Going past a Comet store?

[Rave]

If so, and you've got 5 minutes to spare, pop in and have a look for this:

http://www.comet.co.uk/comet/html/cache/169_182974.html

A lot of the stores have demo units in stock, and they're connected up via DVI to a PC feeding it Hi-Def WMV9. The picture is stunningly good- I never believed an RPTV could look so amazing, but apparently DLP has transformed them. There seemed to be no viewing angle problems until I was at at least 45 degrees to the screen, the colours were spot on, contrast was great etc. It really is most impressive.

The feed they're giving it isn't all that great, there are still MPEG artifacts around letters etc. and it suffered from my pet hate which is jerky motion during camera pans, caused I guess by the bitrate being too low to allow for a sufficient number of keyframes. When the action slows down though the detail is amazing.

I wouldn't actually buy one right now, unless you have £2000 really burning a hole in your pocket, or you have one of those Hi-Def DVHS players from the states. As an indication of what we have to look forward to though in the HDTV future though, it's most encouraging.

Rich :¬)

[Skeps]

I would have to either move house or build an extention, just to fit that beast in my gaff

[Rave]

It's just over a foot deep, which is suprisingly slim if you ask me. Anyway, if you can afford the telly, you can afford an extension I reckon.

Rich :¬)

[iMc]

When is HDTV gonna make an impact here?

In 5-10 years will all TV broadcasts + new sets be HDTV?

[Stoo]

There's a rather good hdtv ready 42" plasma in my local hughes electrical for £2999, and that *does* look stunning

[spazman]

Isnt one of the reasons that Hi Def in europe hasnt take off is becuase it uses a weird standard compared to everywhere else. Like PAL and NTSC. I might be talknig rubbish though.

[Rave]

Not as far as I know. HDTP can be 1280x720 or 1920x1080 resolution, either interlaced or progressive- hence for example 720p for 1280x720 progressive scan. I don't know what the frame rate is, but I assume it's 60Hz.

There's actually a satellite HDTV channel operating in Europe called HD1.

http://www.hd-1.tv/

I think eventually the idea is that we'll get terrestrial HDTV broadcasts in the same way we get Freeview now. Sky plan to start HD broadcasting sometime next year- hopefully tellies like that one will have come down in price in the meantime.

Rich :¬)

[schmunk]

IMO, The real reason HDTV has caught on in the US and Japan (NTSC) but not yet in Europe (PAL) is that NTSC is relatively rubbish quality, so HDTV comes as a much greater improvement.

[Stoo]

hdtv is much higher resolution than either of them to be honest, I think it's more to do with the fact that there is a lot less competition in terms of broadcasting, eg cable & satellite in europe than there is in japan and the states.

[Alex]

Does HDTV mean that text (as in having an HTPC linked up to it) will finally be readable on a TV?

[Rave]

Should do, if you set it up correctly. Basically an HDTV with a digital input (like the Sagem linked above) just acts like a computer monitor with the same resolution (in this case 1280x720).

Anyway, I was looking on Amazon earlier, and the latest HD-ready D-VHS machines are less than $500, with D-Theater films going for $25-35 a pop- which IMO is a bargain to watch a film in gorgeous Hi-Def. Jammy american gits.

Rich :¬)

[Stoo]

I doubt d-vhs will ever make a comeback over here even if we get hdtv, it's more likely we'll have the fun Blu-Ray/DVD-HD minefield to deal with..

[Rave]

A comeback? It never even got started. I nearly procured one once, we had one sitting in our store for about a year priced at over a grand. Then one day the area manager was in our store, checked the price on the off chance because he was looking for a VCR, and they'd put it down to some stupidly cheap clearance price (like £200 or something) and he promptly snapped it up. B*stard- I bet he never even used it in digital mode.

Sorry, had to vent. It probably wouldn't have played D-Theatre tapes anyway, which would be my main reason for wanting one, so hey ho.

Rich :¬)