After several years of this “HD thing” being around, we’d assume that the general public would begin to catch on and understand the completely unnecessary, yet very prevalent confusions that simply come with owning and operating an HDTV. Apparently there’s still a vast majority of potential HDTV buyers and current owners that are still miffed when it comes to fully understanding how to setup, tweak, operate, and enjoy their new set.
Research posted in USA Today states that while “about 15-percent” of American homes have an HD-capable television, less than half of them said that their purchase was influenced by wanting to catch their favorite shows in high definition. While we’ve certainly seen reports showing that we Americans can’t get enough once we get a taste, it appears that a staggering amount of owners either don’t know how to correctly receive HD content, or simply believe that “digital cable” equates to “high definition.” Surveyors attribute the “confusing nature” of actually getting HD content into your home as the primary culprit, as cable and satellite companies don’t exactly go the extra mile to clarify the technological mumbo jumbo while siphoning your cash.
While it’s no surprise that the mystery surround HDTV is further complicated by glossy marketing and a lack of technical support all around, a recent report claims that “about 19.5 million consumers” who purchased an HDTV over the holiday break are now complaining about the quality. Apparently, the “plug and play” approach that has become quite common on today’s electronics didn’t work out so well with HDTVs, leaving customers baffled that their TV wouldn’t magically display the clean, crisp imagery they viewed on the in-store displays when making their purchase. Customers are still having a difficult time understanding that special programming packages, set-top boxes, and / or OTA antennas are required to receive HD content, taking the wind out of their presumably puffed sails.
What I think is funny are all those morons who think their new 720p TVs are really High Definition merely because they’re wide-screen. Yeah right, and my two-wheel drive Saturn Vue is really a four-wheel drive merely because it has four wheels!
But what’s really funny is that people have no idea that they can get true HD (not that over-compressed pixelated crap from cable and satellite) completely for free right off the air! John wrote about this in one of his PC Magazine columns:
As an aside, I’m amused by the HDTV scene. I’m in the San Francisco Bay Area and get perhaps 20 stations over the air with a UHF antenna in full HD, with Dolby. Yet somehow most Americans have forgotten how to use an antenna—the cable companies have sucked out their brains—and few realize that OTA (over the air) HD is fantastic.
lets not just blame technological ignorance. the PC Magazine HDTV edition noted that an (unnamed) editor had his flat screen professionally installed, and the installers ran coax from his cable box to his panel.
that’s right – not HDMI, not composite, not component, not s-video … plain ol’ fashion coax.
thus, no HD. a reinstall was forthcoming.
and it is confusing. consumers have to go from only one kind of TV signal to a batch of new terminology. and given that only a small % of Americans even use OTA TV signals beforehand, it is no surprise that it no longer exists on our mental horizons.
after months of swearing I would not cave & that my old CRT Sony WEGA was just fine, I went and bought me a 42″ 1080i Panasonic plasma from Amazon – irresistable deal, excellent reviews. But I had to read the manuals and browse my cable company’s web site to figure out what I could get and how. For me, it was a pleasant way to spend the couple weeks waiting for delivery, but for those sprinting to the Best Buy to nab one over the holidays, I can see how it could be vexing.
What does the title of the book mean by “unusually”?
The USA is drowning in a rising sea of stupidity.
I work as an editor in the television industry and even I think it’s pretty confusing. Having to zoom or stretch different channels is a hassle and looks lousy. Throw in a surround system with the multiple variations of sound processing (Dolby Digital, DTS-ES, neo:6, DPL II, etc) and the average consumer is bound to be overwhelmed.
Much of the time, the Hi-Def stations are only broadcasting an up-converted NTSC signal. A good DVD can produce an image that can be better than some of the Hi-Def channels. I’m not surprised that people are confused.
The end result of this ignorance is that the market has been slow to develop for high definition content.
My personal take is that the providers don’t mind this ignorance: They already treat customers as sheep, and now don’t have to upgrade hardware as fast (which costs them a fair amount) to allow for more content.
