Has anyone resisted HDTV?

[Gorn Captain]

I have a 10 year old DVD player, a TV set that's about a foot and half deep, and no desire to part with them.
I also play my old vinyl LPs. And some of my VHS tapes.

And it all goes well with my collection of 1970s action figures....

In these days of hi-tech drowning our way of life, the people cry out for a hero.
I am that hero. Call me....Retro-Man!!!!!!

[megoapesnut]

One solution I found for the crappy looking SD stuff on my HDTV was to mount a projector on my back wall and a pull down screen. I have all of my signals going into a receiver/switcher before it hits my TV so I just ran a feed to the projector and I watch any SD from that. Works for me

[megoapesnut]

my son is special needs and has a tendancy to poke the screen and modern hd tv's don't react well to poking

One solution to that would be a plasma HDTV. They are glass fronted so your son could poke at it all he wanted and not hurt it. Now, you will be cleaning the fingerprints often...

[jds1911a1]

Oh enough with all this old TV nostalgia stuff...the fact of the matter is that the old television SUCKS arse...lol.

I watch nothing but HD...it's awesome...sports, movies...everything on HD and on a giant flatscreen rules...oh yes...and with surround sound, baby...

I'd rather stare at a wall than watch that horrid boxy analog crap of yesteryear...

You must miss anything filmed before 1990 I know I would

I have not got HD for 2 reasons
1 - my son is special needs and has a tendancy to poke the screen and modern hd tv's don't react well to poking
2 - HD doesn't help if the broadcast you watch isn't HD and since the majority of my TV watching is dvd or vhs of tv series that were shot before 1985 often on 2 inch video tape, so it has no impact at all (kind of like Blu ray)

[garagesale]

HD is awesome, but my old analog big screen is good enough for the likes of me... I'd rather spend my money on the wife and kids. HD, tho gettin' cheaper, is still too expensive.

JamesD

[Hector]

[Brazoo]

Oh enough with all this old TV nostalgia stuff...the fact of the matter is that the old television SUCKS arse...lol.

I watch nothing but HD...it's awesome...sports, movies...everything on HD and on a giant flatscreen rules...oh yes...and with surround sound, baby...

I'd rather stare at a wall than watch that horrid boxy analog crap of yesteryear...

If I get nostalgic I can always blur my eyes a little!

[Brazoo]

Regular (non HD) channels often look lousy on a HDTV. Some channels have bars on either side, some don't. The aspect ratio also seems to change channel to channel. I often have to adjust it manually.

I know a couple of people who hate when formats of shows and movies are pillar-boxed - but it doesn't bother me at all.

Adjusting it means cutting off the top and bottom of the screen and zooming in or stretching the image - so I personally don't get why people do that, but I know a lot of people who do. Maybe it's just a matter of getting use to it?

I don't even have cable, I get a few stations on my antenna, the HD ones look great, the non-HD ones don't look great, but on my old screen everything looked equally terrible compared to my new screen.

My TV has a processor in it, and plays almost any video file format - it's really incredible - I have a 2 terabyte drive hooked up to it with TONS of crazy TV shows and rare movies - I just navigate through the drive with my regular TV remote - it's WAY better than cable to me. With wifi my TV can stream internet, Netflix...

I'm a Luddite in tons of other ways - but personally, I think HDTVs rule.

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

My old CRT still works, so I haven't bothered replacing it. When it dies I'll get whatever's available at the time. I'm not real fussy on super-chocolatey wonderful picture quality; I just want to watch my shows.

Don C.

[Corellian Corvette]

Good golly. If you're judging HDTV quality by looking at the multi-feed crap down at your local Wal-Mart then you have no idea what you're missing.

There is no comparison here folks. And I'm a guy who LOVES nostalgia. I mean, I can understand and appreciate the "records vs. CD's" debate with audiophiles, but there is absolutely no advantage to a CRT vs. an HD screen of nearly any modern build. Analog TV was broadcast in 640x480 interlaced format, (meaning that the screen is drawing every other line). HD is a progressive format (meaning HD screens draw the entire screen at once) – and the lowest HD resolution is 1280x720. Analog broadcast TV is like watching scaled up crappy You-Tube video. Except most You-Tube videos are in HD now, too.

