I'm going to get an HDTV set. The beautiful, detailed images and the Dolby Digital audio have me hooked. I'm going to buy--just not right now.
I suspect others may feel the same. Why? It isn't merely a matter of budgeting for a set. If it were that simple, I'd probably have jumped in by now. Yes, prices are still going down, but we've all heard that argument before for all manner of tech gear. If you hold off for a lower price (or faster/better/cooler models), you'll probably wait forever.
Rather, I'm holding off purchasing because I don't want to lay out a significant sum of money for a set until I can have everything else I'd like to see in a home entertainment system. For instance, I want to be able to record the volume of high-def shows I currently record with my analog service and DVR.
That's only the beginning. Some people may be waiting for a resolution to the high-def optical disc format war between Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD, or for a greater variety of HD content to come on stream. The point is, if you buy an HDTV without considering the implications of transitioning from your existing analog gear, you may be in for a big letdown.
Here's my bottom line: For several years now, I have pretty much abandoned live TV. I record the shows I want to see on a digital video recorder and later watch them at my convenience. To use the TV industry's patois, I'm a time-shifter.
But my ReplayTV (like most current DVRs) doesn't accept a digital signal, as it has only analog inputs. Now, that doesn't mean I wouldn't be able to record shows from an HDTV--only that I would be recording at the same low-res quality I now get from my analog system.
But what's the point of spending a lot of money on an HDTV if you're never watching high-def programming?
This problem may not be insurmountable. You can rent cable boxes containing built-in high-def digital video recorders from many cable operators, including the giants Comcast and Time-Warner. The monthly fee is typically $10 to $15 (on top of your other charges, of course), which isn't outrageous when you consider that you don't have additional electronic program guide fees (TiVo charges $17 to $20 per month for a DVR and its program guide, but that amount is for a standard-definition setup).
Note that the operator-provided boxes can be somewhat quirky, especially if you are accustomed to the polished reliability of an analog TiVo or ReplayTV.
For me, though, the deal-killer is that the hard-drive capacity of these digital boxes isn't yet up to the huge space requirements of high-definition programming: The devices can't store more than 10 to 15 hours of HD content. I'm used to having 30 to 40 hours of recorded TV to watch at any given moment.
If you want an earful about one of the most widely available cable box/HD DVR combos, check out PVRblog's review of the Comcast Motorola 6412--and some six months' worth of telling user comments-- here. While it has one feature I've been longing for in a DVR (dual tuners, for watching one show while recording another), it gets a fair number of complaints, most notably about an unacceptable lag between initiating an action via remote and the unit's response. Of course, many people go to message boards when they have a beef, so the product may be better than such gripes might indicate.
You can get an HD-recording TiVo by subscribing to a satellite service, though one satellite provider, DirecTV, will soon transition to its own HD recorder. Alternatively, you can buy an HD DVR that isn't coupled with a cable or satellite service--but these devices are pricey, and they can record only over-the-air HD programming. I'm not ready to limit my choices in programming to what's available over the airwaves (I want to keep receiving my TNT and USA shows).
Bjorn Dybdahl, owner of the San Antonio consumer electronics store Bjorn's, ruefully acknowledges that HDTV recording technology is in many respects a work in progress: He has had the experience of finding all the shows he'd recorded on the hard drive of one of his cable provider's HD DVRs mysteriously erased.
"We're in this time frame where all these technologies are being dumped on the market and the hardware hasn't quite caught up," Dybdahl comments.
Better choices in HD set-top gear are coming, but it isn't clear when: Consider that, at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, TiVo showed a prototype next-generation set-top box with support for HD and for two-way CableCards.
A CableCard is basically a PC Card-like item that plugs into a slot in a TV or other device to decrypt digital cable signals; first-generation CableCards, which appeared last summer and are available from most cable services, don't support interactivity, while two-way cards will support interactive features such as electronic program guides--but there's no standard yet for two-way cards.
TiVo spokesperson Krista Wierzbicki says the company still plans to ship its Series3 box this year, but has no word on its features. She adds that the CES box was only a "technology demo."
Another reason you might want to hold off on an HDTV is because you won't receive enough programming that interests you. HDTV industry consultant Peter Putman advises carefully scrutinizing the HD content available in your area--via cable, satellite, or over the air--so that you know what you'll be able to get and how much you'll have to pay for it.
Your best bet is to check out TV listings on sites such as TV Guide and TitanTV. Both sites let you apply a filter to their listings so that you can view only the results for HDTV programs.
In general, if you favor shows on the major broadcast networks, PBS, sports channels like ESPN, and the few cable services (such as the Discovery Channel and HBO) that are available in HD, you should be happy. If you watch a lot of specialty programming, you may be disappointed. You'll still have to study your cable or satellite provider's site to determine which HDTV channels cost extra.
The question marks about programming and the problems with some HD-related gear shouldn't necessarily discourage all would-be HDTV buyers--if they keep their expectations realistic.
Bjorn Dybdahl, who has observed many of HDTV's growing pains first hand, has absolutely no regrets about being an early adopter. For him, the HDTV experience is so compelling that he's willing to put up with the hassles, "and there are less of those today than there were a year ago, and the year before that."
Yardena Arar