Watch for the next wave of HTPCs, with built in CableCard slots, to fail just like the last wave… along with with the Series 3 Tivo… when people fail to understand what a CableCard is. Meanwhile, watch for Apple’s iTV to have moderate success, as Apple’s target customers will be more willing to learn what the device can do… and Apple will make the device idiot-proof.
this is just like the Internet and the “tubes” – the majority of people either dont have the time to learn how to operate and use new technology, or are too woefully ingorant to even begon the process
In other news, 25% of Americans believe Jebus will come back in 2007.
#4. after fighting the FCC tooth-and-nail against cablecards, the cable companies have resorted to passive resistance because have a vested interest in keeping their customers ignorate about cablecard technology.
even though they get to rent them like a set-top box, the current cablecards dont have two-way capability, so no PPV. thus, everyone who insists upon getting a cable card setup is a lost potential revenue stream.
when cablecard 2.0 comes out, with 2-way capability, the cable companies will still prefer having a cable company set-top box in every home, because tech support for cablecard devices is more onerous than the standard boxes. the word on series 3 TiVos is that setting up the dual cablecards is at least a 2-hour service call from your cable company, if it can actually be done in one call.
I love TiVo, but one of the things that is keeping me from nabbing one (besides the price – $650 from buy.com), is that I have no faith that my cable company could set up the cards correctly, and I can’t take days off work waiting for them.
But anyway – we are now in a world of 2-tiered TV service. the basics, who have their VCRs, DVD players and (maybe) a cable-company DVR, none of which is exploited to the hilt because the consumer cant or cant be bothered, to figure out all the features (including HD), and the technologically adept, who are pushing their setups to the hilt, with home-theater gear and sweet, sweet HDTV.
the good news is that the latter group is no doubt larger that the videophiles and audiophiles of a few years ago, since the payoff is more obvious.
I just want to know how them pitures fly threw the air and come on that screen I’m a lookin at. Oh and talkies too!
Could it be that most Americans don’t care about HDTV? The HDTV elitists probably care more about it than the average American. With all the confusion it seems the smart thing to do is wait it out. Not only will these so-called ignorant Americans get a more capable HDTV, they’ll get it at a better price. It seems like they may be the smart ones after all. The morons could be the people paying outrageous prices and working all the bugs out of HDTV now.
Why are Americans ignorant about technology?
Because as a whole, they just don’t care, and they sure as hell don’t want to pay for it.
This same mentality is why the iPhone is doomed to fail – Americans as a whole just don’t want to pay for extra features.
#8-there’s no ‘elitism’ when it comes to HDTV, it’s simply a group of consumers who want the best picture possible, whereas the majority (of which I am assuming you are a member of) the best for the cheapest money.
Wait it out? Wait what out? There’s nothing to wait out – you either want the best picture or you don’t. You sound like one of those typical American consumers ‘I’ll wait a couple years…it’ll be cheaper then’.
There are no ‘bugs’ to be worked out of HDTV – some of us are willing to pay more for the best, others are happy with their crappy 25″ CRT.
#8. Well, the articles specifically mention people who purchase an HDTV, but then are annoyed when they can’t just plug in their cable box and get an HD picture. Thus, they have spent $1,400 for something that they cant be bothered to understand.
The end result: It’s better to be rich and intelligent than poor and stupid.
Who’d a thunk it?
Interestingly, I did stumble into a “plug and play” solution of sorts. I purchased a TV/monitor a few years ago that was HD-capable, but the only HD use I got from it was to view the output of my HD Camcorder (low end pro Sony HVR Z1U with 1080i / 3-chip image) via its component cables.
I have Dish with their DDR and when the old one gave out, I upgraded to the newer HD model, and lo and behold (I still don’t know how to “lo”) it hooked in via component cables and suddenly the world of free HD opened up on the screen.
Easy as cake. Simple as pie.
What I think is funny are all those morons who think their new 720p TVs are really High Definition
Really, according to Robert Heron (PC mag HDTV expert) 720p is HD.
