Hi-def TV

[Brookfield]

In Britain, in about four years time, hi-def TV will be the only one you can receive, which means that I will have to replace my three at considerable cost, in addition SKY says that we will need a new digibox at around £300, but there's more, in a year or two, all sets will have to be digital to receive transmissions, so I'm looking at combined costs of around £3000 if I do it in the two stages, & I think I'm going to have to, as I can't afford to buy three hi-def sets in eighteen months.
What's the position outside of Britain?
Even those using direct satellites, look as though they'll have to buy new TV's.
I am guessing that in the US & Canada you have hi-def already, but if all this happens, what about the many poor countries?, some rely on TV for education, even some remote Scottish isles do.
What are the members views & comments on all this?

 

[~K-Pow~]

We have Hi-Def here in canada but it is not the only one we can recieve, if it was there would be a lot of complaints i think about people having to replace there TV.

I'd have to replace mine or buy a new reciever, i doubt somewhat that they can only send Hi-Def sounds kinda stupid to me, like you said not everybody is going to have the money to replace the TV's in there house.

I don't think it's good at all, forcing people to buy something so they can make money off of it.

 

[joe pic]

Thats stupid. We have like 20 HD channels for free, they don't charge us extra.

 

[~K-Pow~]

I'm don't think ours are free, but here you need a special reciever to get the HD channels.

 

[ChampMark]

That's everywhere, and in 4 years is BS. Who's gonna spend all that money to get a HDTV in every room. Now, I am pretty sure they are going to make a box that takes the HDTV signal and lower the quality for older tvs when that period comes along, and if they don't some private company will.

Most Satellite/Cable companies do charge extra per month for HDTV signals, I use to work at BestBuy, and DirectTV chared as well as Comcast, and Dish Network. It's like 5$ to 15$ a month per HD Box. HDTV boxes are pretty exspensive. Usually signing up with a new service gets you discount, but that's here in the US.

Furthermore, if they ever get to that period when HDTV is the only option, more then likely the tvs with HDTV technology in them will be the prices of the modern cost tvs currently.

 

[UK31337]

It's going to be a big change, but it's happening already - in the UK, some of the 2006 World Cup's going to be in HiDef, and the XBox 360 is recommended with it.

You can't just soldier on with old kit, though. It's not like in the 60's when colour TV started in Europe (BBC2, 1967, the first colour TV channel in Europe) - everything on the BBC had the word "COLOUR" slapped on the end, but you simply saw it in black-and-white on an old TV - there was only the one signal. Or so my mum tells me - I wasn't born for another 20 years after that.

Anyways, that HDTV they use to demonstrate the XBox 360 in British games shops (it's a Samsung something or another) is complete junk - I honestly got a better picture off a 14" normal non HiDef TV.

So they've got a lot of convincing to do, I'm not going to pay £4000 for something which fills a whole wall and has a crappy grainy picture. I've looked in the shops here, and I'm not impressed either with the pricing or the stage the technology's currently at. I'll not upgrade until the old signals are shut down, even though I'm already using digital.

 

[Brookfield]

We have Hi-Def here in canada but it is not the only one we can recieve, if it was there would be a lot of complaints i think about people having to replace there TV.

I'd have to replace mine or buy a new reciever, i doubt somewhat that they can only send Hi-Def sounds kinda stupid to me, like you said not everybody is going to have the money to replace the TV's in there house.

I don't think it's good at all, forcing people to buy something so they can make money off of it.

You obviously don't know our present government here, Tony Blair has railroaded even more questionable policies through parliament, true, he has had pressures put on him in this case, "technology must advance at all cost", yes, cost to the public!, I wonder who will foot the bill to replace all the TV's in his three very large homes, [which, incidentally, he is falling behind in mortgage payments for] us, I expect, through taxes.
PS; Did you know that our prime ministers, retire on full salary, for life?

 

[~K-Pow~]

Wow i had no idea. That totally blows. I really don't keep up on politics enough to explain what happenes here in our governement.

They aren't going to help me out in anyway so i just don't pay attention.

As a matter of fact i can't really tell you who our prime minster is.

 

[Brookfield]

That's everywhere, and in 4 years is BS. Who's gonna spend all that money to get a HDTV in every room. Now, I am pretty sure they are going to make a box that takes the HDTV signal and lower the quality for older tvs when that period comes along, and if they don't some private company will.

Most Satellite/Cable companies do charge extra per month for HDTV signals, I use to work at BestBuy, and DirectTV chared as well as Comcast, and Dish Network. It's like 5$ to 15$ a month per HD Box. HDTV boxes are pretty exspensive. Usually signing up with a new service gets you discount, but that's here in the US.

Furthermore, if they ever get to that period when HDTV is the only option, more then likely the tvs with HDTV technology in them will be the prices of the modern cost tvs currently.

It's not bulls**t, see my answer to K-POW, & I doubt that prices will come down in four years, even they do, it'll still be expensive, but no doubt I' ll have to fork out, but here, as in the States, there are still a lot of families officially on the poverty line, how are they going to afford it? get into even more debt?, I think that the average credit card debt here, is in the thousands, £3000 I believe at the last count.

 

[~K-Pow~]

The price won't drop till there's nobody left that needs it. They will wait till the majority buys it at high prices then drop it when there is not so many people to buy it.

Government sucks. That's why i don't vote, they say there gonna help you and all they do in the long run is end up screwing you. No matter who's in power it's all about them not anybody else and the tax payers get screwed in the end.

Mods can delete this if they think it's to controlversal.