HDTV: 10 More Things That Don't Make Sense

tvpredictions.com ^ | April 22, 2010 | Phillip Swann

[Las Vegas Dave]

During the course of a day, I read dozens of news articles about High-Definition TV. But the articles often leave me asking more questions than answering them.

Last month, I recorded my concerns in an article entitled, "10 Things That Don't Make Sense."

The commentary was well received so I thought I would do another one -- God knows, there are still many unanswered questions out there about high-def.

It's not the fault of the writers (well, not always). Usually, it's the TV executives who are quoted in the stories. They purposely leave things vague or sometimes tell outright falsehoods in an attempt to fool the public.

So, here are 10 MORE Things About HDTV That Don't Make Sense

1. DIRECTV & Netflix
DIRECTV recently issued a statement to selected reporters suggesting that it would have an exclusive advantage over Netflix because it could show certain movies 28 days before they are available via the online rental service.

While DIRECTV will have those movies before Netflix, the satcaster did not add that Comcast, Time Warner, Verizon, Dish Network and others would be able to show those movies before Netflix, too. (Netflix made an agreement with a handful of studios to delay the release of some films in return for a larger library of Net streaming videos.)

Unfortunately, Bloomberg News and other media outlets failed to check whether DIRECTV had an exclusive and, consequently, wrote stories suggesting that it did. The stories, of course, were wrong.

What I wonder is: Did DIRECTV send this Netflix statement only to reporters it thought would be less likely to check the facts? Did DIRECTV trick the media into writing articles that made it look like its movie service was something different from its rivals? Was this the act of a sneaky company?

I know I never got the statement from DIRECTV -- and once I saw the Bloomberg article, I realized how wrong it was.

2. Dish Network's '200 HD Channel' Claim
Did Dish Network really think that the industry media was so stupid, so passive that it would not check whether it actually had 200 HD channels when it claimed this week that it did? (Subsequent reports from TVPredictions.com and Multichannel News proved that the claim was laughable.)

Judging from DIRECTV's successful effort to manipulate the media on the Netflix story, perhaps the answer is yes.

3. Samsung's 3D Warning
Did Samsung and other TV makers decide to invest hundreds of millions of dollars on new 3D sets knowing that a large portion of the public might get sick watching them? Or is this something that they found out later?

4. Samsung 3D Discounts
Did Samsung this week drop the price on its 46-inch 3D HDTV to under $1,500 because it's already getting desperate to sell the new sets? The 46-inch model cost $1,000 more when it was introduced just a month ago. The huge price drop makes you wonder if Samsung is panicking.

5. DIRECTV & TiVo
DIRECTV's decision to delay the new TiVo HD DVR to the "latter part of the year" is very curious considering rumors suggesting that Dish Network may be interested in buying TiVo to end their legal dispute. Is DIRECTV waiting to see if Dish buys TiVo before rolling out what could be a rival's product?

6. DIRECTV & Dish Network
DIRECTV and Dish Network sued each other just about a month over some advertising claims. However, the two companies quietly agreed to drop their suits last week. To say the least, that was a quick resolution and makes you wonder if both companies suddenly needed to eliminate some legal entanglements before discussing merger proposals or other major partnerships.

7. Avatar & 3D
If Avatar is such a 3D sensation, why are so many people snapping up today's non-3D, Blu-ray release of the blockbuster hit? The movie has been the top-ranked video release at Amazon.com for weeks. Maybe people don't care that much whether the movie is in 3D or not.

8. Verizon & Comcast
Verizon is currently running a TV commercial in which an apartment dweller is openly rude to a Comcast technician. When the cable guy knocks on the door to pick up a set-top after the resident cancelled service, the resident all but throws the cable box at him and then rudely closes the door on him. The commercial makes the Comcast guy look sympathetic and Verizon look arrogant. Did some hoity-toity ad agency think this was a cool ad? It's not. It's mean and another case of how this country has put civility on the back burner.

9. DIRECTV's New 30 HD Channels
If DIRECTV's new satellite is running so well, why will it take a "few months" to add 30 new high-def channels? Why can't DIRECTV just add them all at once? The new satellite is supposed to give it the capacity for 200 HD channels -- and by DIRECTV's count (an inflated one at that) -- it now has only about 130 HD channels. What's the deal, DIRECTV?

10. Discovery's Life
Despite its undeniable beauty, Life, the new high-def Discovery nature series, needs an advisory saying that kids under 14 shouldn't watch it. The show is one grisly scene after another of animals chewing up other animals to a fair thee well. Why isn't the media writing about this -- and warning parents? Are reporters so infatuated with Discovery (and narrator Oprah Winfrey) that they have neglected their responsibility to provide important information?

