TrancedelicBlues Posted July 8, 2005 Share Posted July 8, 2005 So I was, like, stranded in Orlando for several days a couple of weeks ago. The shifter in my trusty Ford Ranger sort of gave up the ghost... pieces of it fell into the transmission, which ate them and got a severe case of indigestion... Long story short: while I was waiting around for it to be fixed, I was bored out of my tree... so I did stuff I don't usually do... like taking long walks in a city environment. Don't get me wrong, I love hiking in the country, but walking in a city just doesn't do it for me. The two activities even have different names: "hiking" versus "walking" See how that works?? Anyway, I wound up at a Circuit City store, the sort of place I very seldom venture into... Upon entry, I was greeted by a solid wall of widescreen TVs... and the technology has grown by leaps and bounds since the last time it caught my attention... I was never impressed by the rear-projection jobbers. Even the best of them was just not bright enough to watch in a room with the lights on, plus they were so big and bulky--just not acceptable IMHO But now they have these new LCD and DLP models, and they were both bright and compact... I was quite impressed... you could carry one under your arm and set wherever you want it, plus--did I mention the pictures were bright?? The plasma displays are bright too, but they don't do "black levels" very well yet... still, they are improving too The prices of these gizmos are way down from the last time I checked, too... and most of them can double as computer monitors, which, well duh, of course people will want that feature; what took them so long? I expect prices to drop even more by the time the analog channels go off the air... which was originally schedulled to happen in 2006... Truth to tell, I just don't watch that much TV... but "Survivor" in high-def would rawk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Sayers Posted July 8, 2005 Share Posted July 8, 2005 which was originally schedulled to happen in 2006... same here but it won't happen. cheers john Studio Design Forum Studios Under Construction Home Page Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John O. Lennon Posted July 8, 2005 Share Posted July 8, 2005 Don't doubt it; industry will force this change on those in the USA, if not JS, down OZ way. Stations won't maintain broadcasts in both formats. It's only delayed til enough of the market buys the new, mandated sets. Those who don't buy will be required to acquire decoders for their old-style sets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug osborne Posted July 8, 2005 Share Posted July 8, 2005 85,000 digital sets are sold every month in the US, rising to the point where 50% of the US should have a digital TV by 2008. The federal government wants the bandwidth taken up by analog TV broadcast for military reasons. They will get their wish - fairly or not. Congress is right now debating on whether to subsidise low-income citizens with free digital-to-analog cable boxes so they don't have to buy new digital sets. It seems like Motorola or someone else could make a low-cost barebones box for this purpose, and a few higher-end boxes to sell and make some profit. At home, I receive HD signals from Comcast through a box I rent from them - it converts all video to 480i that my non-HD TV can display, so I see HD content at DVD resolution, which is not bad (and with DVD quality sound - Dolby Digital Law and Order, etc.). This box has a hard disk recorder, so I rarely watch anything live. I don't have an HD-TV yet because I can't afford the set that I want, but they're getting cheaper. Circuit City, Best Buy, etc., are the worst places to get any actual information on cutting-edge technology, but I'm glad they can serve to spark interest in this new technology that we will get sooner or later. Doug Osborne Music on Bandcamp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super 8 Posted July 8, 2005 Share Posted July 8, 2005 Originally posted by doug osborne: The federal government wants the bandwidth taken up by analog TV broadcast for military reasons. They will get their wish - fairly or not. The federal government hasn't had to deal with my wife yet. Everytime I mention getting a new TV, that idea goes right out the window. Our 20" TV has got to be 17 years old. I'd love to have something that could accommodate a widescreen format, but I'm just not getting any female support 'round here. The odd thing is that she watches more TV than I do. She a "Lost" and "Crossing Jordan" fanatic. Me? All I care about is "The Daily Show", and "Adult Swim". I just don't see us making the bog switch any time soon. Super 8 Hear my stuff here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey Mouse Posted July 9, 2005 Share Posted July 9, 2005 I went HDTV when my 32" tube died the week of X-Mas and picked up at 30" widescreen Phillips tube HDTV for $640 at Costco (now a new model is $600). I went tube for 2 reasons, I didn't like LCDs and the DLP was way too big for my apartment. Honestly, since I used a video enhancing DVD to adjust the TV, I will put it up against any plasma for color and picture quality - I couldn't care less if it is "hip or cool" to