First of all... Anyone who's ever looked at a standard digital cable broadcast on a standard-def CRT next to the same broadcast in "true" HD (720P or 1080I) on a "true" high-def widescreen (720P or 1080I, signal matching)and can't notice a difference is blind!
It would be like saying you can't notice a difference between a CGA monitor and an DVI connected 21" that supports 32 bit color at 1600 X 1200.
The "standard" needs work, and it's nothing close to being standard at all.
I own a 50" DLP 720P widescreen... Of the 14 HD channels I get, some are broadcasted in 1080I, some in 720P (far superior), some content is HD, and some is just up-converted... Worst of all is Fox! They will take a standard full-screen movie and to avoid stretching it, they cut off the tops and bottoms of the picture to make it widescreen (they also zoom it). It looks horrible!
A lot of HDTV buyers cable and configure them incorrectly, which also ruins the experience.
Anyone w/ a true HD set and real HD content available is cheating themselves unless they have the receiver connected to the monitor via DVI, HDMI or at least component. If you own a native 720P monitor, your set top box's output should be configured to 720P, if you own a 1080I native monitor, you should be set to 1080I. Many people complain of sound sync issues with HD monitors and many of these can be avoided by matching the output of your HD receiver with the native resolution of your monitor. If the monitor has to down-convert or up-convert the signal, there can be a delay. An action movie in high-def will always look better at 720P than at 1080I. Some slow-moving panoramic content (much of the IMAX stuff) might look crisper in 1080I.
I know 2 people who've gone and bought what they thought were HD monitors, but in reality purchased EDTV monitors (480P).
I think the real problem is with the broadcasters and cable providers. The broadcasters need to settle on a standard and commit to a date in which they will broadcast in HD.
There's also the issue of bandwidth... Right now, some cable providers are struggling to squeeze 15 channels of HD, hundreds of digital channels and high-speed internet connectivity in the same pipe. The source of this problem is the older cable customers still using analog cable. Analog takes up a lot of the available signal space within the spectrum. Someone once told me that for each analog channel they remove, they can fit 4 or more true HD channels (or something like 15 standard def digital channels. The cable companies need to just bite the bullet and give the analog customers a free upgrade and keep the cost the same for the service.
This should all settle down in the next 6 years or so, but I think it'll get worse before it gets better. HD set makers are now building 1080P sets, which will just confuse consumers more! (But will have the clarity of 1080I with the moving picture performance of 720P, although those of us who purchased 1080I or 720P sets will not benefit).
Slashdot Mirror
First of all... Anyone who's ever looked at a standard digital cable broadcast on a standard-def CRT next to the same broadcast in "true" HD (720P or 1080I) on a "true" high-def widescreen (720P or 1080I, signal matching)and can't notice a difference is blind!
It would be like saying you can't notice a difference between a CGA monitor and an DVI connected 21" that supports 32 bit color at 1600 X 1200.
The "standard" needs work, and it's nothing close to being standard at all.
I own a 50" DLP 720P widescreen... Of the 14 HD channels I get, some are broadcasted in 1080I, some in 720P (far superior), some content is HD, and some is just up-converted... Worst of all is Fox! They will take a standard full-screen movie and to avoid stretching it, they cut off the tops and bottoms of the picture to make it widescreen (they also zoom it). It looks horrible!
A lot of HDTV buyers cable and configure them incorrectly, which also ruins the experience.
Anyone w/ a true HD set and real HD content available is cheating themselves unless they have the receiver connected to the monitor via DVI, HDMI or at least component. If you own a native 720P monitor, your set top box's output should be configured to 720P, if you own a 1080I native monitor, you should be set to 1080I. Many people complain of sound sync issues with HD monitors and many of these can be avoided by matching the output of your HD receiver with the native resolution of your monitor. If the monitor has to down-convert or up-convert the signal, there can be a delay. An action movie in high-def will always look better at 720P than at 1080I. Some slow-moving panoramic content (much of the IMAX stuff) might look crisper in 1080I.
I know 2 people who've gone and bought what they thought were HD monitors, but in reality purchased EDTV monitors (480P).
I think the real problem is with the broadcasters and cable providers. The broadcasters need to settle on a standard and commit to a date in which they will broadcast in HD.
There's also the issue of bandwidth... Right now, some cable providers are struggling to squeeze 15 channels of HD, hundreds of digital channels and high-speed internet connectivity in the same pipe. The source of this problem is the older cable customers still using analog cable. Analog takes up a lot of the available signal space within the spectrum. Someone once told me that for each analog channel they remove, they can fit 4 or more true HD channels (or something like 15 standard def digital channels. The cable companies need to just bite the bullet and give the analog customers a free upgrade and keep the cost the same for the service.
This should all settle down in the next 6 years or so, but I think it'll get worse before it gets better. HD set makers are now building 1080P sets, which will just confuse consumers more! (But will have the clarity of 1080I with the moving picture performance of 720P, although those of us who purchased 1080I or 720P sets will not benefit).