[mythtv-users] MythTV and the state of US HDTV

Yeechang Lee ylee at pobox.com
Sun Feb 19 01:42:22 UTC 2006


Matthew Geier <matthew at sleeper.apana.org.au> says:
> On all the equipment I have access to, I can't tell the difference
> between SD and HD. As in Australia both are 16:9 MPEG2 sources, so
> both are clean images. I simply don't have access to a screen that
> can make use of the extra resolution of HD. I get a sharp clear
> widescreen picture on SD thank you.

You're right that I shouldn't have conflated HDTV with 16:9; as you
note, DVB/Freeview (UK) does indeed go out in 16:9 dimensions despite
being in SDTV resolution. DVB never made headway in the US because
cable (including digital cable, functionally equivalent to DVB) and
digital satellite so long ago captured the great majority of viewers,
and because the distances are so much greater (the US being
considerably less urbanized than either Australia or Britain). For
years I happily enjoyed countless movies new and old with a digital
cable settop box and a decent-quality 27" 4:3 TV set.

That said, make no mistake; there is *no comparison* to what I had
before and the pictures I am seeing now on my 37" LCD panel. I have
been watching the Olympics on NBC--all in HDTV--and it's
breathtaking. As previously noted, there is no shortage of regular
HDTV programming and more is coming on as time passes. HDTV was the #1
reason for my building a MythTV box and I am more glad of my decision
every single day.

> Probably doesn't help that much of the HD content they show here
> actually appears to be DVD resolution sources that they have
> upscaled before sending out on the HD channel.

Ouch!

-- 
Yeechang Lee <ylee at pobox.com> | +1 650 776 7763 | San Francisco CA US


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