How to Get True HDTV Content On Your New TV

[admin]

Many people bring home a new HDTV and look forward to the excitement of viewing a true high definition picture. But is it really that simple? Well it can be - if you follow a few guidelines and understand the nature of real HD content and where it comes from. An HDTV doesn't give you high definition content - it simply means that you have the pixels to display high definition sources in all their glory. We'll take a look at four types of high definition sources most commonly received by HDTVs...

Discuss "How to Get True HDTV Content On Your New TV" here. Read the article.

 

[kleinwl]

why bother?

boring article written for the novice... why bother on a site like this... which is, I think for the non-neophyte. Even novices can seach around and find "intro" to HD articles on the web.

 

[markw]

Now, now, not everyone is as all-knowing as you.

boring article written for the novice... why bother on a site like this... which is, I think for the non-neophyte. Even novices can seach around and find "intro" to HD articles on the web.

As your time here increases, you'll find that a lot of questions are on the fundamentals, not the intricacies of the hobby.

Newbies deserve consideration as well. Basic articles are what makes this site great. It's got something for everybody, not just the seasoned hobbyist and, even they can learn a few things here.

Thanks to these things called "search engines", a lot of non-savvy people (newbies?) wind up lurking here for information before they work up the gumption to post a question. I think a lot of their apprehension is the fear that they will be looked down upon by those that know more than they do.

I wonder where they get that idea?

 

[Tom Andry]

Because now they can search and find one here.

 

[Halon451]

boring article written for the novice... why bother on a site like this... which is, I think for the non-neophyte. Even novices can seach around and find "intro" to HD articles on the web.

Part of what makes this site great is the fact that we welcome people of all experience and knowledge levels, and are as helpful to 30 year plus audiophiles and A/V wizards as we are to newbies who barely know how to hook up their DVD player. And the fact that I don't believe any one of the regulars here (even the admins and mods) claim to know everything, because it's a constantly evolving technology, therefore do not look down on those who come in asking the very basic questions.

 

[birdonthebeach]

boring article written for the novice... why bother on a site like this... which is, I think for the non-neophyte. Even novices can seach around and find "intro" to HD articles on the web.

Well, one reason to bother is that this is a great article/link for me to send to people who call me because they just bought a new flat panel display and don't know how to hook it up, or aren't sure if it is hooked up right. I would imagine that many of us have spent countless hours of our life helping people with fundamentals such as this. It's what makes Audioholics such a great site - it is fantastic resource for EVERYBODY...

 

[Davemcc]

Part of what makes this site great is the fact that we welcome people of all experience and knowledge levels, and are as helpful to 30 year plus audiophiles and A/V wizards as we are to newbies who barely know how to hook up their DVD player. And the fact that I don't believe any one of the regulars here (even the admins and mods) claim to know everything, because it's a constantly evolving technology, therefore do not look down on those who come in asking the very basic questions.

I may be a regular here, but I'm no electrical engineer. I like movies and music and the equipment that reproduces it without really knowing how or why it works. It's generally enough for me to know what things do unless I really need to study something until I understand it properly. Articles that cover the simplest, basic functions are generally the best place to start and can guide research into the more complex areas of the hobby, just as Einstein's theory of relativity isn't going to make much sense if you can't understand the Doppler Effect. You have to start somewhere.

 

[Biggiesized]

Correction, Clint: ATSC OTA HDTV is not uncompressed. It's simply not RE-compressed by your cable or satellite vendor. It still has to adhere to the 19.39 Mbps limit.

Also, I've read that FiOS does not re-compress its channels so you are getting the full bandwidth allotted (or whatever the that network chooses to use) per channel. You may want to look into that.

 

[westcott]

I think some diagrams showing how to hook up an OTA antenna to a cable or satellite box would make this article more useful. Twice I have had to rewire my system because the technician that came out to install my HD boxes with PVR capabilities did it wrong. It caused recording problems while using an OTA signal on one system and I could not get OTA local channels at all from the other bad installation.

