F*ck MANDATORY HDTV!

[Atman]

So my 12 year old 32" Toshiba television crapped out last week. We were watching a DVD and *poof* the screen when black with the little pin-dot white light. Sound was still there, but no pic. When you press the on/off button, it makes the click and hum sounds as if it is turning on, but black. It seemed to me that, with mandatory HDTV coming in 2009, and the cost of CRT televisions these days, it wouldn't makes sense to try to lug this beast to a TV repair shop. Time to bite the bullet and get a plasma. We looked in the Sunday flyers and finally said F*CK IT! I'm am NOT spending $1500 to replace my Bush Propaganda Spewing Device (BPSD)! I went up to the attic and yanked out our 30 year old RCA 19" television, slapped an RF adapter on it, and bingo...fired right up. Beautiful, razor-sharp color picture (the irony -- this dinosaur hooked up to our digital cable box). Screw it. It took a little getting used to, it seems so...small! But we bitch about television all the time, and I just am not going to go spend lots of money on a television I don't actually need. I mean, I could pick up a new CRT for almost nothing these days, but then what? In two years, it's obsolete. But in two years, those plasmas and lcd's will be getting even cheaper. I'm holding out. Not gonna do it.

I'm watching Daily Show old school, baby!

:rant:

.

[SteppingRazor]

1. What the fuck is wrong with you?

Buy a new idiot box and drool along with the rest of us. This sort of outside-the-box (so to speak) thinking isn't welcome in the hive. Buy a goddamn HDTV and start watching as many reality TV shows as you can. It's the only way. Get in line! :P

[Kajsa]

2. How are the big electronics companies

going to make their millions with people like you?

:sarcasm: :hi:

[underpants]

3. Man can not live with on 19" of TV

I have a 36" MONSTER (got it with our 9/11 tax advance check)

[Deja Q]

4. It's not how big it is but how well it's used!

:rofl:

[twilight_sailing]

35. HypnoToad,

could it be that your dick obsession is getting old?

[derby378]

5. "Mandatory" HDTV in 2009?!?

Could you explain for the slower students in class? I must've missed something.

[Deja Q]

7. The FCC is forcing mandatory HDTV-only broadcast in 2009

It was originally slated for 2006...

Regular channels will be dismantled; used elsewhere (or so claimed...)

HDTV will also have a broadcast flag to prevent piracy. Which is odd, tv is free - paid for by sponsors, whose products we buy.

[Roland99]

48. Uh, I wish! The FCC will mandate *DTV*, not HDTV

Not all broadcasts will have to be hi-def, just digital.

[Atman]

8. Bush's "Thank You" to the industry contributors

Yup. FCC had decided that all television signals will be broadcast in HDTV starting in 2009. If you have an old square CRT clunker like my Toshiba (or 30 yo RCA), it won't work any more.

Now, I'm sure some enterprising company will be offering down-converters or something. But you're gonna be shelling out money for SOMETHING you don't actually need, thanks to BushCo.

.

[michreject]

21. Wasn't this decision made prior to 2000?

The initial conversion date was the year 2000. This is nothing new. It kept getting pushed back.

[mark414]

31. i believe this was clinton's doing

passed as part of the telecommunications act of 1996

as bad as that bill was...i think this is a good thing

[Atman]

32. I think you're right, actually. nt

.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

36. LOL.

Digital/HDTV, Bush/Clinton, whatever.

Let's just get outraged for the sake of outrage.

[Atman]

38. Works for me!

No one, Bush, Clinton or otherwise, is telling me I hafta buy a new teevee!

:)


And franksolich is a misogynist stalker.

.

[lildreamer316]

9. They are going to stop sending signals in the "regular" form

sorry; let me go look that up. BRB.

Here you go:
(Analog is the word I'm looking for)

Analog TV broadcasts to end by 2009

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10563834/

[Atman]

10. Follow the money...

From your link...(thanks!)

"The plan also would allocate as much as $1.5 billion for a “converter box” program to help people with older, analog TV sets that would lose their signal in the digital era. Consumer advocates say that is not enough money."

It's a taxpayer-funded Valentine to the cable industry.

.

[LSK]

12. digital is not HDTV

You are confusing two seperate things.

[lildreamer316]

14. my bad....

Sorry.
In my defense; I referenced that while on the phone to Microsoft.

[Atman]

15. You're right.

My bad, too. But still, a distinction without a difference. No one is going to be selling new, cheap CRT digital sets. Have you been into a Circuit City lately? The CRT's are in the orphaned step-children. Everything is about glamorizing HDTV now so everyone will just have to have one or else the neighbors will shun them, and the kids will be too embarrassed to have their friends over.

.

[LSK]

16. you can buy a DVD player for $50 and use for a tuner

At least this is my plan.

[Atman]

17. I don't think you're right about that. But you could be.

I have a couple of new DVD players, and none of them have cable inputs, only outputs. VCR's can do this, because they do have tuners in them, but they won't even accept a DVD signal without a modulator (you get a pulsating, fading in and out picture if you try), but I haven't seen tuners in DVD players. Maybe I just wasn't looking.

