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I didn't say it before, but I'll say it now. I don't think listening to Dan Rather is any more unbiased than listening to Obama's Press Secretary. Dan's a clear and obvious pro-"we need more government" supporter, and that biases all his reporting. You may not have noticed, but since I'm a Libertarian/constitutionalist it stuck-out as clear as the red nose on a clown's face.

I don't think Dan's a good example of excellent or unbiased reporting.

Oh and free Dan Rather is here: http://www.hd.net/danrather.html - There's probably a place to watch HDnet free too, like tvpc.com or justintv.net, but I've not found it yet.

I guess I should file this under Mark Cuban's plan to defeat Barack Obama, Mark Cuban's plan to dominate basketball, Mark Cuban's plan to dominate HD television content, and Mark Cuban's plan to destroy theatrical motion picture distribution.

It sounds like you need to subscribe to the NASA video podcasts.

I highly recommend This Week @ NASA, because they don't just talk about the shuttle, but all the missions & experiments going on in the agency. The Shuttle & Station podcast has all your takeoff & landing footage, usually within a day of it happening, and in addition to the usual footage, you get odd stuff like the video of the launch from a camera on the fuel tank.

If you really want to be blown away, get an HDTV and subscribe to DirecTV with HDNet. They broadcast every shuttle launch & landing within a few days of it happening, and it's an hour long show with footage of Mission Control, and interviews up to the big moment, and it's all broadcast in 1080i with digital sound.

HDNet will offer HD coverage of the launch at 10 PM EST.

Not to mention HDNet; they have a contract with NASA to cover all shuttle launches through 2010. They provided 5 hours of coverage today, and about 4 hours of coverage leading up to Friday's aborted launch.

But yes, HD-newbies may not initially realize that 720p and 1080i should co-exist as equals... high-quality sports games are usually transmitted in 720p, for instance.

Mark also took his millions and started hd.net, a pioneer in the HDTV arena.

I don't believe the FCC was responsible for the region codes on DVD's and in DVD players. (See FAQ here.) That was a decision by the movie industry to take copy pretection into their own hands, and they managed to pressure most hardware manufacturers into making DVD players with embedded regions. With the FCC's help or not, there's a good chance the MPAA et. al. will manage the same thing here. If the industry can influence the production of DVD players, the industry can influence the production of TV's. If the MPAA blocks their movies from broadcast on any station that transmits a digital signal without a broadcast flag, it won't take long for all digital channels (think HDNet Movies) to adopt the broadcast flag.

Maybe the answer is an entirely new distribution channel like Mark Cuban's HDNet. Whedon should not be burdened with product placements and FOX-style scorecarding.

Maybe the answer is an entirely new distribution channel like Mark Cuban's HDNet. Whedon should not be burdened with product placements and FOX-style scorecarding.

Bzzt, wrong.

Toshiba is even shipping a 1080p TV.

Hum, my reply has not shown up yet, so my apologies if this appears twice.

You have a link for this product? Software companies are not the only ones to produce vaporware.

What is is the point in purchasing such a beast anyway? All of the current HD content is boradcast in either 1080i or 720p. HDNet, the largest provider of HD contentent out there, broadcasts in 1080i. ABC uses 720p, CBS and NBC uses 1080i.

Why would you want to spend money on a machine that supports a format that there is not any content for?

Kent

My RCA is fully capable of displaying the 1920x1080 picture. It is a RCA F38310. This is a 38inch widescreen CRT based display. I have DirecTV and the HD Net channel (HD Net is in 1080i). It is amazing, simply stunning. Really, there aren't words to describe the picture in some of the documentaries they show.

I have a High-Definition system and love it, but there's one thing missing - an HD cooking show. You really seem to be into having a show that looks different than all the other cooking shows. Any possibility of making at least one demo show in HD? Marc Cuban's HD-NET would show it.

Q: What is a broadcast flag?

MPAA answer: The broadcast flag is a sequence of digital bits embedded in a television program that signals that the program must be protected from unauthorized redistribution. It does not distort the viewed picture in any way. Implementation of this broadcast flag will permit digital TV stations to obtain high value content and assure consumers a continued source of attractive, free, over-the-air programming without limiting the consumers ability to make personal copies.

