HDTV Information Guide

For years (or decades, depending on where you start), consumers have been asking, 'Where is it?' about HDTV.

Sets that cost thousands of dollars were never going to be adopted by the mass market. Even if you popped for the price tag, the number of sources was minuscule. Unfortunately, also for several years, the industry (or in this case industries, since several are involved), were faced with a dilemma.

Manufacturers could, without too much difficulty, produce large quantities of equipment - TV sets, players and recorders, camcorders, etc. But if there was no hope of adequate content to take advantage of them, they wouldn't make the investment.

Content producers - filmmakers and studios, TV broadcasters, etc - were not going to go to the expense and trouble to create HD content until there was a large enough audience to buy or watch.

In the mix were the government bodies (the U.S. FCC, the UK Radio Authority, etc) who were either making the situation impossible or trying to arbitrate an impossible situation, depending on your point of view.

Fortunately for all concerned, many of those hurdles have now been overcome and all systems appear to be go for lift-off on the long-awaited superior pictures and sound.

As of July 1, 2006 (in the U.S.), all new 25" or larger sets are required to have digital tuners, or at least be DTV-ready. (By March 1, 2007 the figure reduces to all 13" or larger sets.) Finally, February 17, 2009 has been selected for the cutoff date for analog broadcasts. After that date, you'll either need a digital TV or a converter to receive broadcasts.

At the same time, as both cause and consequence, HDTV sets are coming down in price to the mass-market range, and headed further south. Some good quality, large-screen sets are now available for under $2,000. That seems high by today's standards, but less than 10 years ago an ordinary 36" Sony - twice the weight and several times the bulk - used to cost that.

HD (high definition) broadcasts are becoming more common. Where only a few years ago there were one or two special broadcasts, there are now several regular programs shown weekly in HD format.

And, as often happens, the player/recorder market is now ramping up release for HD equipment. Though saddled with two different formats - HD-DVD and Blu-ray - the new player/recorders have arrived.

Content for either HD-DVD or Blu-ray (primarily in the form of Hollywood movies) is thin, but so were DVDs not too many years ago. Now, there is only a small percentage of classic films that are NOT available for DVD, and nearly every new release is available a few months after theatrical runs.

Already a dozen films are available in the high definition format. With all the major studios committed to one or both formats, it won't be more than a few years before most films are released that way. Both HD-DVD and Blu-ray format players will play ordinary DVDs.

So for those who have long been clamoring for crystal clear pictures and stereo sound, it's now time to start looking at those big, flat-screen sets. You can now have your HDTV.