Either way, the government is forcing us to buy stuff to fix a problem no one had until they stepped in.

.

[LSK]

18. I just bought a DVD recorder

and I can use it as a tuner. I dont know about DVD players, maybe some will have that feature?

[Atman]

20. A DVD RECORDER for $50???!

Where?

.

[RebelOne]

24. I saw them at Target yesterday.

And I think the price was under $55.

[LSK]

27. player

But give it 6 months and the recorders will be there too.

[Atman]

29. delete

delete

[derby378]

22. Okay, folks, listen up - Digital does NOT necessarily mean HDTV

Our television at home is digital, but it's not HDTV. So we're all set for 2009, I think.

[Atman]

28. Thanks, but that was established many, many posts ago

Yes, you're all set for HDTV. It was my bad to use "HDTV" and "digital" interchangeably, but I missed my chance to edit the sub line. That's cool...the folks at Certifiable Underground were desperate for some new material anyway. They've jerking themselves off about how stupid democrats are because I used the wrong term. Must suck not to have a life like that!

.

[YankeyMCC]

6. I'm with you

I worry about my 14 year old TV going quits on me before the plasmas get more reasonable. No Way do I want to spend more than a few hundred on an idiot box. I don't need a large screen just something reasonably clear.

[LSK]

11. can you buy a tuner to use with an old tv?

Like buying a newer DVD player and using it as a tuner?

[hunter]

13. I already have plenty of reasons not to watch television.

2009 will be the nail in the coffin. I'll be too lazy to install a down converter, and too cheap to buy another television.

[brook]

19. My 12 year old analog went belly up

this past week too. The only TV repair shop in town went belly up earlier this year. :( I'm having surgery Wednesday and couldn't stand the idea of a tv-less recuperation.

Fortunately, I received a Christmas check -which I had great plans for - but is now going to replace the old Zenith. :cry:

After agonizing over the short-term fix of an affordable CRT vs an HD-ready, I ordered a 20" LCD from Vizio. It's a California company that's has been getting good press on both product and service. I really wanted a 32" - but couldn't rationalize the cost- 399 as opposed to 699. The smaller one will do me @ about 415 including shipping. (Costco carries the Vizio 42" at about 1200 bucks. Too big for both my 'budget' and apartment).

[CabalPowered]

23. I just got a Vizio from Costco

Very happy! LCD is the way to go! :7

[brook]

25. Good to hear.

:hi:

I spent hours over about 3 days reading reviews, customer & tech forums and comparing prices. Vizio seemed the best all-round solution for my budget and needs.

[Phoonzang]

33. Same here...

I got the 37 inch and it's ok so far. Its taking me a while to get used to the decreased quality in Standard Definition channel picture though. Also I seem to have a problem when there's alot of movement on the screen. The picture....pixelates or something.

[CabalPowered]

37. All new monitors are going to behave like that

The big names will probably have better compensation than these but you're going to pay a lot more than what you did. Have you tried watching a movie in 16:9 yet? Or a HD or BluRay disk? The picture I get from a Playstation 3 is jaw-dropping incredible.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

40. Mine too.

It's like it's somehow more clear than looking out the window.

Shit, I spent an hour last night watching the music player and I wasn't even stoned.

[Phoonzang]

42. I'm hoping to get a 360 at some point

And then I'll be able to upgrade it to HD DVD. I've seen Blue Ray and it was pretty damn sweet. For now the only DVD player I have is my PS2 and that sure as hell doesn't look good on a HDTV.

BTW, What do you mean by watching a movie in 16 *smiley*? I assume that was a typo?

[CabalPowered]

43. lol.. ya i was talking about the aspect ratio

16 : 9.

[yellowdogintexas]

44. we were looking at that TV ourselves. So you like it/

That is a really good price, on that TV

[Crabby Appleton]

26. FAQ on DTV

http://www.dtv.gov/consumercorner.html

[Atman]

30. Misogynist franksolich offered me $20

...if I let him suck me off at a rest stop. Just in case anyone cares. I declined, of course, since I don't need the money or the head. But apparently, the perpetually single, woman-hating franksolich needs some lovin'.

.

[twilight_sailing]

34. 30 year old RCA 19" television

I had that TV too!

[AngryAmish]

39. F*CK MANDITORY INDOOR PLUMBING!

I'm going potty old school, baby!

[SKKY]

41. Atman, why do you hate Amurikah???

[mike_c]

45. I always get a kick out of watching folks haul those $2000 boxes...

...out of Costco. Propaganda spewing machines indeed. I haven't had a TV in decades, and I'll be damned if I can think of any reason to drop that kind of change for one. Then add what, $50-$100 monthly for cable service? That is insane.

[caty]

46. Is it true

that if you have cable, you don't have to worry about the change over?

