FAQ: What does the digital-TV switch actually mean?

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They forgot to mention the following...

1. Because of multicasting, unless you get a
converter box or get a digital tuner-equipped
TV, you're not going to get all the channels on
your digital tunerless old TV if you subscribe
to satellite or cable.

the multicast channels aren't many right now, but
they could be important in the future. For example,
some stations put weather information on channel
7.5 (regular programming is on channel 7.0).


2. I don't know if they'll allow it, but a good way
to get a "converter box" is to get a DVD recorder with
digital tuner. These are currently around $200, but
will doubtless become cheaper with time. The Panasonic DMR-EZ27 can receive HDTV programming,
although it can only write standard (480) DVDs. It
can also upscale your DVDs to 1080p via its HDMI
port.


3. Digital TV isn't perfect. If you have a bad cable
or satellite connection, you'll see pixelation,
dropouts, and choppy audio. Due to heavy cmpression
by your TV provider (cable co., satellite, over-the-air broadcast station), the picture isn't as good as a 480i DVD upscaled to 720;/1080i/1080p.


4. If you're looking to buy a flat panel (LCD, plasma,
projection, LCOS) set, the new 42" (and larger) sets are currently the only ones that support 1080p. If you plan on getting cable pay-per-view, you'll want to get a set with CableCard (if you go satellite TV, the TV's CableCard won't work with satellite, you'll still need the DirecTV or Dish box).


5. Getting HDTV means having an HDV source (either broadcast, cable, satelite, high-def DVD, upscaled DVD) and a compatible TV set. Some people buy the set
and don't order the service, so they end up returning the set because they don't have any high definition programming to put on ti.


6. Because of draconian copy-protection, recording and
externally archiving high definition content is either
impossible right now, or too expensive. It may take
a few years before prices come down to the levels of
today's DVD technology (and a DeCSS/DVD Jon to crack
the HDCP protection). Unless there's a change of
administration political party, and sympathetic
courts (the latter is unlikely), you won't see this
external archiving anytime soon. You'll be able to
save your HDTV content to non-HDTV (480p) DVDs though.

Posted by: rosanlo   Posted on: 09/26/07 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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