Broadcast HDTV is commonly delivered in one of two resolutions: 1,280 by 720 pixels progressive (720p) and 1,920 by 1,080 pixels interlaced (1080i). The smallest plasma displays that offer true HD resolution start at 50 inches (native 720p resolution or slightly greater). The native resolution of panels smaller than 50 inches can range from 852 by 480 pixels (known as “enhanced definition”) to as high as 1,024 by 1,024 pixels.
a widescreen plasma TV is considered a high-definition display if the vertical resolution is equal to or greater than 720 lines. Thus, 42-inch plasma displays with a native resolution of 1,024 by 768 pixels are considered HD displays even though they will eliminate 20 percent of 720p broadcast’s horizontal resolution.
Maybe you should do some checking before you start calling people morons.
SN: What I think is funny are all those morons who think their new 720p TVs are really High Definition merely because they’re wide-screen.
GQ: What I think is funny are all those morons who think their new 720p TVs are really High Definition
People that take statements out of context need to be killed as part of the War on Terror.
#13 — Calm yourself. You misread it for gods sake
…what he said was JUST because you have a 720p wide screen doesn’t mean you are watching hi-def because of the screen and the 720p. You need an HD signal.
Reread it. Cripes.
Its all the changes and BS, thats floating around, esp, in SALES departments.
I was telling many 3+ years ago…WAIT, just wait….5 years..Wait for things to stabilize. there are to many factors out there, to many things changing.
What I find the MOST entertaining, is ALL these folks that dont realize that a computer monitor gets BETTER resoultion then MOST of these formats. That ANYTHING less then about 32″ LCD is a waste of space at 1080…for a TV display.
If you do the math…a TV display in SD at 20″, to find an Equal resoultion in HD should be about 32″, for the DOT pitch spacing.
And that HD can be input many different ways, and NOT only on HDMI. HDMI is only for the copy protection. But How many know to LOOK at the Video input capabilities of THOSe other ports.
that those SALE HD sets were made in the last 2-3 years, and DONT have all the needed options/abilities. LOOK for INPUTS, as many as possible, and KNOW what input/ouputs you HAVE on your other devices. HOw you will hook things up.
This is like THINKING you are getting 5.1 surround from your DVD and you havent hooked up the Optical/coax to your stereo…You are using the Stereo inputs.
I hope that without sounding patronising (I have visited and fallen in love with the USA and have made many good life long friends from there) Americans do not maintain exclusive rights to crass stupidity nor do they display a clear lack of good informed judgement, in general. So the title is wrong. It ought to have focussed on how duped Americans have fallen victim to a fast evolving technology, and it should have been titled that way.
720p is high def.
I don’t expect to have to ‘confiure’ a TV! Or an iron or a blender! This IMO is the business world seeing what they can get away with again. You can’t tell me that most of this crap can’t be solved at the factory.
#13 & 18. Mmmm… so if 720p is high definition, then why would any Blu-Ray or HD-DVD player have to downgrade the resolution to make it work?
Sure, the industry can define 720p as HD if it wants, that way it can sell more TVs to idiots. But considering the two sole HD formats are at 1080p, only an idiot would consider a downgraded resolution to be real HD.
Let’s put it this way, Fox considers HD to be 480p and calls it enhanced, does that make it HD?!
Heck, Sony’s PS3 won’t even play at 720p. If your TV won’t support true HD at 1080p, it’ll downgrade all HD content to 480p. Does that make 480p HD too?!
Let me recap. When I was little, you could buy a TV. You had a choice of size and color or black and white. You could hook up rabbit ears, or if you had an adapter, you could plug in cable. Then we got an Atari and it plugged in with said adapter. Easy enough. Then we got a VCR and we had another place to plug it in and some RCA jacks on the VCR (but not on the TV). In another room of the house we had a stereo with lots of RCA jacks, and I understood to match the colors to keep the left and right signals straight.
