Future of HDTV?

[wuvhandles]

I have a few general questions about HDTV, was wondering what everyone else thought.

1. How long do you think it'll be till HDTV's price levels out. I.E do you think a few years down the road, all HDTV's will be as cheap as CRT tv's are now? Or do you think they'll always get small updates that will keep their cost somewhat at the level they are now (maybe a bit cheaper).

2. How long do you think till HDTV is outdated. I've seen articles about Future HDTV that is 4 times sharper than current HDTV. With cable companies bandwith restrictions & high cost, do you think it's reasonable to assume it won't be till 20 years later that "Super HD" really comes in effect?

3. Does anyone really notice much of a difference between 1080p and 1080i? Personally I don't. I think I'll continue to buy dvd's and just upscale them. BTW I'm using a 46inch Sharp Aquos 1080p.4ms responce time.

4. On here, everyone always disses Shaw saying they have poor quality for HDTV/regular tv compared to Satellite. I haven't tried their HDTV yet, but so far I'm pleased with their analog/SD channels. I'm only using S-Video (untill I get the hd box, I just bought my tv a couple days ago), I've read that using HDMI for the non hd channels makes them too sharp and brings out the artifacts more. Is it possible that those people who have bad picture with Shaw are using too high end cables? Or maybe just have a poor hdtv? (I.E one with a crappy comb filter)? I went to my friend's house who has a 32inch 1080i Sharp lcd tv and who has regular star choice using A.V cables and it looks crappy, everything has artifacts. Perhaps it's not fair for me to compare Shaw to Star choice when I'm using a cable a little bit superior to composite, but this struck me as odd considering A. My tv is quite a bit larger. B. He has satellite which I constantly hear is superior.


5. Does everyone think their HDTV purchase is worth it? I really loved my older 27inch crt, I mainly bought the big tv cuz I always wanted a big screen, plus I could :-p. While I'm pleased with the picture, I haven't experienced that "wow" effect others have. (Although I Was pleased with the price, $2599 for my tv, but then again, thats 10 times more than I paid for my crt )

Thanks!

[smnc]

1.)Well, you seem to be mixing 2 concepts. Flat panel LCD's and Plasmas and HDTV.
You can get HDTV CRT's. They're EXTREEMLY cheep now.
We'll continue to see flat screen prices drop for the next 12-18 months, although it will slowly start to level off. By then OLED tehnology should have caugt up and we'll get a BIG price drop on LCD's as OLED's become the new standard.
We won't see flat panels bottom out to the CRT price range until OLEDs are well established. That will probably be the last we'll see of CRTs (about 24-30 months from now)

2.) Well, We've had SDTV forever and a day... HDTV will probably be the standard for at least 20 years. I'm not saying new standards won't emerge, but I can't see anything replacing HDTV for at least that long.

3.) Not a huge difference between 1080i and 1080p, but there IS a huge difference between an upscaled 480p DVD and a 1080p source, ESPECIALLY on larger screens.

4.) Well, I can't speak about Shaw, but SDTV looks like crap all the time. LCD's (especially big ones) really highlight the crappyness of the SD picture.

5.) I was never really happy with my old 29"CRT.
Poor picture quality, bad connectivity to AV devices, and that anoying high-pitched whine common to all CRT's.
I LOVE my 32" LCD.
Watching upscaled DVD's makes me giggle. Flipping over to my PC screen mode and playing Half-Life 2 makes me want to cry, and the first time I watched a Blu-Ray movie I nearly crapped myself.

[wuvhandles]

Haha, I'm looking forward to hooking up my pc to my 46inch lcd, that should be sweet playing Counterstrike Source :-p
Yeah hopefully nothing really replaces hdtv for a while, it'd be a shame to spend a fair chunk of change on tv and have it be outdated asap. I guess considering how many few channels are actually HD, we still have so far to go.

[BCScott]

For a 30 day period a couple of years ago I had both Shaw cable and a Starchoice 401 (SD) receiver hooked up to my Sony KV40XBR800, a 40" CRT HDTV. On a direct comparison, channel for channel, there wasn't much difference with digital channels, but with Shaw analog channels there was huge difference. At that time, in our area, only the premium channels were digital with Shaw.
Also, with all due respect, the "wow" factor won't be seen if you don't have an HD source and proper cables yet.

[os]

Technically speaking HDTV is already obsolete. The quality of over compressed 1080i and 720p has already been surpassed by BR and HD-DVDs. The quality of the newer displays is not used at its full potential by the current method of signal distribution. So TV is obsolete. In the next decade it will be replaced by on demand broadband distribution. The client will choose the programs, the method of payment (viewing ads or direct payment) and the programs will be stored locally.
In 10 years, I expect 4 Megapixels and 8 Megapixels formats being the standard. The compression will achieve better results than today or the programs will not be compressed as much as today. The home broadband connection will be 1 Gbps (from the current 25 Mbps). The displays will gradually move in the next few years from 1080p to 4 Megapixels (currently available only in desktop 30" size), 8 and 16 Megapixels. The size of the displays will be much larger than today, as that resolutions will be useless on the tiny 50-60" displays that we are using today for 1080p. I expect the displays will come in multiple parts that will be assembled locally so that it will cover the whole viewing wall.
The customers will have to purchase new displays every 2 or 3 years (like computers today) in order to have the latest tech available. I expect the prices will be like today for computers ($3000-$4000 for the newest tech down to $100 for 4-5 year old tech).

[Terry Fraser]

There has to be a point where technology will hit the wall. Our eyes are only going to resolve so much resolution. What then. Me. I'm quite content with my Rogers HD box and my 51" CRT RPTV. Not the newest technology but in some ways still out performs my HD LCD.

