E-gear has posted an interesting article from last Wednesdays Dallas Morning News. The story covers a common misconception out there about plasma and other type "big screen" monitors. People wander into Best Buy or some other retail outlet and soon stagger out starry eyed and several thousand dollars poorer, thinking they just got some high definition screenage for the family room.
According to this article, what a lot of people don't know is, they aren't watching high definition television programming. Also, many sets are what are known as high definition "ready" but require a converter box. This article does a good job of letting folks know, that maybe they have an awesome picture on the monitor, but it isn't high definition.
Less than one in four owners of HDTV sets actually subscribe to cable or satellite channels that broadcast in crisp, clear high-def. In other words, fewer than 2 percent of television-owning households - about 2 million homes - subscribe to HD programming, though nearly 9 percent own an HDTV-ready set. About 1.2 million households have digital tuners to get HD signals over the airwaves. "You'll talk to a guy who's got an HDTV monitor and has digital cable, and he brags about having HDTV, and you're like, `No you don't, you have digital cable and a really nice monitor,'" said Jenny Miller, a spokeswoman for the Consumer Electronics Association. |
Maybe there are some of you out there that are old enough to remember when color broadcasting came along. It didn't catch on for years, actually. But, in 1961, Walt Disney's contract with ABC network expired, ABC at that time was not capable of broadcasting in color. So, Mr. Disney jumped ship and went over to rival network NBC, who was ready to go. He renamed his show to the "Wonderful World of Color". A few years later, another popular show was launched about a boy in Florida and his buddy, "Flipper" the crime fighting dolphin. I have fond memories of all us kids in the whole neighborhood, flocking over to our neighbors house that had the first color TV, to catch both shows.
Then we would return home a couple hours later, to cast disapproving glances at our parents and the 12" black and white TV in the den. To add insult to injury, ours had the unsightly, tin foil wrapped around a modified coat hanger antenna, used to pull in UHF on the converter box that sat on top of the set. It was programs such as these that created the catalyst for the new color format, it took content as well as technology to have a nation adopt a new standard. I can assure you, it was not much longer after these shows became available, that a color TV was a must have. We will reach a breakpoint once again and the floodgates will open on HDTV capable monitors. As an aside, I learned with great sadness today, that Flipper the dolphin passed away in 1972.
Well, it's all happening again. Soon, the HDTV programming will dominate the airwaves and cables that squiggle through our neighborhoods and we will all make the transition. Those with a roof antenna or a dish of some sort, along with the proper equipment, can watch various HDTV programs now. Those interested in this and other upcoming high definition technologies, stay tuned to our Satellite, HD-TV, Blu-ray and HD-DVD Forum.
Source: E-Gear
