Last Friday I purchased a brand new HD ready television set, with my eyes on watching my first big sport event in High Definition. Then I read a story in my morning paper just now that said due to upgrades that are taking longer than planned my local Fox affiliate-KAYU 28, will not be able to broadcast in HD. :mad: grrrrrrrrr........

puckman, I didn't know it really made such a difference, but according to even Mark Cuban (who's now developing HD broadcasting), those who have HD want more HD and more and more. At my home in Md I watch events on a 13in ancient tv, I guess I just never got the hook.

I don't know if this is related to your Fox station, puckman, but a lot of people are not able to watch Fox in HDTV because of a dispute between local stations and cable companies.

This article talks about it.

Interesting, and I know the feeling of the word...pissed. But according to the article I read this morning, my local Fox station didn't get its upgrade done in a timely fashion. AT least that's what the story says.

[ January 31, 2005, 11:06 AM: Message edited by: puckman1 ]

A link to the Baltimore Sun story also appears at DCRTV.net.

If you subscribe to Directv, you can get HD feeds of all the major networks including Fox. I can get Fox in HD both over the air (antenna) and via Directv.

I love HD TV!

Think there is some sattelite service called Voom which has more HD channels than anyone. Im not rich enough to have an HD tv yet though.

Steer clear of VOOM. You have to install their equipment and it used to be very expensive. They've tried reducing the cost of equipment but are still unable to attract enough subscribers. Last I read they were very close to shutting the service down or selling it to another broadcast entity.

I agree. TV is TV. If you get good cable reception, how much clearer does it need to be? It doesn't really seem worth it to me to pay the extra cash for a new TV and special service. But hey, if you got the extra money to spend every single month, go for it.

Trust me. Once you see something like a sporting event on a larger screen in HD (like I did at my brother's house when he got his), you will lust after it until you can get it for yourself. wink

You are so right. The picture in HD, especially for live events, is absolutely breathtaking. It is SO worth the money. And don't get hung up on the mega-expensive LCD or plasma models. Rear projection sets, although space consuming, are absolutely equal in quality. I recommend Mitsubishi rear projection models, they've specialized in the technology longer than any other company. And you can get a very large screen right around the $1500-2000 range.

Hmmm, speaking for myself, I doubt I would feel that way. I have Comcast cable and a five-year old Sanyo 19-inch TV that works just fine for me. I've seen HDTV at the Sony store. To me, it's just a television...a very expensive television.

billsf, you're right on the money with your descriptions of HD items.

First of all, DirecTV broadcasts FOX HD, but you have to be in a FOX O&O market to be able to get the FOX HD channels (channels 88 and 89). DirecTV's receivers also pass through OTA HD transmissions, which is cool, so I get my Chicago locals in HD OTA format, AND I get the major networks' east and west coast HD feeds. Way cool.

Second, plasma HD sets are way overrated and not as good as they're believed to be. Plus, their bulb replacement costs are exhorbitant. The best types of HD sets are DLP ones for the most part. I spent a lot of time researching before I popped for one.

Third, the price for these babies has come down dramatically. Even the sainted plasmas have come donw 50% or more in the last 12 months alone.

Since plasma and lcd sets are still way to expensive, well for me anyway, I did my research and went with the Sony Wega 30" flat screen. A very good website called CNET reveiwed it and gave it a 7.5 out of 10. Said it is possibly the best entry level hd tv out there right now. I agree. Too bad though for a flat screen its so wide in the back, but no matter the picture is just delicious!

Size really does matter! The visible HD improvement when viewed on a 13" screen will be nearly imperceptible. On the other hand you really need HD if you're watching on any of the larger size screens. I'd equate it to having a photograph blown-up to hang on the wall. The more you expand the picture the fuzzier it becomes. Just as you can improve the photographic quality by using a better film or a larger format camera, you can also improve the quality of the image on your large screen TV with an HD signal.

I'd be curious to know what the impact of recording an HD signal via DVD is. I know that you don't really get the same quality with VCR recording. I just don't think VCR technology is capable of capturing the higher quality of the HD signal and I doubt anyone is going to manufacture one now they're going the way of the dodo. Anyone have experience recording HD in DVD format?

Torgauer, one can use an HD TIVO from DirecTV and record in true HD quality. Then one can burn such TIVO'd images to a DVD.

Also, when playing DVD's on an HD set, it's always wise to get a DVD player with progressive scan capabilities. This gives a far better picture than regular DVD players.

FYI, in the latter half of this year, DirecTV is launching several new satellites that will operate on the Ka band and use MPEG-4 technology, requiring new receivers to decode this transmission. Moreover, DTV is launching satellite-delivered HD locals in 12 major markets (Chicago is one of them). This will be a big plus for those whose OTA HD transmissions don't come in too well.

MPEG-4 technology is going to be simply awesome as it replaces the current MPEG-2 format.