[57]

In many instances we've already maxed out the eye resolution. See the attached report. Sure, on a huge screen, or if you're sitting really close, there's still room for improvement, but for most viewers, 720P, 1080i is perfectly adequate.

http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/hit...esolution.html

What's important is that the production values to into the original material. Look at how good HDNet, or some Discovery programmes look, when compared to "mediocre HD".

[DPEP]

1- I think we are getting close to leveling now. From what I noticed so far, the new 2007 models appear to sell at about the same price their predecessors were. I expect to see less and less of price wars since we are getting more and more accustomed to the high prices of these objecs.

2- HDTV is here for a long time and so is SDTV. Considering the huge differential in the levels of quality I noticed from various HD channels, I think the current level of our own HD TV technology is already miles and years ahead of current HD broadcasts. Actually, and to my own surprise, I started seeing SD broadcasts with a quality at par with so called HD channels. A recent movie comes to mind (The Big Red One), but I forgot the channel. The picture quality was outstanding. I have ExPressVu.

3- 1080p or 1080i is irrelevant. I don't watch pixels but programs, sports and movies.
If they are good, I don't care about the format.
I watched the Masters golf tournament last week-end in HD and it was incredibly beautiful. But I saw most of it on my old 27 in. and I enjoyed the game so much I didn't care about the tool I used for watching it.

5-I love my purchase. I just saw a baseball game in HD and it was g-r-e-a-t! Some programs in HD are technically outstanding and if they happen to be good too, they are a treat. But the current and future number of pixels will not make Adam Sandler a better actor, either on tv or on HD DVD, plain or blue.

[ishoong]

I paid $3000+ for my 36" Sony Wega 9yr ago and
I paid $3000 for my 61" Toshiba SD CRT RPTV 8yr ago and
I paid $4000 for my 62" Toshiba 720p DLP 2 yr ago and
I paid $3000 for my 40" Samsung LCD 1.5yr ago and
I am planning to get a 50" plasma for ~$3000

So it always not cheap to get latest technology when it is hot! and now my old Sony Wega looks like crap and my 61" old school Toshiba RPTV is totally unacceptable.

[wuvhandles]

One must ask if spending that much money on television is wise, but I guess if you've got it, flaunt it

[Terry Fraser]

Originally Posted by DPEP

3- 1080p or 1080i is irrelevant. I don't watch pixels but programs, sports and movies.
If they are good, I don't care about the format.
I watched the Masters golf tournament last week-end in HD and it was incredibly beautiful. But I saw most of it on my old 27 in. and I enjoyed the game so much I didn't care about the tool I used for watching it.

Exactly. As long as the quality is not bad enough to distract me then I will be involved in what ever I'm watching and not thinking about how great PQ or audio is. I remember my first exposure to HD was a bit distracting as I was always thinking how great it was. Or how big the new 51" screen was that I just got. After a month of watching those novelties wear off and you don't even think of it anymore. I think always investing in the newest technology is a wast of money and mostly benefits those selling the technology.

[Walter Dnes]

Originally Posted by ishoong

I paid $3000+ for my 36" Sony Wega 9yr ago and
I paid $3000 for my 61" Toshiba SD CRT RPTV 8yr ago and
I paid $4000 for my 62" Toshiba 720p DLP 2 yr ago and
I paid $3000 for my 40" Samsung LCD 1.5yr ago and
I am planning to get a 50" plasma for ~$3000

Remember MACHRONE'S LAW? Item 3 at http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/careers...icleId=n120403 : "The PC you want to buy will always be $5000".

I hereby proclaim "ishoong's law"... "The HDTV you want to buy will always be $3000".

[mrdeeds]

If that is the case, then my law would be around $1,500.00.

[RichieBoy]

I am focused on a Pioneer Elite Plasma. Yes 1080p is distinguishable from 1080i but will be more so when the broadcast signal is also bumped up to 1080p.

The price for HD is levelling off it will go maybe 50% lower in a couple of years but the better models perhaps not as far. Then it will be just like computers. The price will gradually drop but the bigger change will be advances in technology each year to take advantage of the fatter broadband which networks are struggling to provide right now.

The OLED displays are slowly filitering through but development is in growing pains for a few years yet. The buzz right now is 1080p and Panny has just announced mid range Plasmas in your price range but whether it's NATIVE 1080p I don't know, it makes a difference though! Sharp is tinkering with 3D they have a laptop that does just that but have not heard much rumblings so doubt how convincing it is. The next stop on the technology train to me looks like holography where you can view the weather girl from the back or the front depending on what you find more interesting... even early adopters like you might have to wait for that one LOL! Imagine the bandwidth issues with this sort of HD!!!

Shaw hitchhikes off of Bell signals it will never be as sharp as Bell or as good in choice. HDTV down your telephone line is coming soon but Bell weirdly enough will be late to adopt this form of HD. They want to see what everyone else charges then undercut everyone like satellite technology Not sure that is ther ebest method of deployment but there you go business is slow sometimes and often left out of the market when they drag there feet.

If you have Shaw (many must yet like me) Future Shop HD boys all insist the standard HD box is clearer than the PVR if your a purist. The PVR is a trade off in user friendliness coupled with SLIGHT but distinguishable resolution degradation. Being an early adopter as I suspect you are, compare before you throw down all that dinero for your cable box.

For me I still like Plasma for the buck but I am into natural flesh tones and authentic green grass not painted like cheaper plasmas or LCD's that blind you with brightness and contrast. To each his own Good Luck!

Best... Rich

[lgplasma]

I would like to see panels that use less energy but produce brighter and deeper colours. Unfortunately, the future is 1440p or 2160p and 70+ inches with poor black levels and limited colour gamut. Pixels and inches are what sells, not overall image quality and total cost of ownership.