Hdtv

Jeslek

Jeslek

Banned
Does anyone here have any experience with HDTV? Is anyone getting any HDTV channels? One of my favorite TV channels is Discovery, and I noticed that I can subscribe to Discovery HDTV, but it is like $7.99 a month. For the channel. Does anyone have any experience with this?

Oh the other hand, we are already getting some HBO HDTV, but up until now I haven't had a receiver to work with it. Maybe soon.

Oh and the PPV HDTV channel charges like $8 per movie. I think that is a little expensive.
 
MuFu

MuFu

New Member
Hardly any HDTV penetration over here.

HD in general is definitely coming though. 1080p looks absolutely amazing - the next version of the the T2 DVD will apparently have a 1920x1080 WMV9 transfer on it. Very cool. :cool:

MuFu.
 
Jeslek

Jeslek

Banned
By 2006, all TV signals in the United States and Canada has to be digital (DTV). After that, you can bet that HDTV will be booming. I think TVs will start incorporating HDTV decoders and thus eliminating the need for an external receiver. The only HDTV channels my provider offers are:

NBATV (OK, where the hell is the NHL channel?)

Discovery HD Theater

HBO HDTV (Free with the HBO package, which I have)

Showtime HDTV (Free with the Showtime package, I don't have it)

CBS HDTV East and West (I have that too)


Now are there any DVDs that support HDTV right now? T2 in 1080p mode? :eek: :eek: :lfap:
 
MuFu

MuFu

New Member
Hmm... I don't think there are many/any DVDs that support the higher HDTV resolutions (720p, 1080p). Most are 480/576i, although the format allows progressive content also.

Thing is, the bandwidth required for HD on a DVD really requires a more efficient codec. That's where WMV9 comes in... of course you'll only be able to play the HD version of T2 on a fast PC.

Might be a bit of a licensing war when the PS3 and Xbox-2 come out. I can see M$ pushing to get their HD format accepted as an industry standard (successor to DVD) and using the Xb2 as an "exclusive" launch platform, prior to cross-licensing.

MuFu.
 
Jeslek

Jeslek

Banned
Does a DVD carry a special sticker if it is HDTV compatible or something? I think most of my DVDs are NTSC. Is there sort of an additional video track if it supports 480p or something?
 
samcurry

samcurry

Screwing with the code...
Staff member
I dont see hdtv happening soon here in the US. they may have said digital by 2006 but i know we are far away from that happening too. that why the hdtv prices in the US have been dropping. came out too soon with the tv but nothing to watch.
 
rh71

rh71

New Member
There's 3 channels that are carrying HDTV signals here on the Island... so it is not yet worth it to purchase an HDTV capable tv if you don't already have one. Our cable company is giving out a HDTV tuner for digital cable at customers' request, so it's something to jump on if you already have it all set up. But again, it's only 3 channels right now.
 
Jeslek

Jeslek

Banned
Sam, when the FCC said digital, it does not imply HDTV. You can go low definition and still be digital. :) And you can watch digital signals on a standard TV.
 
MuFu

MuFu

New Member
Jeslek said:
Does a DVD carry a special sticker if it is HDTV compatible or something? I think most of my DVDs are NTSC. Is there sort of an additional video track if it supports 480p or something?
Click to expand...

No... DVDs are pretty much always encoded with interlaced content. BUT, the interlaced fields occur with a frequency of 60/second (and of course the source material is FILM/24, which is progressive in nature). If you think about it, that's more than enough required to reconstruct progressive video; you just need to selectively interleave and double up (called 3:2 pullup/inverse telecine) to get >24fps@>flicker fusion frequency.

So basically all DVDs can be displayed at 480/576p@24fps, although there is occasionally weirdness (usually judder) due to encoding/pullup peculiarities. It happens less on PCs than most dedicated hardware because they can sync frames to a higher fps, e.g. 72 or 75Hz which the monitor supports.

1080p is over 5 times as much information. To be honest, WMV 9 looks like very attractive tech...

MuFu.
 
Jeslek

Jeslek

Banned
So are there DVD players that will reconstruct progressive signals from interlaced signals and thus output an HDTV signal at say 576p?

And how would WMV 9 work with external DVD players that don't use a computer?
 
samcurry

samcurry

Screwing with the code...
Staff member
your right but i think its only going to be large cities/market that will go digital first. our area is no way set to go digital within 2 years.
 
MuFu

MuFu

New Member
Jeslek said:
So are there DVD players that will reconstruct progressive signals from interlaced signals and thus output an HDTV signal at say 576p?
Click to expand...

Yes. It's what happens when you watch DVDs on a PC monitor.

And how would WMV 9 work with external DVD players that don't use a computer?
Click to expand...

Use a custom DSP chip I imagine. Must be quite cheap to implement but probably very costly to license. Hence the current specualtion as to what M$ have in mind for Xbox2.

MuFu.
 
Gonz

Gonz

molṑn labé
Staff member
samcurry said:
I dont see hdtv happening soon here in the US.
Click to expand...

most major cities are already broadcasting in HD. Hell, PBS in FW just started & WANE is testing. 2006, either have a HDTV or buy a converter.
Jeslek said:
Sam, when the FCC said digital, it does not imply HDTV.
Click to expand...

I need to look it up to verify but I'm pretty sure they said HD. Digital transmissions, either way, are not compatible with an analog tuner.
 
Luis G

Luis G

<i><b>Problemator</b></i>
Staff member
1080 just happens to be another HDTV standard, considering that normal TVs doesn't have the required resolution to display a DVD it is fair to say that dvds were meant to take advantage of the hdtv.
 
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