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Summary verdict: Frickin’ unreal.The cable guy showed up right on time @ 3 p.m. and by 3:30 I was watching some gardening show on PBS in high def that looked like I could reach out with my weed whacker and do some trimming myself. The colors, dimensionality and depth are simply amazing. When my 3-year-old daughter got home, we watched a show about elephants filmed in Africa that was stunning for both its scenery and the detail of the animals and landscape. When an elephant reached for the camera with its trunk, I swear to God it was almost as if you could reach out and touch it. Later that evening, my wife and I watched "CSI Miami" in HD and the blood guts & gore of that show took on a nauseating new realness.
All NFL games except those on Fox are in high-def (and I imagine Fox will probably go that route soon) as well as any college games on the “regular” network channels. NBA, Olympics, and other major sporting events on the networks will also be in high-def. Plus I’ve heard rumors that ESPN is planning to start a 24-hour HDTV network. We’ll see.
BTW, the set-top box is a Pioneer with a digital coax audio out. I'm getting about 1/2 of my HDTV programming in Dolby ProLogic, the other half in Dolby Digital (mostly HBO channels).
Since there is no difference between a regular digital cable STB and HDTV STB, it's a no-brainer. I eagerly await the day when more and more HDTV channels and programming come on line ...
ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT:
-Panasonic 47WX49 16x9 HDTV-capable widescreen
-Panasonic RP91 DVD player
-Yamaha HTR-5150 A/V receiver
-KEF Q15 mains, Q95C center, JBL N24 surrounds, Paradigm PDR-10 sub
-Qudos and DH Labs speaker & IC cabling
Follow Ups:
of local US cities with DTV channels for whoever is interested.
I live in Northern NJ and Cablevision only provides four HD channels. However, watching the NY Mets on Fox Sports HD is so great I can hardly believe my eyes sometimes (now if they can just win some games). There have been times when people were over and I had an HD channel on and they looked so confused...like they have never seen TV before.I cannot agree with Dalancroft more in his statement....I eagerly await the day when more and more HDTV channels and programming come on line ...
The three networks, plus PBS, plus HBO, plus Discovery. Discovery, in particular, broadcasts animal shows with absolutely stunning cinematography ...
I find myself watching PBS shows I'd never paid any attention to before, like Tracks Ahead and The Desert Speaks just to marvel at the quality of the images. The "Over" shows are incredible (Over America, etc)-filmed from helicopters using HDTV cameras. Watched one on Chicago the other night-you could easily imagine you were in the chopper, looking out at the Sears tower.Football is flat out amazing-the playoff games on CBS last season had the most amazing PQ I've ever seen, bar none. Lots to choose from this season, too-Monday Night Football goes hi-def this year, and ESPN-HD will show the Sunday night games in HDTV as well.
"A little government and a little luck are necessary in life, but only a fool trusts either of them".
-P. J. O'Rourke
I'm a big football fan -- watch out for our Chargers, with O'Neal busting holes for Tomlinson and Brees having Boston to toss passes to -- so that's great news.I especially love the Discovery channel's HDTV broadcasts since I'm a nature lover/explorer/traveler and I have a three-year-old at home.
My new HDTV will be here on Friday, had to repaint the livingroom for the wife so that it would "match" (whatever). The local cable provider (Cox) is "hinting" that they will be offering Hi-Def this fall...so I'm going to wait on a HD/STB decision until then. (DSS vs cable)Or maybe if I could just get a cheapo over-the-air unit for now.One thing about HD programming is it can only get better!
How much more is the Hi-Def service costing a month?
That's the beauty. A digital set-top box is $5.95 a month to lease, the HDTV set-top box is ... $5.95 a month. Since I would need to lease a box anyway (for movies on demand, digital music, etc.) I figured why not go whole hog? Only cost me some extra $$$ to have a cable line installed which I needed anyway.
What I've heard round here, is "extra equipment will have to be purchased". The local A/V stores are the ones advertising this right now which leads me to believe they just might be able to supply that "extra equipment"when the time arrives. The way technology is changing now, not sure if owning a STB is better than leasing.
Yeah, six bucks is a bit much, but I figure with set-top boxes running $300-500, that's 4-5 years of leasing -- by which time technology may have changed and I can upgrade with one phone call to the cable co.
...but don't you have to pay 'extra' per month for to receive HDTV programming?
Whether it's digital cable or HDTV, it's all part of the package price. TimeWarner in my area (San Diego) offers "paks" of programming (sports, movies, "diverse" channels such as History, Discover, digital music, etc.). When you buy the full-on "pak" with everything, you get HDTV as well. No extra charge other than the monthly fee, which I believe is $54.95 for two sets ...
We have Comcast (was AT&T Broadband) here in the Denver area. I believe they *just* started offering HDTV within the past month or two. I'll have to call and see if their monthly price is competitive with yours down in San Diego... Otherwise, I may just go with satellite. Thanks.
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