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Deja Q Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Feb-02-07 11:18 AM
Original message
Why was HDTV invented?
Because nobody wanted to dust their standard glass tv sets and the dust makes the image look worse than what it truly is. :evilgrin:

I'm off to dust my tv set...
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ZombieNixon Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Feb-02-07 11:21 AM
Response to Original message
1. Actually, it's to force all of us to buy new TVs at extortionate prices,
just to view the two or three programs we watch regularly, because the TV manufacturers want to rape you for cash. x( Thanks a lot FCC. :banghead:
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Deja Q Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Feb-02-07 11:22 AM
Response to Reply #1
2. True, but reality sucks.
And not in a good way.

Actually, LCD systems use less electricity and generate less heat than glass CRTs. They currently cost more to make, however. And the way they make CRTs these days, they won't last any longer either. (pity the backlight mechanisms can't be easily replaced, but we are a disposable society...)
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ZombieNixon Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Feb-02-07 11:55 AM
Response to Reply #2
4. Oh, I agree completely that the technology is better.
Edited on Fri Feb-02-07 11:55 AM by ZombieNixon
The problem is that it's not affordable (and intentionally so), and it was a conscious decision to set an arbitrary cutoff date beyond which no other system will be useful, thus causing prices on the newer system to jump further, and doubly screwing the average Joe. x(
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dr.strangelove Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Feb-02-07 12:15 PM
Response to Reply #4
7. You know a converter will let you use your old tube TV, right?
You don't need to buy a new TV when the signal conversion takes place, just a converter at Radio Shack or whatever store you choose.
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ZombieNixon Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Feb-02-07 12:21 PM
Response to Reply #7
12. I heard most of those fuck with the image
and make it look you're watching PAL on NTSC. This true? :shrug:
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dr.strangelove Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Feb-02-07 01:25 PM
Response to Reply #12
21. I suppose it depends on the quality of the product
Also, consider who is telling you that the signal will degrade. I imagine it is someone who makes money off the sale or servicing of televisions. I have a digital converter on the TV in my bedroom and have no signal quality issues. It cost me $75 or so a few years ago. I think they are less expensive now.
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TommyO Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Feb-02-07 12:00 PM
Response to Reply #1
5. When you account for inflation, HDTVs cost less
than an 18" Sears color TV with remote control did in 1971. Said TV, shown here:



was $429.95, in 2005 that was the equivalent of $2045.37 (2005 was the latest year I could find in the inflation calculator).

What will that same money buy you today? You could easily buy a 42" Panasonic Plasma TV, a few cables, throw in sales tax, and still be under that $2045.37.
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ZombieNixon Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Feb-02-07 12:20 PM
Response to Reply #5
10. But when you account for wage differentials,
purchasing power has gone down. Sorry, I don't have exact figures, but I do know that the PP of someone making $30,000/year or less (2007 dollars) has gone down that of someone making the equivalent in the 1970s. :(
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TommyO Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Feb-02-07 12:35 PM
Response to Reply #10
14. You're right about that
I make a fairly good living, but I know that my parents lived better than I did on a combined salary that wasn't close to what I'm making now.

That said, when I get my bonus in March, one of those wonderful Panasonic plasmas may just make an appearance in my living room, or possibly a more energy efficient LCD TV.
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ZombieNixon Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Feb-02-07 12:37 PM
Response to Reply #14
15. Nice. Good luck with that.
:D Personally, I'm saving up for a second laptop. :P
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TommyO Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Feb-02-07 01:09 PM
Response to Reply #15
16. Good luck with that as well
I want to add a Macbook Pro to my collection, but that will have to wait a bit.
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Deja Q Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Feb-02-07 01:15 PM
Response to Reply #5
18. Damn. Very true...
And very ironic that a color TV ad is printed in black'n'white... :rofl:

I think tvs today should be advertised in black'n'white...
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One_Life_To_Give Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Feb-02-07 05:01 PM
Response to Reply #5
29. But that 42in Plasma's not portable at that price
How much more are you going to spned to make that 42in portable and to have the "Instant On" feature? Not to mention that your 42in Plasma probably doesn't even include a set of Rabbit Ears!


