Hdtv? (1 Viewer)

[Jarett]

Hey all,
HDTV if starting to take become available in my area and i have a few questions.

1. are projectors HDTV compatable Ex. the x1 or 4805?

2. Say its discovery HD, is it gonna be the same programming just in HD? (Cause thats what I want).

3. It it going to be component and digital sound?

4. Can you get it through Satelite and/or digital cable?

5. If i get FOX in HD will i get the simpsons in HD! Cause that's my dream eh!

Thanks

jay

 

[Jeff Gatie]

I'll answer what I can.



Fox does not currently broadcast in HD (though it will soon). That's the good news. The bad news is The Simpsons is not filmed in HD, so it will be 4:3 standard TV upconverted to HD (i.e. it will have bars on the side).

 

[Jim Mcc]

Yes, projectors are HDTV compatable. I have the X1 and HDTV looks great on it.

 

[ChrisWiggles]

No, the x1 is not fully HD.

To be HD, I consider a display needs to correctly resolve 720p, and ideally higher than that. Very few displays can do full 1080.

You could call the x1 HD "compatible" in that it can accept HD inputs, but it scales them down to the native panel resolution. With fixed pixel displays, you have to consider that native panel resolution, and whether it can fully resolve HD material.

 

[Ian-Fl]

True HDTV programming from what I've read and reseached is still in the few than in the many. All the major networks have it and yet they only transmit a few HD programs a week. So it would appear that HDTV programming is slowly moving along in North America and still expensive.
Digital TV is not much better than regular cable.
People seem relatively satisfied with regular satellite TV and the X1.
I put a $60 TV capture card in my PC and ran some cabling to my projector downstairs just because my projector doesn't have a good deinterlacer.
The picture with my projector is no better or worse than my regular cable on my TV.
I suspect digital cable with a s-video out is no better since it's probably the cable box that is converting an analogue to digital signal.I've read lots of people were disappointed with projectors and digital cable.
I've seen true HDTV programming on a Z2 and the PQ was just as good as what a DVD can produce on that projector. If it was a higher resolution projector the picture would be better.

 

[Steve Schaffer]

Tonight (10/6/04) there are a total of 6 programs on in true HD on ABC, NBC, and CBS alone. Some nights there are fewer, some nights more. With DirecTV I also receive 4 channels (Discovery HD, HDNet, HDNet Movies, and BravoHD) that are true HD 24/7, in addition to HBOHD, Showtime HD, and ESPNHD which are HD most of the time.

Almost all scripted programs on NBC, ABC, and CBS are in true HD, the exception being some of the comedies on NBC such as Scrubs and Will & Grace which have been in production for a number of years.

 

[Philip Hamm]

Simpsons is not in HD, but lots of other Fox including NFL coverage is.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Here's some more info:

DiscoveryHD lineup



I don't know about that. My ComcastHD costs me an measly $2 extra per month (they charge for the HD box) and I get ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, INHD1&2, ESPN-HD, DiscoveryHD, PBS-HD, HBO-HD, ShowtimeHD, CinemaxHD and StarzHD, plus Red Sox and Bruins home games in HD via INHD2. All the pay HD channels are included with the standard channels (if you subscribe to them) at no extra cost.

 

[Philip Hamm]

So if you didn't have the pay channels, you'd be getting ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, PBS-HD, INHD1&2, ESPN-HD, and DiscoveryHD. So that's two or three (depending on your local sports team deals) channels not available as OTA.

OTA network stations aren't always available via satellite and/or cable in different locations, it's up to each affiliate to make deals for this.

Often cable and to a larger extent sattelite compress OTA signals so that you get much higher quality signals with a set-top box and an antenna than cable/sattelite can give you.

It depends on what you're after and what kind of service you can get at your specific location.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Those 2 or 3 (ESPN-HD and INHD2 carry baseball, the NHL playoffs, and Red Sox/Bruins home games, HBO-HD carries the Sopranos) are deal breakers for me. Plus, it is more convenient to just hook up to my local cable. Regardless, no matter what is available OTA, my channel selection is definitely not "severely limited", as you stated. It has every channel available OTA, plus many more. If anything, I am more limited by OTA than cable. I have also viewed OTA vs. cable quality and find no visible degradation due to compression.