HDTV - A bit of guidance please....

[shaithis]

Originally Posted by BubbySoup

There are plenty of places to source HD material other than waiting for Sky.

and how would you play these illegally downloaded sources without a PC connected?

As I said, they will be the first non-PC HD Sources......

[5lab]

besides, i've not seen a tv show on the net thats actually been stored in hdtv format..

[Nick F]

Originally Posted by 5lab

besides, i've not seen a tv show on the net thats actually been stored in hdtv format..

Check out your closest Curry's or Dixons they should have stuff running

[BubbySoup]

Originally Posted by shaithis

and how would you play these illegally downloaded sources without a PC connected?

As I said, they will be the first non-PC HD Sources......

Erm, why do you assume my sources are illegal?

There are several sites selling legal HD stuff - try amazon.de for starters.

The point being not everyone is sitting around with their HDTV and not watching HD stuff.

[Funkstar]

I'm pretty sure there are some HD chanels available if you get non-Sky satelite. the BBC has definitely run some test broadcasts, but i think ther are now HD chanels somewhere.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/broadcasting/hdtv/ is a pretty good source of info, for whats coming, but i don't know for sure what is available yet.

National Geographic and Discovery chanels whould be fantastic in HD

oh yeah, the BBC have also said that all programing will be shot in HD by 2010

[Spud1]

Definitely wait until HDTV has been standardised and you can be sure of what your getting for your money. Right now it seems that no-one is entirely sure what will happen, manufacturers cannot/will not guarentee full compatability...so buying anything now or even in the next few months is taking a big risk.

Someone mentioned CRTs - does anyone know if there will be any that will support HDTV? I ask because no matter what anyone says about LCD/Plasma a top end flatscreen has never beaten a top end CRT when I have looked at them. Viewing angles, colour definition, picture quality when up close, all these things have massivly improved in the last few years but they are still well behind a realyl high end CRT system, and I think it will be years before it is worth making the switch to LCD etc. So I am hoping that there will be some CRT HDTV solutions for me and my fellow luddites

As for current HDTV programming...well any US hexites would be able to advise us better on that since theres plenty of HDTV programming over there Plus there are demo videos on microsofts website, and some 'adult' websites are apparently offering HDTV content..read it on slashdot a few months back, go search if you want more (or ask googlie )

[BubbySoup]

Hmm, i would have to disagree with you there regarding CRT tubes, bar the viewing angles of which CRT is still king.

As for them being HD, it's kind of hard as a CRT is purely an analogue source so supporting a defined res is kinda tricky. They do natively support interlaced HD modes but you will get people arguing that CRT's can never be true HD as they do not support the exact resolutions required.

For me personally, I have yet to see a CRT come anywhere near my HD LCD screen when playing a HD source - apart from viewing it at an angle

[directhex]

Originally Posted by Spud1

Right now it seems that no-one is entirely sure what will happen, manufacturers cannot/will not guarentee full compatability

i think the "hd ready" logo is meant to get rid of the confusion. Sky's HD service seems to like HD Ready anyway. EICTA finalised what that meant in january, and people are taking it pretty seriously.

http://www.eicta.org/press.asp?level...2005&docid=398
http://hd.sky.com/default.aspx?id=4&pg=2

[5lab]

Originally Posted by BubbySoup

Hmm, i would have to disagree with you there regarding CRT tubes, bar the viewing angles of which CRT is still king.

contriversial point, but i dont think most people agree with you.. for the money, crt is definately on top - many less visual artifacts.

Originally Posted by BubbySoup

As for them being HD, it's kind of hard as a CRT is purely an analogue source so supporting a defined res is kinda tricky. They do natively support interlaced HD modes but you will get people arguing that CRT's can never be true HD as they do not support the exact resolutions required.

erm thats nonsense. what do you think a normal pc monitor does? a crt can actually support native resolutions BETTER than anything else, as it can support more than 1 res - a lcd or plasma can only support 1 native res, thus not support both 1080i and 720p naitively.

i dont think any crt exists which will truely do 1080i (the technology gets limited by the acuracy of phospher guns or some such) but several have enough umph to do 720p, they just dont do it as there is no investment in large crts any more - consumers want the sexyness of a flatscreen. I spent just under a grand on the best package i could get a month ago, and for my money, i got a 36" crt.

rear projection is a good, cheap all rounder for hd. you can get 42" dlp sets for £1500, and they blow any other hdtv format out of the water for that money.either way, i'd wait (as i have). 1 source (xbox 360) is not, imho, worth spending all that extra cash on. once there is a definate winner in the next-gen media war, along with format war (1080 or 720?) i will be upgrading - i personally think 720 will win it - the cost difference to the consumer is vast (i've not actually seen a 1080 screen yet - i know a few exist though), and in 3 years, if 95% of consumers only have a 720p set, i think i know what nearly all programs will be broadcast in. you've gotta remember that widescreen has been around for ~10 years now, and i would estimate that around 50% of all shows are still shown in 4:3.