[Atman]

47. Cable companies will most likely offer converter boxes -- BUT --

But everyone will be pushing the HDTV.

But the point virtually EVERYONE has missed here...$1.5 BILLION of taxpayer money to help buy converter boxes for people who can't afford to make the switch. Digital TV welfare? $1.5 billion to WHOM? Oh, the cable industry, of course.

:shrug:

.

[RoyGBiv]

53. Uh, no ...

Well, I suppose it depends on what you mean by "the cable industry." That too has become a term that is thrown about in contexts where it doesn't apply.

If you mean providers like Comcast, Cox, etc., then no.

If you mean Scientific Atlanta or Motorola, then yes.

"The cable industry," in the first sense, would like you to believe you need cable to view content, but you don't. Everything that was available OTA (Over the Air) before will be available in 2009, but broadcast via a digital signal that needs to be decoded by a device that is not currently a part of the majority of CRT sets in use today.

In other words, if you have a digital set-top box acquired from some other avenue than a cable company, you bypass the cable company, sort of like if you have an antenna now, you bypass the cable company. All you'll be able to get are over-the-air channels, like now, but you'll have that option, like now.

[RoyGBiv]

50. Yes ... mostly

It will depend on the system, but whatever the case with the individual systems, you won't need a new television if you're a cable/satellite subscriber, but then again you won't *need* one if you're not. At worst you'll be required to rent or purchase a demodulator/decompression device, like in the olden days when televisions couldn't display more than 13 channels, and the cable company was offering 14 of them. Satellite already does this, meaning every signal you get via a satellite company is *already* digital, and people can see it just fine on that dusty old TV because the digital decoding is done in the receiver. Hell, I know someone with a B&W television who has satellite. Why? I have no idea.

With current cable systems, a decoder is not currently required for, at least, the so-called "must carry" channels, and the big systems, and most small ones, transmit what they define as the basic line-up via analog that your television can receive without any decoding at all. What is currently under way within the industry is upgrading of infrastructure to accommodate the switch to digital, and *some* will do the decoding at the node level and then broadcast the clean signal to the home in analog. Others will require a set-top box, which happens to be the same set-top box cable companies are already using for their "digital" lineup, i.e. channels they transmit compressed that require decompression to view. Actually, cable companies don't *require* the box if you have a "digital" or "digital ready" television unless you want to view premium channels (HBO, etc.) or their other offerings that require 2-way communication and software to make work, i.e. pay-per-view, interactive television, etc.

As an aside, despite the hype and implicit suggestions offered by marketing teams, nothing is inherently superior about a digital signal and in fact in some cases is worse. A "dirty" analog signal can be cleaned up via digital, but that's like moving from receiving over-the-air broadcasts to cable.

Again, this is for digital, which is what the FCC mandate covers. HDTV is a different animal in most of its particulars and *will* require a television specifically made to be able to display an HD signal. But, no one is mandating HDTV as the only signal broadcast at this point.

[IndyBob]

49. Some her understand correctly

HDTV is not being pushed down our throats, but digital broadcast is. Shrub had nothing to do with it. Blame Clinton if you wish.

It has noting to do with the cable companies, this deals with over the air TV transmissions. Going digital "frees up" enough bandwidth to allow HDTV, but also allows nearly 10 time the signal to be transmitted over the air compared to analog. The amount of "space" available for broadcasting is saturated. There is no spare room for any additional channels using analog. Going digital opens up the over crowded airwaves.

Our local PBS station broadcasts in digital, they now have one HDTV signal, as well as 8 or so side channels they can now broadcast. Some pretty decent things there to see, IMO.

Of course I am biased, being an electrical engineer and techno geek.

[RoyGBiv]

51. Thank you ...

I simply do not see the outrage.

PBS expanding to several different stations is one reason I've been looking forward to this.

We started getting them about a month ago.

[nuxvomica]

52. When my 27" Zenith died, I ignored plasma and LCD

The technology is too new and too expensive. So I bought a 30" widescreen Samsung HDTV CRT. It's 147 pounds of seasoned, reliable technology with a crisp, clear picture. Considering that CRTs are so inexpensive, why don't they build a lightweight screen from thousands of tiny ones? Each one could perfectly reproduce a square millimeter of the overall picture. Or am I missing something?

[RoyGBiv]

54. Yes ...

There are practical limits on the size of a CRT, for one, the biggest one, imo. It wouldn't be lightweight. It would consume incredible amounts of power -- which is the best argument so far in favor of LCD and plasma, which consume far less, btw -- and the resolution would be abysmal.

Basically you're talking about reinventing the wheel and making it square.

FWIW, setups sorta like what you're suggesting do exist, but they are really, really expensive and as noted consume a lot of power. They are also really, really big. They have specialized functions and do not present a good picture.

[Oeditpus Rex]

55. You'd think

that in exchange for making us buy new shit to watch teevee, they'd fix it so we can purchase only the cable/satellite channels we want.



Oh, wait — this is the Corp'rit States of Mer'ka.

:eyes: