HDNET showed Hogans Heros in HD for months. You would have been in heaven.
My cable box will show the same HD broadcast on my analog TV (via coax) as it will on my HDTV (via HDMI, component, or firewire). Obviously, the program is downscaled somehow over the coax output, but it does seem to be backward compatible. While I can't argue with how it felt to get color because it has been around my entire life, I bet many people said "why do I need color? I have Andy Griffith, Dick Van Dyke, and The Three Stooges in B&W."

For me, HDTV makes a bigger impact when watching movies. HDNet has converted 35mm film to HD specs with great results. Seeing movies like(the original) "Oceans 11" in HD is truly awe inspiring. Then when you have movies like "Winged Migration", "Blade Runner", etc.. (on this month) it is worth gathering around the TV for a Friday night at the movies.

In my eyes, an even greater impact is made with sports in HD. The widescreen shows more of the game and everything is in perfect focus. If you have ever watched one football game in HD and then switched to standard broadcasting, you would truly appreciate what HDTV brings to the table.

Is it a more exciting change than color? I have no idea, but I do know that people spend more time in front of the TV nowadays (for xbox, dvds, cable TV, etc..), so more people may appreciate the change.

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Actually, they are already out and I own one. They can playback DVHS tapes and record HD over a firewire connection. I have a new cable box that has a hard drive for time shifting and a firewire output for dropping to HD VHS tape (or SVHS tape after modification). This is the best of both words.

In retrospect, if I had to make a choice, I prefer a hard disc Tivo-like ability over tape. I had the choice a while back when a company called 169time was making it possible (and still is) to record HD programming from Directv or Dish via a modified satellite box. Directv also had a HDTivo available that could not be modified. I picked the HDTivo because it is much more convenient and easier to use than VHS. Actually, for my life, Tivo/PVRs are even more important than HDTV. I do not want the TV to decide my schedule and the 30 second skip is a real time saver.

For OTA signals, it is very easy to record even without a cable box. All you need is a HDTV Wonder card on your computer and you can record off the air directly to your computer.

Forgot to add that cable providers have already signed the "plug n play" mandate that allows for recording off of firewire. Firewire will probably not be available on the new HD DVD recorders, but it is possible to record HDTV if you have a firewire enabled cable box and a DVHS recorder.
Could not agree more! I have heard that the two camps have been in talks to discuss using one format, but it may not (and probably will not) happen. I have a lot of HD content available to me all of the time via local networks and HD cable/satellite channels. I would love HD DVD, but I will not be adopting the format for a long time. I want to let the fight play out for a while first. :yes:

80's prototype hdtv
 

Frenchy the first HD picture I ever seen was at the consumer electronics show in Chicago in the 1980's it was a 70" Panasonic dsplay the picture was very good

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Many people (including my parents) would tell you that VCR were also not easy to timeshift with. All cable companies that wanted to be part of the "cablecard, plug n play" mandate are now required to give you a firewire box if you request one.
No question about that. I am a freak in the fact that I wanted this type of VCR to begin with. It is also possible to run a firewire cable to a computer and capture the video that way (unless the content is flagged to be copied once). This is even more difficult. The real question is why VHS is a dead format. I believe it is dead because people would rather use a PVR to timeshift television programs or buy the DVD. Most people are not going to wait for these products to come out before investing in HDTVs. HDTVs have many advantages right now over plain old color TVs. Bigger screen size with a much sharper picture mean something to a lot of people. If it doesn't, then I doubt they are going to run out and invest in HD DVDs either.

I hate HDTV. I hate digital. I love the old televison.

Why? Are you opposed to great picture quality? :sigh:

There is nothing better then uncompressed digital TV. MPEG2 HDTV can be very good but have fast motion in sports or a fast dissolve and it looks noisy. Just because it’s digital does not always make it better. Good analog can be very good.

uofmtiger: I'm not oppsoing better qualty, but, but the very good image dosen't give you the feeling of old movies (I hate the movies with very goof image-they don't have the feeling). :sigh:

Well as a younger man 36 I don't appreciate the value of old tv's. I remember when if as a kid you had a tv in your room it was black and white. I also remember wrapping tin foil on the antennas and forcing my brother with threats of a beating if he didn't stand there holding them in a certain direction so the picture would come in. I remember how cool it was in the early 90's when I could finally afford a 27" TV I thought I was big pimping!

