HDTV Not Ready
Dear Gary:
I have been reading Widescreen Review for many years and have kept every issue. I used the information you provided to build my own home theatre, right down to the special blue filter over my fluorescent light behind my TV that shines on my neutral gray paint on the walls. Thanks for keeping up the good work.
I wanted to offer a personal note on my view of the state of HDTV. I just recently jumped on the HDTV bandwagon after years of being underwhelmed by both the off-the-shelf capabilities of consumer HDTVs and available HD programming. I have to say that I remain underwhelmed. HDTV, in general, appears to be a mess. The multitude of broadcast formats and the high-definition optical disc format wars create nothing but confusion for the consumer and hesitation to purchase anything. Most available programming provided by cable, etc. is still standard-definition, and it continues to look best on a $500 standard-definition TV, instead of the $2,000+ HDTV. I would rather see DVDs and broadcasters providing formats that actually match the televisions that are being sold to consumers, primarily 1080p and 768p (not 720p). It seems to me that the real battle that is being ignored isn’t HD DVD versus Blu-ray Disc, but for most consumers it’s Standard-Definition versus High-Definition.
I was an early adopter of DTS® and lived through the quirks of the first hardware implementations of that format. Even now I view HDTV as being in an early adopter phase. Other than live broadcasts of sporting events in HD, I see little reason to encourage anyone to switch to HDTV at this time. With the upcoming changes to the HD interface, formats, DVD players, and refresh rates, it seems what you buy today will be short lived.
Dan Gregory
Editor-In-Chief Gary Reber Comments:
I do agree with you on the fact that the time period to obsolescence is becoming shorter and shorter with respect to source and processing formats and products. There is certainly the need and demand for ever more high-definition content delivered via broadcast and disc. This will surely come in time as more and more people adopt HD displays, expecting HD content on every channel and disc.
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