EFF comment: Digital TV stations can already obtain "high value content" -- it's only the Hollywood movie studios which are declining to license their movies for digital TV broadcast. That's the studios' choice, and that's the studios' right. EFF does not believe that the studios have to let their movies be broadcast on digital TV if they don't want to. However, the studios are asking the public, and Congress, to change the way all digital TVs work in order to make digital TV more attractive to Hollywood. That's not necessarily a good idea, especially because there are many content providers -- like HDNet and other TV networks -- who are perfectly happy with the way digital TV works right now.

Contrary to the assertion in November that "all copyright owners" want the broadcast flag to be required, only the 7 MPAA member studios have said in public that they want this to happen. Those 7 companies certainly hold many copyrights, but they're far from the only producers of movies or TV programming.

You can build your own ATSC compliant MPEG transport stream recorder/playback with a PC and this PCI card. It even has a DTV tuner as well, so you just hook it up to an antenna.

That said, there is plenty of DTV content out there already. Most major networks have HD primetime programming, and simulcast their analog broadcasts on their digital channel in SD. There are even special HD content producers such as HDNet (backed by Mark Cuban of Broadcast.Com fame)

That all being said, I still watch my Tivo 99.9% of the time, because there is so little HD content. The local stations are usually upconverting the standard definition broadcast sent by the network. My HTPC with Dscaler makes a nicer looking picture with standard definition content coming off the Tivo than the local stations with their upconverts can provide.

Don't let the lack of an HDTV Tivo keep you from buying the HDTV set. There's not enough HD content to matter yet. Plus, DVDs and standard content processed by DScaler looks incredible!

DirecTV is carrying HDTV on channel 199. Of course you need the HD DirecTV Receiver, to go along with your HDTV. They are carrying 16 Hours a Day of HDTV transmitted by HD.NET which was founded and run by Mark Cuban of Broadcast.com and Dallas Mavericks Fame. Currently they are running the Olympics in conjuction with NBC. The schedule can be found here Hey it's not the latest movies yet, but if you're really jonesing for some HDTV it's better than nothing...

DirecTV is carrying HDTV on channel 199. Of course you need the HD DirecTV Receiver, to go along with your HDTV. They are carrying 16 Hours a Day of HDTV transmitted by HD.NET which was founded and run by Mark Cuban of Broadcast.com and Dallas Mavericks Fame. Currently they are running the Olympics in conjuction with NBC. The schedule can be found here Hey it's not the latest movies yet, but if you're really jonesing for some HDTV it's better than nothing...

You still can't record a show using a tape like you can with a VHS tape.

Actually you can here. It is pricey though. I bought one to archive camcorder DV footage.

I recently went to look at the demos, and I wasn't impressed. The pictures were a little fuzy, and you need to be a mile away to see the picture clearly.

Yeah, the first time I looked I thought the same thing. Turns out the dealer was running the HDTV sat signal out to the TVs via coax cable. With their sat system that downconverted the signal to standard definition TV. Went back when they had a new manager and had the TVs set up properly. You will see the difference just like I did. Whether or not it is enough to get you to shell the bucks only you know. Just check to make sure they are really showing you the HDTV signal. I can now look at an electronics store display and tell you if the set is displaying HDTV without looking at the connections on the back of the set.

From your fuzzy picture comment it sounds like the same thing happened to you...that or the TV needed work. On a big set with a standard definition signal, you do need to sit a mile away to see the picture clearly otherwise you will see the scan lines. I sit nine feet away from my HDTV and don't see any scan lines. The picture is like looking out a window.

I will not buy an HDTV till I can go into Best Buy, AMES, or K-Mart to buy one because that will mean that the HDTVs have become more common, the cost will have gone down, there will be a decent way to record the signals like the VHS tapes, and the cost will have gone down.

Best Buy is where I went to see the demos. They are now selling HDTV monitors (needs a HDTV turner) for just under $2000. I got my Toshiba two years ago at UBid for $1783. At that time the same set at Best Buy was $2700.

I bought the set to watch DVDs. When I was shopping for a new TV, I found that the TVs that gave the best DVD performance were the HDTVs. So I spent a little more than I had intended, but I have been very happy with this set.

I have only recently added an HDTV DirecTV box to get HBO HD and HDNet. DirecTV is in talks with Showtime to add Showtime's HDTV channel. Yeah, high def Stargate SG1.

I can't wait for real HD hockey games.

I can't wait for real HD hockey games.