And I agree, OTA signals really can put cable or satellite signals to shame. I would be embarrassed, if I were a content provider, to call some of the stations HD that I receive via satellite.

 

[Pyrrho]

Given the extra compression on cable and satellite, I am glad I am not wasting my money on that. I like my HD local broadcasts (well, some of them), and have no wish to pay for a worse picture.

 

[kleinwl]

If you really want to gain site traffic by courting neophytes then you are going to have to do alot more work than a simple article that tells the reader very little.

Why not run full bore and set up an neophyte faq? Any neos that visit this site would be hard put to find one of your articles once it is buried in old news. Linking all the neo articles and the recommendations would make this site much more user friendly to poeple that visit for the first time.

But honestly, I think you need to look at your demographics... I've been here for a while and the general site set up isn't well laided out for the neophyte and I doubt that you have many. Site traffic is probably low as well, unless you have started advertising with google to get more hits.

 

[birdonthebeach]

I've been here for a while and the general site set up isn't well laided out for the neophyte and I doubt that you have many. Site traffic is probably low as well, unless you have started advertising with google to get more hits.

Hmmmm. Gene, Clint - I think you better look into this. This guy obviously knows what he is talking about, and since our site isn't well laided out, we could be in trouble.....

 

[Pyrrho]

Hmmmm. Gene, Clint - I think you better look into this. This guy obviously knows what he is talking about, and since our site isn't well laided out, we could be in trouble.....

All sarcasm aside, I think he has a point. It is good and useful that there are "stickies" at the top of each forum, but it might be better to add a FAQ section that deals with basic issues, with a prominent link at the top of each forum to it. Of course, it is easy for someone like me to suggest that someone else does all the work making such an addition to the site, which would be quite a bit of work to write it all out and to organize it in a manner that would be easy to navigate and easy to find what one needs to know. And we all know that it will invite criticism from everyone who believes that some detail or other should be changed. Still, I think it would be a good idea, if someone at Audioholics has the time and ability for such a troublesome task. It is possible that it would be best for it to be done by more than one person, as, for example, one person might be better at writing explanations, and another might be better at organizing the FAQ section into something that is intuitive and easy to navigate. It is something to think about.

Anyway, I am glad the site exists. I know it is a lot of work that some people are doing to maintain it, and, no matter what is done, not everyone will be satisfied. And, possibly, no one will be completely satisfied.

As things are, this is currently my favorite of this sort of site. I have found this site to be more civil and populated with more reasonable people than I have found at some other sites that I will not presently mention. Perhaps there is some other site that I have not noticed that is better, or perhaps one that I looked at previously has become better. But I doubt it.

 

[The Chukker]

A courteous rebuttal

I for one (without sounding too much like a kiss ***) really like how this site is set up. It doesn't take a genius to use the search function, nor is it too hard to find the A/V University and Tips & Tricks tabs at the top of the home page; both of which are likely to be the end destination of articles like these. Some audiophytes (also labeled neophytes here) are intimidated by posting in the beginners forum for fear of being ostracized and may never see an all encompassing FAQ located there. How many "I'm a nOOb what do you think about speaker A versus speaker B" threads do we see a day here? What pleasantly strikes me is how thoughtful and considerate the forum regulars (for the most part ) are in answering these questions with genuine tolerance. Some choose to answer the question. Some (if applicable) will gently prod the noob to use the search function. Some will just post the link to the appropriate article.
All are legitimate responses.
Some of the audiophytes are here to get quick answers and never return.
Some (like myself) are here to learn and stay to post both their personal experiences and their knowledge gained to others.
I have never found this site to be confusing or difficult to navigate; nor does it seem to foster an elitist perspective -- at no time have I felt compelled to not post a question/topic that I desired an answer to.
That is the strength of this site; its members -- not just the printed gospel of a/v.