2006-12-11 14:17![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
digitaldiscipline
digitaldisciplineSo, 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.]
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.]
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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!
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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.