To me I don't find anything more thrilling than watching HDTV on my 51" HDTV. I even watch awful movies like "White Chicks" just so I can see it in HD ;)

THOR,
Your situation is similar to mine. I remember putting a hanger into the broken antenna on my B&W TV to be able to pick up local stations. I also remember that I would go sit down and the picture would be out of whack again. I apparently worked better as an antenna than the hanger. :D
I do not have any romantic feeling for watching poor quality TV. I prefer watching the older movies on HDnet in HD.
The TV you watched was not setup properly (sharpness was probably too high) or you were watching an interlaced HDTV of a very, very fast moving sport. Many of the newer TVs use a progressive signal (720P) and this does not have the one half screen refresh issues that you see on 1080i. Progressive is used by Fox and Espn because of this issue. All of that being said, I still think the picture on 1080i is better than 480i regardless of the fast motion.

<<The TV you watched was not setup properly (sharpness was probably too high) or you were watching an interlaced HDTV of a very, very fast moving sport. Many of the newer TVs use a progressive signal (720P) and this does not have the one half screen refresh issues that you see on 1080i. >>

Also depends (on over-the-air stuff anyway) on whether the network is running any subchannels of standard def material. A 720p broadcast will hardly be affected at all by one subchannel, or even two depending on how much bandwidth they give it. But a 1080i can have MUCH more noticeable degradation (pixelization on dissolves, fast action and flashing) than a standalone HDTV channel. Or you can even see pixelization creeping in on a single channel if they are not giving it the full bandwith (19.2 bps or whatever the max is).
If it were up to me, I would eliminate subchannels when broadcasting HDTV on the main channel, OR just go with 720p if they insist on using subchannels.
If it's a single HDTV channel getting full bandwidth, pixelization is pretty rare except during the occasional extremely demanding material. As for cable I don't have it but I'm sure there are pixelization issues with that as well for the same reasons...Frenchy

The way things are going for over the air ratings I'd be willing to bet we will have very few stations broadcasting full bandwith HDTV when its all said and done. Infact there is a good chance some may use all their bandwith for 5 or 6 standard def channels. There is no rule that makes a station broadcast HDTV. It just has to be digital.

Check out INHD.com
I get INHD1 and INHD2 on comcast.
everything is 1080i
Tons of IMAX movies.
Add a hd dvr and TV will never
be the same for you.

There was no rule that shows be broadcast in color either. If a network produces a show in HD (for everything, cable, OTA, whatever), I can't see it being LESS likely over time that local stations would broadcast it in non-HD, only more likely. No it probably won't be full bandwidth, but I can't see it being with more than a couple of standard def subchannels, or else the HD would be so degraded people would be calling the station all day. The big networks (they ARE still big, check the ratings including cable viewers too, still are the top 10 shows and beyond) don't want their affiliates showing their HD productions in standard def or badly degraded HD. Another factor is the FCC said cable didn't have to carry those subchannels. After that I notice ABC let their "ABC Now" channel just die on the vine. (The local station has kept it for showing infomercials and reruns of news, etc.)

Don't get me wrong I deal with HDTV everyday and it is a whole lot better then 480I but there are some problems with it as well. (Today during the LA blackout we saw some shots in HD from KABC air 7 that were really the best I's ever watched from a chopper) I'm sure it will get better over time as the MPEG encoders are better now and a lot lower in cost. Very very few HDTV sets pick up their signal off air this could really end whats left of free tv in this country when we go digital. The same thing can be said why would a station have comercials on 24/7 but some do. Why would a station air old 3/4 tapes but some do. It just gets down to what makes the most money not always what is right. It's a 300+ channel world now and most folks pay for their TV. ABC is still doing their news plus channel in the LA market. There is even a new NFL HD channel for this fall and Discovery, HBO, Showtime, Cinemax ,Turner, ESPN, and there are more out there and in the works.