own a plamsa, I didn't want to spend $3,000 for a low-end model. But the good thing is my cable provider, Comcast, set me up with a HDTV cable box with DVR for $15 extra a month. The DVR is very handy for dubbing to DVD-R and I get about 10 more channels (all in HDTV). Beats regular cable by a mile or twenty. My total cost for upgrqading to HDTV: 30" tube HDTV $650 Sony upconverting (to HDTV resolution) DVD player $250 - uses the HDMI input at full bandwidth Total $900 plus tax Live 6, Battery 3, Project 5, Atmosphere, Albino 2, Minimoog V, Oddity, Nord 2X, Proteus 2K ***I can't play for sh*t, but I can sequence like a muthaf*ck*r*** Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrancedelicBlues Posted July 10, 2005 Author Share Posted July 10, 2005 personally I would like to see tube HDTVs remain on the market. CRT technology has the benefit of years and years and many years of prior engineering art to draw upon... The best CRT TVs have beautiful pictures, and the best CRT computer monitors have amazing definition... I, for one, am not ready to give up on the old fashioned "picture tube" just yet... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odyssian Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 I agree. My (non-HD) 32" Sony CRT television (about 6 years old) actually looks better to me than the new HD rear projection sets. The plasma and LCD and DLP sets look much better, but I can't justify the price. Maybe when my CRT model dies, the prices for LCDs or LCOS will be cheap enough to reconsider. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheFunkman Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 "The best CRT TVs have beautiful pictures, and the best CRT computer monitors have amazing definition..." I was at the Grass Valley booth at this year's N.A.B. in Las Vegas. (They make TV switchers & other high-$ broadcast TV goodies.) At one of their news-editing suites was an HD LCD screen, which happened to be right next to a hi-def CRT. It was no contest. The CRT kicked the LCD's ass in any category you could care to name. "If more of us valued food, cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world." - J. R. R. Tolkien Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the stranger Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 Originally posted by doug osborne: The federal government wants the bandwidth taken up by analog TV broadcast for military reasons. They will get their wish - fairly or not.And it is not fair. The people deserve access to something. Yet, after the corporate media and the government get theirs, the people get nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henrysb3 Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 Originally posted by doug osborne: 85,000 digital sets are sold every month in the US, rising to the point where 50% of the US should have a digital TV by 2008. The federal government wants the bandwidth taken up by analog TV broadcast for military reasons. They will get their wish - fairly or not. So that's what it means: Halliburton Does TeleVision Henry He not busy being born Is busy dyin'. ...Bob Dylan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EoS Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 Originally posted by TrancedelicBlues: personally I would like to see tube HDTVs remain on the market. CRT technology has the benefit of years and years and many years of prior engineering art to draw upon... The best CRT TVs have beautiful pictures, and the best CRT computer monitors have amazing definition... I, for one, am not ready to give up on the old fashioned "picture tube" just yet... We've had a 36" Sony XBR HDTV (CRT) for several years now, and I still haven't seen anything that touches it. It was insanely expensive at the time, and it weighs 250lbs - but it's beeeaautiful! Enemy of Silence.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug osborne Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 Of course, a rear projection set compared to just about any other display will lose. It will not be long, probably three to four years, before flat panel displays of some sort become cheap enough to take over market share from CRTs. A CRT is heavy, inefficient, and bulky compared to a flat panel set - shipping cost alone (from the weight of the glass) will some day help CRTs lsoe their sales edge. My problem is that I have a 36" CRT (non-HD). Watching regular 4:3 TV, my picture is a certain height - to achieve this height, with a 16:9 set showing 4:3 content, will take a 55" display. My room makes it very difficult to control ambient light, so a RP is out. 55" panel sets still are way expensive. I'm saving my pennies. Doug Osborne Music on Bandcamp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrancedelicBlues Posted July 11, 2005 Author Share Posted July 11, 2005 Originally posted by doug osborne: It will not be long, probably three to four years, before flat panel displays of some sort become cheap enough to take over market share from CRTs.yeah, and they say macs will be running intel processors soon... what a world we live in... what a world... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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