HDTV, is the TV anything more than a monitor??? (1 Viewer)

[Corey-Reid]

I have a few questions.

Is there varying degrees of HD? I was at a friends house this weekend and watched the Rose Bowl in HD. Great picture. Change the channel to discovery in HD, and even better definition( this was obviously due to the show itself... animals, water, awesome colors etc). Turn it to an 80s era Chuck Norris movie that was broadcast in HD, and the picture didnt appear to be any better than the picture would have been on my standard tv at home. Why the difference?? Would the Sopranos broadcast in HD on HBO be the same quality as the football game? or the chuck norris movie?

ESPNHD was broadcasting figure skating in HD, yet the broadcast was in 4:3 aspect ratio.... why?? I thought all HD broadcasts were 16:9 or close to that aspect ratio. When we switched to the football game 16:9, figure skating 4:3(or close)


Is an HDTV really anything more than a monitor for someone with a home Theater? Wouldnt buying an HD ready TV make sense? trying to figure out a reason to by an HD tv with the tuner built in, but it seems to make NO sense whatsoever. If you have cable, they have the HD receivers, same as Directv. I dont know, just doesnt seem smart to buy anything other than HDready.


Thanks for your help.

 

[Jim Mcc]

Corey, you're right about the HD ready sets. The sets with HD tuner built in are a waste of money, unless you only want to pick up your locals. If you go to HD satellite or HD cable, you need to get their HD tuner box anyway. All programming on a HD set will not be the same quality because the source is not the same quality image. Some stations are showing upconverted movies, etc. and the source is not HD, so it looks lousy. Like the saying goes, garbage in garbage out.

 

[nolesrule]

Are you sure it was HD? ESPN HD shows all the same programming that ESPN shows. If they don't have an HD version available, they show the same picture, except ESPN HD will have the gray HD bars on the sides. This even happens during HD SportsCenter when they show a non-HD highlight.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Because the source was not true HD. Not all the content on HD channels is HD. Most HD channels will upconvert 4:3 material and show it with bars on the side. It's the same thing as if you were watching commercials on the local channels. Commercials are almost never filmed in HD, so they are shown with bars on the side.

As far as buying a HDTV with a built in tuner, the info is correct. The only thing to add is that some newer HDTV sets are coming with a "cable ready" type tuner (cable HDTV is a different tuning standard from over the air, older HDTV tuners did not use this standard). Some have found that when they hook such a TV up to their standard cable line, they are able to view HDTV without having to use a box. Just something to think about.

 

[Elinor]

Corey, there are varying degrees of HD programming, but the only varieties of HD are (currently) 720p and 1080i. Now, the varieties of programming are: programs filmed with HD cameras (most of Discovery HD, some PBS-HD, some HDNet); converted film (some people call this "upconverted" but true film and HD resolutions don't cross-correlate ... film is probably higher 'resolution' but film doesn't have actual resolution); "stretch-o-vision" which is Standard Def. programming stretched by the network to be widescreen; and Standard Def. programming shown on HD channels with pillarbars.

Some people don't have satellite/cable and like to have the ATSC (HD) tuner built in to the tv. They only watch OTA programming. It makes good sense for them to buy such sets. Separate tuners still range in the $300-$400 range (new).

 

[Corey-Reid]

Everyone,

Thanks for the information. It is nice to understand the reasons for something I knew was hapening. I knew that Chuck Norris movie was not really HD, even though it was being broadcast in "HD." Now I know why. Same with ESPN HD.


Thanks,
Corey

 

[Steve Schaffer]

Corey,

The main difference between what you saw on Discovery HD and the Rose Bowl vs the Chuck Norris movie was that the former were originated on HD video, while the latter was originated on film, and an older film at that.

HD makes the film grain and such on film based material broadcast in High Definition more apparent than what you're used to seein on lower resolution Standard Definition tv.

Having seen some of these older movies, lots of HD-video originated stuff, as well as the Sopranos in HD on HBO-HD I can tell you that while the Sopranos, being film based, is not quite as striking as Discovery HD, it is far superior to the average older film like the Chuck Norris one you saw.
This is the case for most newer films shown on HBO-HD and Showtime-HD.

 

[Corey-Reid]

So is there any real benefit to HBOHD if the original source isnt in HD? What would the difference be in watching that movie on standard HBO vs HD HBO??

Thanks for the information. This broadens my understanding of this stuff a little more. By the time I am ready to buy an HD set next year, I might actually understand some of this

 

[Charlie Campisi]

One advantage of having a HD tuner built in, even if you have HD over cable or satellite, is the ability to use your PIP with 2 HD signals, one from your cable/sat box and one from your set tuner with an OTA antenna. I am not sure, but I believe, both pictures will be in HD.

 

[Parker Clack]

My Mits RPTV has a built in HiDef tuner and I am going to get an OTA antenna to watch all my local channels in HD. All of our stations now have a HD channel too so I look forward to seeing what is what with their HD broadcasts.

 

[Elinor]

>"So is there any real benefit to HBOHD if the original source isnt in HD? What would the difference be in watching that movie on standard HBO vs HD HBO??"

Yes, absolutely. Converted films (when the original masters are good) can look practically as good as true HD filmed with HD cameras. I have watched some movies on HDNet Movies, such as Auntie Mame and My Fair Lady, that just blow you away. Likewise Charlies Angels on HDNet. They showed lots of episodes that were stunning. Scads better than the best DVD you have ever seen. Yes, having HBOHD will show converted film sources that look nearly as well too.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

First of all, it is in widescreen (although HBO crops many 2.35:1 films to 16:9, which is very bad). Second, if the conversion is a true HD master (not upconverted from 480) the quality can be excellent. HD mastered film is just not as good as content filmed with HD video cameras, due to the mastering process and the vast differences between film and native digital. By no means does that imply it is lousy. It is still miles ahead of film mastered to VHS, Laser Disk or even DVD.

 

[LaMarcus]

I think the simplest way of understanding it is the way it was explained to me. It's all about the camera. The stuff you see on discovery hd was filmed using HD cameras. When you watch that football game in HD even then you can tell when they are using a HD camera and when they are not. On the field you see the HD camera pop out, but when they go to the blimp no HD camera. Then all HD cameras aren't equal either. When they show the field from the cameras in the stands it's a HD camera but it doesn't look nearly as good as the camera on the field when a ref is making a call or the visa sky cam.