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Everything looks better in HDTV, even programs you'd normally not watch.
By DAVE GUSSOW
© St. Petersburg Times, published March 3, 2003
TV is creeping back into my life. Forget the Internet. I want my HDTV, and a lot more of it.
Time Warner Cable has given those of us who get our TV signal over its lines a mere morsel of high-definition TV, four channels so far. But let's go for the buffet line.
I'm watching more TV in the month I've been able to get an HDTV signal on my new-generation TV set. I'm even watching shows I don't necessarily like. And I'm not alone.
Among those with access to HDTV, almost three-quarters of people surveyed last year were more likely to watch a program -- any program -- simply because it's in high definition.
Once viewers see high-definition TV, "They use it as a benchmark against all other programs," said Connie Book, an assistant professor of telecommunications at Elon University in North Carolina, who conducted the survey.
These early HDTV fans know what they want, too, Book says: sports, movies, even regular programming that looks better digitally. Buyers have moved from the small pool of early adopters who buy almost any gadget that comes onto the market to the far broader market of TV enthusiasts interested in a better couch potato experience.
Sure, I had seen HDTV at trade shows and stores, but everything looks better -- and the equipment always works -- in those settings. The crisp picture and lifelike colors are simply mesmerizing. Would it be the same in the family room?
The first challenge -- and it definitely can be daunting -- was choosing a TV after our old "analog" set died. Shopping for almost anything digital requires at least some homework.
"There is much documented consumer confusion related to the term 'digital,' " Book said. "If the sales force doesn't have a grasp of what is available in the local market, they really aren't much help to the consumer."
Initially, I planned simply to buy a flat-screen set that would bring in only a traditional analog signal. However, it soon became clear that high definition has become a far more compelling option since the first sets were introduced in 1998.
Then, they cost $5,000 to $10,000 or more, and few high-definition programs were available. That combination kept sales modest, with the industry reporting only about 1-million sets sold in the first two years.
Prices started coming down and programming began picking up: In 2001, the average price was $1,812. It dropped to $1,689 last year and is predicted to be $1,441 this year, according to the Consumer Electronics Association.
More than 1-million sets were sold in 2001 and about 2.7-million last year, according to the association. Sales are predicted to reach 3.85-million this year. Still, high definition makes up only about 4 percent of the market.
Once I began my shopping, the information I received at stores was usually accurate, but I relied more on my own research. I discovered that I could get a 32-inch HDTV-ready set for about $1,000, about $100 more than a same-size flat-screen analog set I was considering.
That's more than I've ever spent on a TV, but I looked at it as an investment. Or at least that was my story to my wife.
HDTV-ready means the set doesn't have the special tuner needed to receive high-definition programming. Bought separately, the tuner can cost about $400.
However, if you subscribe to cable or satellite services, as 90 percent of TV households do, those companies have special set-top boxes available that handle high-definition signals. Or, they eventually will.
I read a lot about HDTV, particularly at the Web site for Consumer Reports (www.consumerreports.org), then went shopping. While I had specific brands in mind, I returned to a traditional mode of TV comparison when I visited stores: I looked at the pictures.
I ended up buying a 32-inch Samsung, a brand that had not been on my initial list. That disappointed my son, because he wanted a wide-screen model (sometimes referred to as 16:9 for the screen's proportions). The model we liked in wide screen would have cost considerably more, about $2,400. The Samsung has the traditional-shaped screen (referred to as 4:3).
And 32 inches and bigger seem to be the optimum, said Jim Barry, a spokesman for the Consumer Electronics Association. "Once you start getting smaller than that, the HD is lost on the small screen."
Once we plugged in our new set at home, we liked the picture quality, even though we were not yet getting high-definition programming. I knew Time Warner, the area's dominant cable company, planned to carry HDTV channels, but not when.
(The digital cable that Time Warner has been promoting heavily is not the same as high-definition TV. Its advantage for cable companies is adding capacity for more channels and the capability for special services, such as video on demand and transmitting high-definition programming. Digital cable does not require a new TV for viewing, only a special set-top box.)
In the meantime, regular TV signals came in crisper and clearer than ever, and the image from our DVD player was awesome. Rigging an old-fashioned antenna to pull in broadcast channels in HDTV was not an option, since we also would have needed to buy a tuner.
During Super Bowl week in January, I called Time Warner to ask about its HDTV plans. Much to my surprise, I was told the cable system had been quietly transmitting HDTV on four channels for several months. HBO (channel 700), Showtime (channel 701), WTVT-Ch. 13 (Fox on channel 613) and WFTS-Ch. 28 (ABC on channel 628) were available in high definition.
I was told I simply had to make sure the TV settings were correct to watch. I fiddled for a few days to no avail. I called Time Warner back and this time was told I needed a different set-top box. It was free, but I didn't get it until after the Super Bowl aired on Channel 28.
What would I have seen differently during the game? From an Associated Press review: "Individual beads of sweat dripping off Warren Sapp's forehead. Gruesome slash marks on Mike Alstott's left arm and the calcium deposits on Jon Ritchie's forehead that showed up in much-too-real clarity. Stubble on nearly every coach's chin. Single blades of grass flying off kicker Martin Gramatica's shoe."
The new set-top box seemed to make all channels look better, but I kept gravitating back to the three set aside for high definition. (We don't subscribe to Showtime). If broadcast programs, such as newscasts, aren't transmitted in high definition on the special HD channels, we get small vertical black bars on each side of the picture. Even a bit scrunched up, the picture usually looks better than on the regular cable channel.
HBO and Showtime offer some of their original series, such as The Sopranos and The Chris Isaak Show, in HDTV, as well as some movies, such as Pulp Fiction, Ali and A Walk to Remember. And ABC airs all of its prime-time shows in HDTV.
It's interesting that Fox is one of the networks that Time Warner is making available on its HDTV channels; it doesn't have any true HDTV programming. The terrific series 24, for example, is shown in what Fox calls wide-screen high resolution TV. I watched a few shows on the HDTV channel, but clicked back and forth to the regular channel because I found the HDTV channel sometimes wasn't as good as the regular one.
Then there are the networks Time Warner isn't yet offering. CBS offers its entire prime-time lineup in HDTV, and NBC has more than 10 hours a week of HDTV programming. I would like to watch CBS' CSI and NBC's Law & Order in high definition. And ESPN reportedly will start a new high-definition channel this spring.
In the Raleigh-Durham, N.C., area, Time Warner already has seven or eight high-definition channels, according to Book, the telecom professor. So when are we going to get more here?
Linda Chambers, a Time Warner spokeswoman for the bay area, says the company's corporate parent is negotiating with broadcasters for more channels. Chambers could give no timetable, but she said Time Warner knows there's interest from subscribers, based on increasing requests for the HDTV set-top boxes.
And as cable companies offer more HDTV, an interesting thing happens, Book says.
"All of of a sudden my cable went from ehh to wow," Book said. "It gave me the freedom to go out and buy an HDTV set. I like my cable company more."
-- Times news researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report. Dave Gussow can be reached at gussow@sptimes.com or (727) 445-4228.