[fluff] HD

[digitaldiscipline]

So, in my general torpor yesterday, I watched an usual (for me) amount of television. If nothing else, it gave me an opportunity to see what the HD fuss is about. Verizon's fiber-based service delivers 1080i, which basically means the picture is about twice as sharp as non-HD broadcast stuff.

Seat-of-the-pants viewing would lend credence to that estimate. Like, for the first couple of hours, the picture is *distractingly* sharp; we found ourselves not seeing the programming forest for the clarity of the trees.

So, once I started paying attention to what was on (football and National Geographic)... I'm glad that the five stations I watch with any regularity are on HD. ESPN & co, Discovery, Nat'l Geo, SUN sports (for local NHL coverage), the 4 national networks (and probably some other stuff that won't get used unless parents are visiting).

The combination of actual 16:9 incoming signal with the improved picture quality are definitely an improvement. I'll withhold final judgement on sports-watching until I see how hockey looks (it's a much more challenging sport to observe than football is, even as a skilled viewer; lots more change of direction, along with a wider area to be aware of to see the whole play). Nat'l Geo's CGI-heavy stuff about extinction, the origin of the moon, and so forth... I'd seen the OTA broadcasts of these a week or two ago, and the HD rendition is very, very impressive. I'll stop short of calling it "breathtaking," but not by a whole lot.

For you gaming geeks in the audience, it's like going from 800x600 to 1600x1280 without losing any framerate at all, and with all the bells and whistles get turned on.

[During the composition of this message, I finally got called back about Zim: seems that one of the 100 Amp main fuses blew, probably during one of the aborted attempts to jump-start it. They're getting a replacement in (none were in stock, it seems), at which point further diagnostics will be done to see what else, if anything, is amiss. I've been told to expect another call later.

Further update: A failed jump is the culprit behind the blown fuse, so I get to pay the stupidity tax for that. Amp, new battery, and labor will set me back about $200, but it'll be ready for me to retrieve this evening or tomorrow morning.]

Comments

HD

[tomakins.livejournal.com]

I have been playing the waiting game. Both for the HD technologies to get a little more standard and for my wallet to be able to handle it.

But if money weren't...as much of an object as it is right now, and if my current tube set ate itself...

1. I would have to have ALL of the stations I watch to be available in HD.

2. A clear winner in the HD-DVD/BluRay-DVD contest and a good 20-50 of my titles be able to be replaced with the high definition version.

3. The HD-TiVo will have to have the kinks worked out and price dropped below $500.

I got a laserdisc player back in the day because you could see a definite difference between it and VHS, there was no rewinding, and more titles were available in "special/director's editions/cuts" and in letterbox format.

Switched to DVD and saw a slight improvement (depending on the master, and mainly due to the limitations of a standard TV) but mainly liked the idea of having a menu and not having to flip the disk (for most titles).

But even for DVD I had to wait until I knew I could replace 50 of my laserdiscs with DVDs and to be sure that DiVx was going to fall flat on it's face and not confuse the movie studios and keep them from jumping onto DVD (like Fox and Paramount did).

So far I don't feel the pull toward HD content for at least another 2-3 years. But with prices constantly falling, and the realization that the TV I have right now won't last forever, I could see much of what I want to become available a bit sooner.

Re: HD

[etcet.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I wasn't planning on going this route for another several months (my original plan was to upgrade the TV for the NHL playoffs or next season), but the confluence of my TV starting to fail, my Xbox failing, FiOS being 30% cheaper than Bright House, and my parents' offer of assistance/insistence forced my hand somewhat.

Legitimately, all the channels I watch are in HD (for the handful of hours we spend watching broadcast television, including hockey), and we seldom watch DVDs (the 360 had a firmware/software update on 10/31, so it will output 1080 signal), so that's not an issue. The fact that the set itself does 1080p was more of a "nice to have" bit of future-proofing.

[trystbat.livejournal.com]

There has been much HD discussion at Casa de T&T bec. we (well, ok, I) watch a lot of TV. But I won't commit until the HD/Blu-Ray fight has been won bec. I don't want to be stuck in BetaMax mode when the rest of the world's moved on to VHS, despite the better picture quality. I'm also not letting him buy an HD video camera until that battle is decided for the same reason.

Also, I want to have enough money to buy new furniture & re-orient the living room into a prime viewing home-theater deal. I mean really, if I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna do it right *and* it's gonna look good!

[etcet.livejournal.com]

It's going to be a long time (2+ years, barring a massive influx of cash) before I jump from standard DVD to a next-gen player, so this wasn't even a factor for me.

My house is not optimally configured for anything much bigger than what we've got (37"); if capitalized Home Theater is to occur, that's a matter for building an addition or getting a new house to facilitate.

[ms-cantrell.livejournal.com]

love HD. the discovery channel has some great programming in HD, too - the Atlas series, where they do in depth looks at different countries, and this show, i think called daybreak, that is a HD recording of dawn somewhere really gorgeous, frequently involving random bear, deer, and/or water birds with almost too-real visual.

Halo 3 is stupendous in HD, from what i've seen so far. now, if only i could play halo 2 decently.

[etcet.livejournal.com]

The demo videos *are* pretty; I still haven't come anywhere near finishing H2, because it had the misfortune of coming out a week and a half before World of Warcraft (and I don't even know if the Xbox version is playable on the 360).

[ms-cantrell.livejournal.com]

i don't think any of the xbox games are playable on the 360, which really irritated me quite a bit. i've never played world of warcraft. i'll look it up.

[etcet.livejournal.com]

There's a list of the ones that port over on the xbox site, but i haven't committed it to memory. i -think- H2 is on the list of ones that do, but would need to check.

I preferred the original, myself, but that's just me.

[etcet.livejournal.com]

there's a list on the xbox web site of which ones are; i think h2 is, but would need to check (i preferred the original, myself).

WoW is a good way to lose a lot of free time. :-) it's also a handy way to socialize via what has been occasionally described as the prettiest interface for IRC ever.

[mighty-man.livejournal.com]

Even as much as I'm into being an audio and videophile, there isn't too much difference between 1080i and 1080p to the average eye at less than 50". I'm a tad disppointed that I don't have 1080p, but then again, for me to upgrade the TV and the receiver and the DVD player just to handle 1080p and HDMI would cost me $5k (net) easily. So at this point, I will probably not touch any of it until I get a new house and probably a projector (preferably a Runco which will cost a lot more than that by itself).

I agree that the HD DVD and Blu-Ray wars need to be settled before they can pick one or the other, but I should point out that *most* people aren't going to have the equipment to fully enjoy either -- namely a 7.1 surround system. And I definitely don't want to spend the premium on the discs. I already buy a couple movies every other week or so, so it'll start adding up quickly.

TiVo: Yeah, it'll be awhile before that. But I'm still having a difficult time justifying even the HD-DVR that I have. I only record 2 shows per week (and I've only watched one of those series since the beginning of the season). I may end up returning the unit (the service plus rental costs me like $15/mo) and going back to either a VCR or even a DVD burner.

Zim: Didn't we blow the big fuse on the Nissan Pickup truck a number of years back doing the exact same thing? But seriously, if you're walking out of the dealership for less than $200 for an installed battery, that's not too bad. I've got the 60k "do-everything" coming up on the Subaru.

[etcet.livejournal.com]

Damage was $206 for the battery, fuse, and labor.

And a much-needed car wash. ;-)