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In Brent Swanson’s basement home theater, there should be nothing drab about “Battlestar Galactica.” He’s got a high-end projector that beams the picture onto a wall painted like a silver screen, and speakers loom in the corners, flanking two big subwoofers.
Yet when he tuned in Sci Fi HD for a recent episode filmed in high definition, the image was soft and the darkest parts broke up into large blocks with no definition. Explosions, he said, were just dull.
“It kind of looked like they took the standard definition and just blew it up,” said Swanson, a 33-year-old graphic designer and videographer who subscribes to Comcast Corp.’s TV service. “I couldn’t really tell if what I was seeing was really better than what I saw on regular television.”
If a thing's worth doing, it's worth doing well
(Proverb)
Follow Ups:
I download shows that do not come on the major broadcast networks. (call me a thief, whatever, when I read stuff like this it makes me kindof glad)HDTV over the air is truly wonderful, it looks crystal clear. I download the "HDTV" versions of BSG, and I use my computer to connect to my HDTV, well I can tell you the "HDTV" resolutions are what is called "minor" HDTV. This means, the 16/9 aspect ratio is what is putting this, otherwise, basically average 4/3 NTSC resolution, into the "minor" class.
They get to say it is HD, and you get to have the wide screen aspect, but there is definitely upconverting, but it is probably being done by your receiver box or TV.
So there is the answer, look up what a "minor" HDTV signal is... it is basically like watching a DVD, it is about 720/480, it is not 1080i, or even 720p, but it IS in wide screen.
Until the compression goes away, and until cable or satellite gives the quality of the Antenna HDTV, I am not going to subscribe to any of these services and I am going to continue to download the few shows I want to see. They lose my money because of these shady tactics of trying to trick customers. I cannot let myself give money to companies like this.
After the seasons are released on DVD, I buy them. The only people that lose are the advertisers that are duped into working with companies that want to take advantage of customers, and the shady cable and satellite companies themselves.
One of my hi def channels did carry BG for a while and I had no complaints about resolution. But downrezzing is common and can happen at any point. It's
common from cable and the satellites to do it.
I haven't been able to get into a routine to watch TV series regularly so I just wait for a show to come out on electronic media. With no need to watch (or fast forward) through commercials.
There are very few recent/current TV shows that I am overly interested in, and off the top of my head, I can think of only two. Medium and The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Both of which are broadcast in HD. The latter *might* make it to BD, since it isn't even on DVD yet. Medium, which is already on its forth season, has a slim chance of making it to BD. I own the DVD sets.
I find the idea of not watching anything until it comes out on BD to be rather absurd, since most things will not be on BD for a very long time if ever. I do agree with the no commercials comment, and will buy the DVDs.
Jack
Movies and TV dramas/sitcoms aren't the only thing people watch. There is a lot of high-def material carried on both broadcast and cable/sat that isn't ever going to be put on Blu-ray. It would be silly to wait a year for a Blu-ray-based recorded version of a live event such as a golf tournament or a race, no?
I'm not disciplined enough to watch TV on specific days at specific times of the week. E.g. I missed the third episode of the "Sarah Conners chronicles" so I lost interest in watching it. I'm also Tivo-challenged.
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