Is it me or is HD really lacking right now? (1 Viewer)

[LaMarcus]

Now don't get me wrong, HDTV technology is wonderful, HDTVs are excellent, but the HDTV programming leaves something to be desired.

Now, the prime time programming is good (if your in to those kind of shows). I like Law & Order, CSI Las Vegas, Sopranos, but other than that it's like...eh.

Now sports looks great, NCAA tourney was sweet, playoffs look sweet, other than that what is there that you'd actually give a damn about watching?

I mean,, how many times can you watch freaking bugs or animals on discovery hd? INHD/INHD2 shows the same thing over and over again and most of the time it's boring.

HDNET and HD theater show movies that are 10+ years old, I mean it's like what's the use? Sometimes I feel like I have a HDTV for nothing.

Ok rant over, anybody else wanna complain?

 

[Rob Gardiner]

Do you have an HTPC or a DVD player with a scaler? This will upscale your discs into whatever resolution you need. Not nearly as good as native HD material, but far, far superior to watching them in stinky old Standard Def.

 

[Adam Tyner]

Have you looked at Voom? They have a pretty ample selection of HD material, although I haven't seen a demo of their services and don't know what the material looks like. Their original channels seem to be weighted towards older or more obscure movies, but I am completely smitten with the lineup of their 'Monsters' channel and would consider subscribing for that alone.

I'm looking at buying an HDTV (I think I might have to force myself to wait till October; I'm a direct-view CRT fan, and Sony's 36SX955 is looking pretty appealing), and no one has much that looks appealing to me other than Voom. My local cable provider, Charter, only has a few channels -- an NBC affiliate, HDNet Movies, HDNet, ESPN HD, HBO HD, and Showtime HD.

DirecTV has ESPN HD, Discovery HD, HDNet Movies, HDNet, HBO HD, Showtime HD, a high-def PPV, Spice, and a CBS affiliate from New York. (I don't know if CBS is available for all subscribers or just those in certain areas.)

The only difference between Dish and DirecTV's offerings, I believe, is that Dish doesn't have Spice, but they do have TNT HD (even though TNT is showing only upscaled stuff, aside from the already-finished rounds of the NBA playoffs, I believe). Dish claims that's "more high defintion than you can handle". Right.

Aside from their proprietary offerings, Voom has almost everything listed above (no CBS, no Spice, no PPV, no HDNet/HDNet Movies), with Starz HD, Cinemax HD, Bravo HD, TMC HD, Encore HD, and Playboy HD on top of that. There's a full list on their site. If the ancient stuff on HDNet grates on your nerves, I don't think Voom's exclusive channels would be of much interest to you, but I figure between all those channels, there's something I'd want to watch on at any given time. Voom will also set you up with an antenna to catch local channels, although it's pretty ugly, and at least in my area, I guess I only have one station churning out HD.

Again, "Monsters" -- I was looking at their lineup one week, and in the space of a few days, they were showing Night of the Demons, Troll 2, and The Gate. On Sunday, The Hills Have Eyes, Madman, My Bloody Valentine, The Burning, and Slumber Party Massacre are airing. I swear, it's like I was programming it!.

I've seen a bunch of complaints about image quality, incompetent installers, dearth of programming...I'm not sure how many of these have been resolved or will be resolved soon. It'd be nice to have an animation channel that actually has series I've heard of, for instance. I've convinced a co-worker who recently bought an HD set to give Voom a shot, and if it goes well, maybe I'll hop onboard when I get my new set in a few months. I'm not sure how realistic that is because the satellite would more than likely be pointing out into my backyard, which is practically a forest, with trees in every direction and towering over my house.

 

[LaMarcus]

If in fact this is the case then forget about Voom. Because I tried to get it about 2 weeks ago and he said the signal wouldn't make it past my trees. I see Voom as the best thing going, just wish I could get it. I'll have to top off my trees.

