It was all so simple then. Who knows, one day the tv content might justify the huge expense on the technology, Dads army, Are you being served,and Eastenders etc, why bother ? As for cable, no need to record it if you miss it, there are plenty of repeats.