[Fry1989]

All channels will be available in wide-screen format by the end of the decade

They all should NOW! Europe started conversion in the 90s and Australia and New Zealand fully converted in 2001.

 

[tofinoguy]

They all should NOW! Europe started conversion in the 90s and Australia and New Zealand fully converted in 2001.

There are far fewer channels available in most areas of Europe. I assume Australia/New Zealand is the same.

Here's a list of channels available on the leading Spanish satellite provider: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_channels_on_Digital+
There's 16 HD channels.

 

[Fry1989]

There are far fewer channels available in most areas of Europe. I assume Australia/New Zealand is the same.

I'm not talking about HD, I'm talking about 16:9 SD. There's no excuse for all channels HD and SD to not be 16:9, except when showing older programmes in their original aspect ratio.

 

[ScaryBob]

Blame consumers as well. According to one installer on the forum, the majority of new satellite receivers being installed are still SD. Most Canadians either don't care about HD or don't want to pay for it.

 

[reidw]

@scarybob: I have a theory about why some people buy an HD TV but don't hook up to any HD programming. Have we all made a bad assumption concerning why HDTVs are selling? Instead of it being about the desire to have better picture quality, is it just really about the wide screen? Is the aspect ratio of an HDTV its big selling point not the PQ? It looks good and impressive in your home especially on the wall. Could that explain this rather strange situation? Are those of us here at DHC who agonize over PQ to the point sometimes of absurdity just a small minority?

(To the moderator. If you feel that this question would be better as a new thread please don't hesitate to move it).

 

[Fonceur]

Instead of it being about the desire to have better picture quality, is it just really about the wide screen? Is the aspect ratio of an HDTV its big selling point not the PQ?

It has nothing to do with the aspect ratio and everything to do with the fact that there isn't much else available by now... Just consider how many people are stretching a 4:3 SD image to fit their 16:9 HDTV...

 

[Fry1989]

Just consider how many people are stretching a 4:3 SD image to fit their 16:9 HDTV...

Oh yes, the beloved "stretch-o-vision"

 

[JamesK]

It has nothing to do with the aspect ratio and everything to do with the fact that there isn't much else available by now...

I don't know where you are, but in Mississauga, on Rogers, there are plenty of HD channels. In fact there's only one channel, out of all that I watch regularly that's still SD only. Even TVO is HD on Rogers. Of course, there's still room for improvement. Outside of CP24, which I watch for local news, I don't watch anything that's not on a HD channel.