So now I plug a fiber-optic cable into the audio output of my TiVo and it hooks up to my audio receiver and they communicate with … um… what protocol was that again? And now let’s say I want to watch HDTV OTA. Can I just buy a receiver box and hook it up to my old set? Where do I find such a box online so I can do my comparison shopping? When I get it, will it plug in to the stuff I have?
One problem is the proliferation of new signal types – YUV, RGB, composite, and whatever else there is for HDTV. Another is the variety of options. You don’t just select color or black and white any more. You also select resolution, and I know what 720p means, but my mother has no idea. You practically have to be an expert in the field to know enough to purchase anything – hence my 27″ low-def CRT in the living room.
Who cares? “Deal or No Deal” in HD is still crap. Considering the price for an HDTV, HD programming plan, and an HD set top box to tie it all together I don’t see where its worth the hassle for the average middle income Joe like myself. Perhaps it hasn’t caught the attention of the populace because its just nothing special. When you think about it, YouTube videos are more popular than HDTV programming in spite of their low quality.
John you owe me an apology as it is evident SN did mean that a 720p display is not HD, period. see post 20.
SN I’m glad you know more then the industry. Maybe you should write a column on HDTVs and show the rest of the writers for the novices that they are. So what happens when a higher resolution is introduced, then 1080i will no long be HD? And there is a big difference between what Fox defines as HD and what the industry defines as HD.
23. So let me get this straight, even though a 720p TV cannot playback a Blu-Ray or a HD-DVD in its true resolution… even though the TV would have to down sample it… it would still be true HD?!
Here’s another one. You have a 1080p TV and you go out and buy your favorite movie in Blu-Ray format. You discover it’s only a 720p version of the movie. You paid full price for it. Would you be pissed?! Why? According to you it’s true HD!
I’ll say it again, the industry defines 720p as “high definition” because suckers will buy cheap 720p TVs thinking they’re getting true HD when they are not able to view true HD.
Let’s end this here. Prove to me that a 720p TV can replay Blu-Ray or HD-DVD content without down-sampling and I’ll admit you’re right. If you can’t, you have to do the same or at least shut up.
SN, I’m not going to prove it to you because you seem to know more then anybody else and it would pointless for me to argue with a genius.
Hopefully, CES will bring us closer to John’s “special” definition of IPTV — which can include HDTV. It certainly does in a number of countries. Just not here.
When DirecTV finishes with installing the next few birds scheduled for this year — and gets past the Kongressional Krap foisted on the industry requiring satellite feeds to include local stations — they should have the bandwidth to resume something more like complete HD instead of the HD Lite most (not all) of their channels provide.
And — I’m as hopeful as is James that the Apple iTV will let us watch “Cranky Geeks” in the living room (in the SD currently provided) and Leo’s “MacBreak” (in HD).
Let’s face it. The biggest obstacle to most of this — including the overly complex and buggy HDMI/HDCP protocol — is the DRM genetically welded to the testicles of entertainment moguls.
One should not have to tweak ones TV. I have spent twenty years tweaking computers. I enjoy tweaking computers. But With TV I do expect to be able to plug it in screw in the cable and expect it to work. This is not ignorance this is a reasonable expectation of how a product should work or at least the way it used to be before computers. Us tech guys have gotten so used to having to setup,tweak and do incantations and every thing else to make our toys work we have forgotten the out of the box experience’s. This may explain the I POD phenomenon.
I’m with JT – I think the majority of people just don’t care about HD. They like the idea of having a “big screen” television appealing – but the issue of HD-DVD/Blue-Ray/getting a cable box and the right connections – who cares?
I could have HD TV – but the cable company wants to charge something like another $30 a month for it. Ooo – I could watch “Lost” in HD and see, uh, more sand!
When it’s cheap, or just “embedded” in the existing signal, then perhaps myself and other Americans will care. As it is, I’m happy enough to have a 50″ TV that *could* do HD – but plugged into my SD Tivo device, looks just great.
#25. So you chose the option to shut up. Good choice.
#21 – so your argument is that the various companies need to standardize all of their technology. This may be possible, but not soon. Refer to how long it took standsardizations to be applied to the computer industry.