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The Real Definition of High-Definition

So I was beefing up my Amazon wish list (see sidebar) with some musicals, since the cable system we have doesn't provide the channels that play musicals more often than once or twice a year and I never bothered getting most of these on video (or I taped 'em off the TV back when they were shown more often, and those videotapes are warping fast), and Robin remarked that DVD was probably on the way out by decade's end. I was confused; I know our tech-crazed society hasn't nearly reached the pinnacle of kewl overpriced metallic toys to appease or entice the relative few who still have disposable income to throw at them, and the many others who go into debt pretending they can achieve this dream of immediate self-gratification through shiny impersonal appliances. But I figured, hey, most people are pretty happy with DVDs. They're the most quickly accepted format ever!

Ah well, Robin says, they'll look positively grainy on a high-definition television. So what? I retort. There's tons of people aren't going to want to buy HDTV. A television is a major purchase for most folks! They're fairly content to stay with what they have. They're not necessarily salivating for digital TV. Heck, there's people of little means still squinting into old beat-up B&W TVs with makeshift coat-hanger antennae to pick up broadcast TV! And he responds, Not for long.

You see, a few years ago the FCC (see any number of very good media awareness blogs) followed Australia's lead and made it mandatory that every television must be digital by 2006. (It's since become 2007.) Notes the Washington Post, "The ruling will affect most directly the approximately 15 percent of U.S. consumers who do not subscribe to cable or satellite systems and who rely on over-the-air broadcast signals -- using rabbit ears or outdoor antennas -- for their televisions. With some exceptions, those broadcast signals must be converted from analog to digital by 2007. About 99 percent of the nation's 265 million TV sets are analog. With an average lifespan of seven to 10 years, many of those sets will outlast over-the-air analog signals. To watch over-the-air television afterward, owners of such sets will have to buy a digital television set, at a cost of at least $800, or a digital converter, which costs at least $400 today. All parties agree that the prices will drop by 2007." (Emphasis mine)

Oh, I'm sure they do. Why, how much would a little add-on like that cost in four years, once it's been mass-produced and can retrofit any-- what? It still won't work on older TVs? Heck, who cares, it's not like anyone's complained about not being able to hook up DVD players or cable systems to older TVs.

But see, this is more than that. This is your older TV not working at all as a stand-alone appliance in four years because there won't be a broadcast signal for it to pick up.

Oh heck, let's look on the bright side - all those people worried about the consolidation of the airwaves can breathe a sigh of relief once the airwaves as we know them won't even exist any more!

An NAB spokesman is quoted as saying, "Our position, and that of most broadcasters, is that HDTV is going to be the driving force behind digital television. Once people see HDTV, they are going to want nothing less." Way to create a need then fill it, National Association of Bilkers! We all love HDVT, especially those of us who profit from it!

Now, maybe this is me taking offense on behalf of other people; after all, I've had cable for about five years, and I got rid of my bedroom TV with the dials and the rabbit ears and no remote control at least a half dozen years ago. But it's also me being pissed that the government has once again made it obligatory for people who can't afford something to buy it if they want to have a hope in hell of staying informed or being entertained.

So back to DVDs - what happens when we don't want to play our old ones because they look too grainy? Well, on the horizon are HD camcorders and VCRs and D-VHS tapes and guess what that means?! That's right, our old VCRs (around 290-300 resolution lines per screen, if they're good) are being replaced by DVDs (480 lines) which in turn will be replaced by HD VCRs (1080 lines) - and remember, to all intents and purposes, this time it's mandatory because of compatibility issues! So by decade's end, doubtless we'll all be sold a bill of goods called High Definition Digital Video/Versatile Disks. Better start saving up now, folks.

But you may ask, Should I wait before I buy a new TV? What are you, French or something? Why are you even questioning the need to buy right away in the first place? Expect a visit from Ashcroft's crooked-nosed boys any day now...