Community Newsletter: Q&A: 9/8/06 Is an HDTV worth buying even without an HD source?

Lots of Bad Info

In reply to: Honorable mention by Lee Koo (ADMIN) 

I work for a major retailer, in home electronics. One of the biggest problems I see on a daily basis is mis-information. The post by Lee Koo is a good example of what I see on a daily basis.

He stated: "NTSC broadcasts are scheduled to stop completely, and the government has mandated a switch to HD broadcasts. When that will happen depends on whether Congress extends the deadline or not."

This is totally NOT TRUE. Of the three signals being used for the transmission of television (1- Hi Def; 2- Digital; 3- Analog), the truth of the matter is that analog is being eliminated. The government is not mandating a switch to Hi Def. Analog is being removed from the equation, which leaves Hi Def and Digital.

Having read Mr Koo's article, I appreciate much of what he has to say. But telling people that the government is mandating HD can cause a lot of problems... especially since it is not true.

There is so much mis-information out there right now that most consumers are lost. One of the biggest reasons they are lost is that too many people that we assume are authorities on the subject, are themselves only semi-informed.

I have seen articles in PC Magazine, Consumer Reports, and countless other places where someone is saying things about HD or the purchase of an HDTV that is totally wrong, and off the wall.

Aside from my job responsibilities to inform and educate, I have taken it upon myself to gain as much insight about HDTV as possible. And after many months of extensive research, the conclusion that I have come to is that this is such a vast topic with so many variables that one has to pretty much be an industry-insider to accurately differentiate all the components that must be in place to offer the best HDTV picture experience. I have also discovered that most of the people claiming to be authorities are far from it.

This topic is like the proverbial onion, with layer after layer, under each layer that is removed. 1080p vs. 720p; DLP, LCOS, DDILA, OLED, LASER; native resolution versus signal source; LCD versus plasma; motion blur, pixelization, motion artifacts, response time, etc, etc, etc.

Unless they/you work in the technical side of a television manufacturer, it is very highly unlikely that they/you are as HDTV savvy as supposed.

There are many factors affecting picture quality. Aside from the HD technology itself, there is no "one-thing" that trumps everything else. And even though HD is relatively new, there is already technology poised to sooner or later replace it. Such is life in the technological age.

It is important to do some level of homework before making a major purchase. It can save you the heartache of being led down the wrong path. What is really needed are some good web sights along the line of DPReview.com (a sight for digital camera info) that will do for HDTV what DPReview does for cameras. But just as important, these sights must go to great pains to ensure that they are providing accurate information.

Buying an HDTV does not have to be placed in a category equivalent to buying a home. The whole thing about "spec's" is being blown so far out of proportion that many people are refusing to wade in because they have become inundated with information... most of which is bad.

Unfortunately for most, unless you have access to someone like myself... who will shoot straight with you, and cut-to-the-chase... or unless you know someone that has some expertise gained from working on the manufacturing side of the HDTV industry, you are probably in for a rough go in making a good decision.

But just as we know: everything that glitters, is not gold... it is also true that just because a person sounds like they know what they are talking about... does not mean that they do.

Choose your advisor's carefully, and don't get caught up in all the hype.

When you set out to buy a car, you don't care about the density of the radiator hose, or the gear ratios of the transmission or rear end. You have some things that are important to you, and you seek out those things. But you look at a lot of the other stuff as minutia. If you didn't, you would never buy a car, because it would take a lifetime gaining the kind of knowledge necessary to understand what was and what was not important.

In my opinion, you should approach buying your HDTV from a similar perspective. You may as well, since neither you nor 99.9% of the people you talk to have enough insight to properly guide you.