Quality is actually job 4
TV makers are in the midst of a renaissance, thanks to HDTV--too bad that renaissance is drug-induced. Those companies look at the 107 million U.S. homes with a TV and see customers ready to buy a new HDTV. But there are a couple of little problems.

First, HD accomplishes the impossible: It takes the most stable and developed of all consumer electronics--TV--and makes it hard again:
720p vs. 480i vs 1080i
Digital vs. analog vs. HDTV
HDMI vs. DVI vs. component
Oy vs. ay caramba vs. dammit
Then there's the high cost and the relative lack of programming.

And finally, there's the quality myth, the idea that consumers adopt new technologies for better fidelity--doesn't work that way.

The compact disc would not have succeeded if it just sounded better. It was the small size, the random access, the resistance to degradation, and the better sound that made it a hit--same goes for DVD.

But I think HDTV is largely stuck in the quality ghetto; the current sets don't promise much else for your money. Drop in a built-in DVR, integrated Wi-Fi, or a home media server and you have my attention.
(c) Brian Cooley



Пользуется уже кто-нибудь HDTV? Правда ли, что как пишет автор, разницы большой между существующим диджитал ТВ и HDTV практически нет?