 

[Lew Crippen]

I’m not sure what you want to be in HD, LaMarcus. Pretty much everything in prime time (on the six major networks) already is. Most big time sports is in HD (or will be soon). HBO and Showtime both have HD offerings, as does ESPN.

For sure I’d like TCM, FMC , IFC and Sundance to all be in HD, but I expect that is going to be a very, very long time coming.

I don’t care that much if the ‘talking head’ shows ever convert. For example, Leno is on HD now, but my wife still puts on Letterman.

Give me more sports in HD and 100% prime time and I’ll be happy. And that is close to reality now.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

As long as they keep the logos on the screen, I have zero interest in broadcast HDTV. I won't watch 2.35 movies cropped on cable channels either.

 

[LaMarcus]

I feel Jesse's pain. I don't even bother with HBO etc hd because of the cropping, and the DD dosen't sound the same to me as it does on dvd so.....

But if sports could be 100% HD that would be awesome!!

 

[Todd Terwilliger]

In regards to HBO, it's their original program that I love, not the movies. They all look great in HD

 

[Hanson]

Yep, HD prime time is kind of lacking, considering some the highest rated shows (Friends, Survivor, W&G, etc) weren't in HD. But I have two HD cards and can find something to record every night, so I can't really complain. Even 4:3 material looks leaps and bounds better than SD recorded on Tivo.

Come this Septenber, it's going to kick into high gear. FOX will be broadcasting 13 of 15 Sunday Giants games in 720p and ABC picks up the Monday Nighter (also in 720p). So I am now planning to purchase a third HD card.

Also, if you have MyHD, you can scale DVD to 1080i, and it looks stunning. Looks about as good as 720p scaled to 1080i.

 

[Lew Crippen]

I agree with that for widescreen, but I find the 1.85:1 movies perfectly OK.

 

[Tim Markley]

It's definitely lacking. I finally hooked up my HDTV receiver through DirecTV about a month ago and signed up for their HDTV package. At this point, I don't think that it's worth the $10/month and I'll be cancelling it until football season starts.

 

[Michael Hughes]

I feel its pretty much on target so far. I can watch the mets, isladners and knicks home games in hdtv, now I can watch ESPN hd, and I can watch some movies/programming on hbo and starz, good solid network programming from cbs in hdtv, and some decent mixed bag stuff from nbc/bravo. Nice pbs shows in HD and coming in the fall fox steps up to the plate and delivers football, baseball and primetime shows in hd. The summer olympics will have plenty of hdtv and cbs has shown a ton of golf in hd.

I've been ecstatic with my hdtv so far as dvds and hdtv content look great. Standard cable is not so good, but the tivo recorded stuff is acceptable.

But cablevision for once is actually doing a decent job of offering some hdtv programming at no additonal cost.

If I could get WB and WABC and TNT from them, I would be good for awhile.

No complaints here.

 

[BridgetJZ]

Sports are really the only thing that i like to watch on HD... that and 24 when it was on...

I'm hoping that they expand their programming soon...i just don't have the heart to get rid of it.

 

[MarkHastings]

So, Wed. night, the Red Sox were on ESPN (which was shown in HD), but since the local channel (NESN) had the game on, Comcast changed ESPN's HD channel with a different game.

I used to hate the 'blackout" of games in favor of the local channels, but when they block the HD feed in favor of the standard feed.

Other than that, the novelty of HD has worn pretty thin since they aren't putting on anything decent.

 

[Todd Henry]

Mark,

Don't worry the Red Sox were not in HD on ESPN on Wednesday.

I do agree with your sentiment on blacking out HD broadcasts when only the SD broadcast is available locally.

 

[JeremySt]

If I already have CBS on stantard Dishnetwork, will I automatically get the CBS HD feed?

 

[LaMarcus]

If dish is broadcasting it in HD you'll get it, if not then you'll need a HD receiver and a antenna for your local HD channels, granted your local stations are broadcasting in HD.

 

[Marque D]

In general you have to live in one of these O&O markets but check the website.

Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Los Angeles, Marquette, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, and Green Bay.
E* CBS-HD Qualification Methods