:sarcasm:
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TommyO Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Feb-02-07 07:40 PM
Response to Reply #29
31. I guess I'll have to suffer from being stuck to my sofa!
It's a sacrifice that I'll just have to learn to live with.
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michaelwb Donating Member (285 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Feb-02-07 11:23 AM
Response to Original message
3. Actually
It was to help free the masses from the burden excess spending money and to insure they don't waste their free time on silly things - like social interaction and participatory democracy.
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mainegreen Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Feb-02-07 12:05 PM
Response to Original message
6. To convince you that you shouldn't use your already rather high def monitor to watch stuff.
1280X1024 @ 32 bit 23" for 300 dollars. Now why do I need to buy a high def tv again?
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Torgo Johnson Donating Member (797 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Feb-02-07 12:16 PM
Response to Original message
8. So people can have the unique experience..
of being able to see the boogers in the noses of their favorite stars.
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Deep13 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Feb-02-07 12:19 PM
Response to Original message
9. Too see the same old crap in mind-blowing resolution.
Same reason color TV was invented.
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Deja Q Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Feb-02-07 01:15 PM
Response to Reply #9
19. Not all tv is crap...
But if the mainstream is the target audience, crap is what it's going to be.
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DainBramaged Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Feb-02-07 12:20 PM
Response to Original message
11. HD TV, invented to keep the factories pumping
Just another way to pick our pockets. I'm almost blind in one eye so HD doesn't mean shit to me (and most other old farts). My 8 year old 32" glass tube panasonic is just fine thank you, and I won't pay my cable company $10 plus $7.65 a month for box rental for "digital" cable.
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Lydia Leftcoast Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Feb-02-07 01:13 PM
Response to Reply #11
17. I don't think any more TVs are manufactured in the U.S.
But the Japanese (or mostly their mainland Asian factories) are still cranking them out.

Japna is about as saturated with electronics as you can get. (When I was there in the 1970s, most people had three or four TVs already.) That's why they keep inventing new stuff that people will rush out and buy.

I don't mind that, but I DO mind that my old TV isn't going to work after 2009 with a set-top converter.
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TommyO Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Feb-02-07 03:03 PM
Response to Reply #17
28. If you have cable TV, you won't need another box,
it's over-the-air broadcasts that will be impacted. If you're using rabbit ears or an aerial antenna (I love those old-fashioned terms) that's where you'll need a converter.
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Sen. Walter Sobchak Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Feb-02-07 07:55 PM
Response to Reply #17
33. The last TV factory in America closed a few years ago
Five Rivers Electronics, who manufactured televisions for Samsung and Phillips in Tenn. went bankrupt after Phillips pulled their business. The company still exists - but they aren't doing much of anything.
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DainBramaged Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Feb-02-07 08:05 PM
Response to Reply #33
34. There was a Sanyo factory that made TV for WalMart in Arkansas too
China trumps everything.
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Left Is Write Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Feb-02-07 12:34 PM
Response to Original message
13. Because people like looking inside other people's pores.
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Deja Q Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Feb-02-07 01:30 PM
Response to Reply #13
22. So when do you think HDTV blu-ray porno will be available?
Edited on Fri Feb-02-07 01:31 PM by HypnoToad
:evilgrin:

:yoiks:

(BTW: To my understanding, porno movies in the 1970s were called "blue movies", is that correct?)
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mikeytherat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Feb-02-07 01:53 PM
Response to Reply #22
24. Only HD-DVD porno - no blu-ray
http://news.yahoo.com/s/zd/20070119/tc_zd/199033

Oh, and the stars aren't really happy about all of the increased resolution. Apparently, it is less than flattering...

mikey_the_rat
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Deja Q Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Feb-02-07 01:59 PM
Response to Reply #24
25. Less than flattering?
Awww.... I had no idea low-def wieners looked larger... :crazy:
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blogslut Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Feb-02-07 02:04 PM
Response to Reply #22
26. Blu Ray will die
Sony is making the same mistake it made with Beta. They are refusing to allow the manufacture of porn on Blu Ray disks. In the meantime, HD-DVD costs less to produce, has slighly less storage capacity than Blu-Ray and is backwards compatible.

Take a guess which format will win?
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Left Is Write Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Feb-02-07 05:34 PM
Response to Reply #22
30. They still are, as far as I know.
:)
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Burma Jones Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Feb-02-07 01:17 PM
Response to Original message
20. Football
I like my HDTV.......
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Solon Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Feb-02-07 01:40 PM
Response to Original message
23. All I know is that I'm not buying one till MY SDTV dies...
Its almost 5 years old now, so I guess I'm not going to buy an HDTV for another 5 years, at least.
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baldguy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Feb-02-07 02:05 PM
Response to Original message
27. To replace all the $200 TVs with brand-spanking new $2000 TVs
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Sen. Walter Sobchak Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Feb-02-07 07:45 PM
Response to Original message
32. I swear this is true... Donald Rumsfeld...
The person behind HDTV is Donald Rumsfeld and he believed America could regain dominance in electronics with the HDTV format, over the Japanese HD proposal that was analog but double the resolution of NTSC.

Well... the American HD standard did carry the day, but I think there is one HDTV factory in the entire USA.
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