Remember – up until the FCC mandated all-digital broadcasting switch last year, the NTSC standard, the technical foundation of which CRT technology was established, was set back in 1941. Basically, the technology of CRT TV’s is a relic of the 1940’s!

As for HD - in the first place - The problem with Analog SD (interlaced) being put on HD (progressive) screens was called “combing”. Today, very little programming is even done in SD anymore so the issue with watching "SD on HD" is basically gone. Even older non-HD movies are now broadcast digitally and look great. I agree about 4 years ago this was an issue but it's basically gone now. And by basically I mean totally. Unless you like watching old VHS tapes…

In the second place - any decent up-converting DVD player (or respectable video game console) can now convert a DVD to HD and look fantastic. An Xbox or PS3 can natively scale a DVD to 1080p, and if it's a well-mastered DVD (e.g. anything modern) it's going to look quite nice, especially if the DVD mastered from a HD source. At sub-42 inches, actually a very nicely mastered DVD can look nearly as good as a Blu-Ray. At 50" + is where you can really tell the difference. There is no reason to “swap” your DVD collection to Blu-Ray, since DVD’s play fine in Blu-Ray players – and Blu-Ray players also upconvert DVD’s. Bottom line – if you’re watching an DVD on a CRT you’re going to be in for a big upgrade when you move to an HD screen.

In the third place – HD is easier on your eyes (again, exception for DLP). See above about Interlaced vs. Progressive. It’s actually more relaxing on your brain to watch an HD signal simply because every frame of the image is drawn at once vs. the 30hz flicker of a CRT. Trust me – if you spend more than an hour a day watching TV your brain will thank you when you make the switch.

As for the blur - that's a crappy feed, a mis-adjusted TV, or *sometimes* an artifact of DLP’s. It’s not inherent to HD sets or HD broadcasting.

Notwithstanding those who either cannot afford it, or have a medical problem with it (which I can respect) – CRT is simply inferior to native HD.

[Hector]

Oh enough with all this old TV nostalgia stuff...the fact of the matter is that the old television SUCKS arse...lol.

I watch nothing but HD...it's awesome...sports, movies...everything on HD and on a giant flatscreen rules...oh yes...and with surround sound, baby...

I'd rather stare at a wall than watch that horrid boxy analog crap of yesteryear...

[Duncan]

I have a photosensitive seizure disorder and CANNOT watch HD television without serious consequences. I currently have five big old CRT sets stashed in my basement so I can keep replacing my TVs when they die. My neurologist says that as many as 1 in 100 people cannot watch high def.

On a related note, I also cannot spend any length of time watching LED Christmas lights for the same reason. As cars evolve, new headlight technology may keep me from ever driving again.

IT SUCKS!

Hi. Just curious - would projection TVs also be a problem for you?

[Duncan]

I'm not sure if it's from the flatscreen or the HD or both but whenever I see stuff on HD TV (at Walmart) the panning sometimes looks funny.

It's like slightly wavy or fisheye ... hard to explain.

Almost enough to sometimes make me feel queezy if it lasts a while.

There are different settings on wide TVs that can be used to stretch regular pictures to fit wide screens. Several of those settings keep the center of the picture intact (so everybody doesn't look fat), but then they stretch the picture as you get closer to the edges. That's where you get the wavy/seasick effect; it's much easier to see when the shot moves to the side. I don't use those settings. Period. If I can't find a setting that expands the picture without distorting it, I'll just watch with bars on the sides.

If you're going to have a hi-def TV, you need to have a hi-def signal going into it. Otherwise, you're better off with a standard TV. My standard TVs look fine with regular signals going into them, but my hi-def TV puts them to shame on sports & movies with a hi-def signal.

[Mikey]

I'm not sure if it's from the flatscreen or the HD or both but whenever I see stuff on HD TV (at Walmart) the panning sometimes looks funny.

It's like slightly wavy or fisheye ... hard to explain.

Almost enough to sometimes make me feel queezy if it lasts a while.

[UnderdogDJLSW]

I have a photosensitive seizure disorder and CANNOT watch HD television without serious consequences.

Sorry to see this. I will be sad when incandescent bulbs go away all together. There is a visual warmth that you just cannot get any other way.

We've a small flat screen in our kitchen because our 13" set there died a couple of years ago, but I don't plan on buying any new sets until the tube ones we have go out. To me, I personally would feel wasteful to buying a new TV when the old ones work.