[dangerdoc]

Sorry reply to wrong person. And yes, I do like Dr. Who. : )

[MississippiMan]

Did Samsung this week drop the price on its 46-inch 3D HDTV to under $1,500 because it's already getting desperate to sell the new sets? The 46-inch model cost $1,000 more when it was introduced just a month ago. The huge price drop makes you wonder if Samsung is panicking.

They should all panic over having wasted tens (hundreds?) of millions of dollars on a technology bound to fail in the marketplace. The public was recently sold on flat panels, even more recently on Blu-Ray. The notion that the public was gonna then embrace a gimmicky technology that requires $200 glasses, special Blu-Ray players, and special TVs, is a laughable one. This is a case of folks jumping the gun and doing something because they could, before finding out if they should.

MM (in TX)

[jimtorr]

In my area the Verizon TV service is very bad....mostly because there isn’t any. The fiber trunk runs right in front of my house, but Verizon only offers internet and VOIP telephone service.

[mountainlion]

Antenna is not the problem. The signal is not getting here. Digital signals are worse than FM in mountains. I have stacked long range antenna with two amplifiers. The digital signal no longer gets here. Cell phones do not work here. The government's lack of knowledge of high tech and wish to manipulate and control people is at work here.

[GreenLanternCorps]

Did you get a converter box? If not you have several options.

1. Find a simple converter box. Best Buy still carries some. Other vendors might also.

2. Failing that, there are several DVD/VCR combo units that have a digital over the air tuner built in.

3. Both Tivo and Channel Master make DVR units with digital over the air tuners.

4. Any new HDTV will have a built in digital over the air tuner.

You can use these two sites to get an idea of what you should be able to pick up:

http://www.tvfool.com/

http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx

[MamaTexan]

Hmmmm. So you are watching TV.

LOL! No, not at the moment. Posting on FR is enough challenge for me.

-----

Nothing wrong with Dr. Who, I will be watching it later today.

I still haven't seen Dr. #11, but the girls tell me he's pretty good.

[VOA]

bump

[Brett66]

The show is one grisly scene after another of animals chewing up other animals to a fair thee well. Why isn't the media writing about this -- and warning parents?

I didn't need a warning about Bambi or Old Yellar, death is part of life.

[1raider1]

There is actually some pretty good stuff on depending on what interests you. Most of the time my TV is on FOX news but I watch a lot of discovery channel and History channel. CSPAN also comes in handy.

That stuff's not good. It's just better than whatever else happens to be on.

[dbwz]

Despite its undeniable beauty, Life, the new high-def Discovery nature series, needs an advisory saying that kids under 14 shouldn't watch it. The show is one grisly scene after another of animals chewing up other animals to a fair thee well.

That's odd, because one of the things that jumped out for me was that there seemed to be less in the way of critters graphically munching on each other. I've seen far worse on other programs. I thought there was a lot more emphasis on mating behavior.

[mountainlion]

Hdtv works on my set. There is only one transmitter close enough to get a signal to me. Hdtv signals are so weak and poor that they do not carry like AM and FM signals. Hdtv is a poor siginal. I will not buy more equipment to find out that hdtv has hosed the nation. Hd radio is poor also. hdtv is just another rip off of the American People!

[Delta 21]

Does FreeRepublic look better in HD or 3D??

[united1000]

which mountains?

[Nepeta]

What they don’t show you is that’s one of the twins from Mothra.

"We come from Mothra Island!"

[Nepeta]

Antenna is not the problem. The signal is not getting here. Digital signals are worse than FM in mountains.

I am 4-7 miles away from several transmitters, but unless I aim my antenna with great care, most of them are prone to breakup. I'm not down in a valley, either. I used to get watchable analogue signals from 50 miles away.

The claims were made that digital was going to behave like the analogue broadcasts, but that just isn't so--the data at tvfool.com confirms this.

[mountainlion]

Rocky Mountains. I am at 6500 feet and use to be able to get a signal form Chicago, Baton rouge and some that I never identified.

[LucyJo]

LOL. Amen.

[MediaMole]

3D TV will never catch on. Not because the technology isn’t good, but because home viewing isn’t conducive to 3D.

Home viewing is usually a bit chaotic, kids on the floor, one person in a recliner, another on the sofa.

Very few people will be willing to sit in a carefully arranged seating position while wearing 3D glasses for the length of a movie. You can’t lie down on the sofa, you can’t be too far to the sides.

[mountainlion]

I have DSL which is the only thing the the government has done for me by untended consequences. The public utilities commission said that the telephone company had to get rid of party lines so my area got some new equipment that was happened to be capable of DSL. HULU is better than abcnbccbscnn... combined.

[eclecticEel]

If Avatar is such a 3D sensation, why are so many people snapping up today's non-3D

Because most people don't have a 3D set. All questions should be this easy.