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General discussion

How Long Before Everything Is 16:9 HD?...

Oct 9, 2005 1:03PM PDT

....OK, I admit I'm a purist and I absolutely refuse to watch anything in any "stretch mode" whatsoever. granted my Sony has a horrible stretch mode, but I've seen others and they are all 100% unacceptable to me.

Now I know the FCC has had various target dates for TV's to be sold with HD tuners and for broadcasters to be broadcasting HD material. My question is, "When is essentially all major TV going to be in self respecting 16:9 HD?"

Discussion is locked

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no actaul date
Oct 10, 2005 8:52AM PDT

there is no actaul date mandated that everything has to be in hd 16 X 9 the target date I believe is dec 31st 2008. The cable and satelite companies are almost at free will as to broadcasting in hd. Though as the analog tv's are phased out they will broadcast more and more in hd to satisfy customers. Until then...

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dates of HD
Oct 10, 2005 12:07PM PDT

i don't believe that 2008 is accurate at all, because they still havn't fully converted to all digital yet, that would be the first step and that date isn't until january 2009. So basically if ur TV is not digital by that date then u can't watch TV...

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How Long????
Oct 11, 2005 2:18AM PDT

This is taken from the FCC web site.
"The target date for the end of the transition from analog to digital television signals is December 31, 2006. That date may be extended, however, until most homes (85%) in an area are able to watch the DTV programming. At that point, broadcasting the current ?analog? channels will end and that spectrum will be put to other uses. Until the transition to DTV is complete, television stations will continue broadcasting on both their digital and analog channels. "
But it was reciently pushed back a year I belive.
ALL broadcast stations are NOW broadcasting in HD.
The statment of 85% in an area reciving DTV will have a big effect. Since HDTVs with ATSC tuners have realy only been available for the last 6 months. Even now of all the TVs sold HDTVs with ATSC tuners are still in the miniorty. Go into BB,CC,etc and try to find a set top HDTV tuner. The one I found at FRY's was $299. Even online ther are still $150~200.
So a lot has to happen before the 85% figure is reached.
In the chicago area there are around 7 million people.
So lets say thats 2.7 people per house hold. Many with more than one TV or 300,000 to 400,000 TVs. So when 279,000 or so HDTVs and setop decorders have been sold then they can complete the change over.
You can go here to find out whats in your area. John
http://www.checkhd.com/zipentry.aspx?ReturnUrl=/Default.aspx

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re
Oct 11, 2005 4:23AM PDT

I think thats a little bit off. The 85% refers to people being able to recieve digital siganls not having a tv that recieves them. If they are in an area that is capable of getting the digital signal but do not use a ATSC tuner they are still considered to be in the 85%.

But I do believe there was a 2 year extension given which would push the original date back 2 years to dec 31st 2008.

I guess if the fcc would just take the time to update their website that would make things alot easier, I've had that same article for over 2 years now. But there is still nothing that mandates cable and satelite providers to broadcast in HD.

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The 85% refers to people being able to recieve digital
Oct 12, 2005 1:38AM PDT

Hi, my qoute in the previous post is a "cut and paste" from the FCC site.
http://www.dtv.gov/consumercorner.html
The Chicago area is 100% coverd in HD broadcast at this time and has been so for over a year. But the % of people who can recive and watch them is very small.
I belive you are correct about the 2 year extension.
The FCC has made a mess of the whole thing. John

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Another stumbling block
Oct 12, 2005 3:26AM PDT

One thing not mentioned is the fact that millions of TV consumers will need to embrace 16:9 TVs and get rid of their 4:3 TVs. How long will this take to get all of the old 4:3 TVs out of circulation? I would say the majority of TV viewers are totally out of touch with what it will take to step into the next generation of TVs and High-Def, and most people are happy watching a 13" TV with a 2" speaker. Convincing millions of people to pay up thousands of dollars to get a new digital TV capable of receiving HD signals won't be easy. One way to solve this is if TV manufacturers would immediately stop selling 4:3 TVs and force the 16:9 issue. I think it will still be another 10+ years that broadcasters will need to broadcast in simultaneous analog signals to service the millions or billions of viewers with older TVs.

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Re:
Oct 12, 2005 3:41AM PDT

Sadly, I suspect you may be correct. And this is exactly where the FCC would need to become far more proactive that thus far they have shown a desire to be. Market forces alone will take forever to bring about these changes. Inertia is a very powerful thing and at least nine out of ten people seem to be perfectly happy watching their garbage 4:3 low resolution shows with sound that is so distorted it's barely possible to make out what's being said.

The FCC needs to make steps toward this switch over mandatory with stiff fines and license non-renewal for non-compliance. Thus far, they haven't shown much in the way of leadership on this (or virtually much of anything for that matter).