<<ABC is still doing their news plus channel in the LA market. >>

Yeah but it's no longer original stuff that was specifically made for this channel, now it's just reruns of local news, informercials, promos for ABC shows, reruns of network news. As soon as the FCC made that ruling the "ABC Now" stuff went away which is not surprising. Not that what they had was anything great anyway, it was rerun up the wazoo all day and night.

<<The same thing can be said why would a station have comercials on 24/7 but some do.>>

Guess I'm just talking about the big six network affiliates, which don't do that (not yet anyway in L.A.) Maybe it will all depend on what the government requires the networks to do - broadcast in good HD, or to do whatever they want and turn the darn antennas off completely if they want. I predict the former but I'm an optimist. Who knows how many people still won't have cable in the years to come and if the affiliates would be defaulting on that advertising $ if they pulled the plug on broadcasting or showed Desparate Houswives in crummy 480i. Plus with the dish systems, you still need to have an antenna/tuner to get the network stuff in HD anyway. Oh well it wilol be fun to see what TV looks like in 10 or 20 years, I hope I'm still kickin'! : )

I do see a difference from HD channel to HD channel, I have cable HD. I do not watch the two or three local channels that broadcast in HD, except when they do selected sports broadcasts everything else looks crappy. Never any problems with fast motion in sports or anything else, but I read a lot on the internet about RPHDTV setup and also used an HT setup disc to set up my TV. I have seen other TV's even newer and nicer than mine, plasmas and LCD's included, in stores and at friends houses that have PQ's that look like ass compared to mine since they aren't set up right. I believe all this a tubed TV looks better than an RPTV talk is all due to folks who haven't seen an RPHDTV set up properly.

INHD has some of the best looking stuff. I found myself watching Korean Sumo wrestling the other day on INHD just because the picture was so amazing! I hate stock car racing on TV but I find myself watching Busch North races on INHD when they are on just because it looks so cool. I have 3 or 4 movie channels that have HD, HBO for example, and PQ can very from movie to movie with older movies usually the ones that don't look as good.

What no one has mentioned that almost as great as the HD picture is the advent of the technology has also brought on of carriers broadcasting in 5.1 digital sound. Pretty sweet to be able to watch stuff in 5.1 when for the longest time you can only do it with a DVD. The Sopranos in HD with 5.1 sound how awesome is that! Forgettaboutit!

Well I took the plunge today and got a HD DirecTV box.
I've had a HD capable set (with a tuner) for about a year now but have never seen anything in HD on it yet!

The final push was watching the first season DVD set of "Lost", I couldn't stand the idea of watching the second season in SD. :no:

This is one of the best show's ever and it's filmed in widescreen on location in Hawaii and is a perfect showcase for HDTV. :banana:

I get to watch "Lost" for free in HDTV off my $20 antenna : )
It definitely IS a fantastic show to watch in HD plus has that original music score done with a real orchestra. So the DVDs show Lost in widescreen, correct? The HD should look better than SD, but of course not THAT much better than the dvds, but definitely and easily noticeable.
I remember watching promos for Lost and Desperate Housewives last year and instantly knew they both looked like super-high-quality programs, almost too good for free tv.
Frenchy

I'm too lazy to install an antenna :D don't really have a good location for one anyway without going way up high.

Anyways, yes, the Lost DVD's are in widescreen and they look terrific, from what I've seen of HD so far tonight it is going to be even better.

Just started Desperate Housewives (on DVD, also in WS) last night and I already know I'm gonna love it :thmbsp: I have to watch the whole first season before next Sunday when the new season starts.

"they both looked like super-high-quality programs, almost too good for free tv."

Amen, the writing is fantastic, Arrested Development is another great show and there's supposedly a lot of good stuff coming out this season.
Hopefully it's the end of the "Reality" era. :banana: