Thread: SDTV or HDTV?
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Old 12-20-2017, 10:40 PM
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Jeffhs Jeffhs is offline
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Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Fairport Harbor, Ohio (near Lake Erie)
Posts: 4,035
I have a flat screen HDTV, but I honestly cannot tell the difference between HD and SD television programming, except for the black bars at either side of my TV screen; that doesn't bother me at all since all I watch are MeTV, Antenna TV, GetTV, COZI and one other retro channel, to say nothing of old shows (1950s-'70s) on DVD and VHS, for which I can (and do) always expand my TV picture by resetting the aspect ratio at the TV set. Those OTA DTV subchannels show very old programs which were filmed or taped in 4:3 aspect ratio; the only time I watch network and local TV, as a rule, is for the world news and local news. My set is connected directly to a Roku player; I no longer have cable. My cable operator is Spectrum (formerly Time Warner Cable); the only reason I have a cable account with them at all is so the Spectrum TV app on the Roku will receive my area's local TV channels.

Someone here mentioned eventually needing a "string" of converter boxes with older TVs as the standards continue to change. That may be, someday (my 22-year-old Zenith Sentry 2 TV, for example, needs the Roku and an RF modulator to receive anything these days, since I do not have and do not want a cable box; even my flat screen won't work without the Roku), but the fact is, if you want to use an older (NTSC) television on today's standards, you must use at least one box ahead of the set. If you don't, your TV screen will show nothing but a white raster or snow.

The television industry wants everyone, with absolutely no exceptions, to eventually use exclusively flat screen TVs. Like it or not, the times are changing; again, the day will eventually come when your treasured old TV will not work regardless of how many converter boxes you put between it and the cable. The only technology I can see surviving any length of time is OTA TV, but the new ATSC 3.0 standard is going to make it impossible to use only an antenna get reception; yes, you will probably need a new TV, or at least a converter box between the antenna and existing TVs, to get OTA reception with the new standard.

ATSC 3.0 will not change the way anyone gets TV via cable or via streaming video, but again, it will make it impossible to use TVs on antennas, at least without a converter box. The goal the FCC is (or at least seems to be) shooting for is to stamp out all old TV technology, and to force everyone to use flat screens, whether anyone likes it or not. This will mean next to nothing for most average, non-technical TV viewers, who abandoned NTSC (standard) TVs in favor of flat screens eight years ago (who but antique/vintage TV collectors use the older sets anymore?), but it will have an effect on antique/vintage TV collectors (such as VK member Doug Harland, et al.), who soon will find their old sets won't receive TV signals any longer. These sets will probably continue to work with DVD players and VCRs, but not with OTA broadcast TV.

Note as well that, if you decide to go to a streaming-video service, that service may eventually decide to modify TV signals, such as downconverting video resolution from, for example, UHD (4K) to HD or even SD, making it impossible to see programming in its original resolution on your flat-screen TV unless you get cable or satellite. This is just another way cable and satellite providers can and will eventually grab more cash from subscribers. Since OTA TV, under ATSC 3.0, will require a converter box as well between the TV and the antenna (ATSC 3.0 is not backward-compatible with existing flat screen televisions), the cable/satellite providers could and likely will use this as yet another (grrrr) money grab, as soon as these ATSC 3.0 converters become available.



"I have seen the future, and it is HDTV." (Paraphrase; originator unknown)
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Collecting, restoring and enjoying vintage Zenith radios since 2002

Zenith. Gone, but not forgotten.

Last edited by Jeffhs; 12-21-2017 at 03:04 PM.
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