.FLYINGHEAD GETTING STARTED WITH HDTV
.TITLE A subjective introduction to HDTV
.AUTHOR David Gewirtz
.SUMMARY We’re starting a new Getting Started With HDTV series in Computing Unplugged Magazine. We begin our comprehensive coverage of HDTV with this article, a subjective overview of HDTV from the perspective of a new viewer. Is HDTV for you? Read Editor-in-Chief David Gewirtz’ article for the answer.
.FEATURE
The folks at Dish Network (at http://www.dishnetwork.com) were kind enough to equip us with a complete HDTV setup, including an HDTV satellite dish, a high-definition TV, one of the very first HD PVRs (personal video recorders), and a Dish network subscription. Because we’ve now got this gear, we can kick off our new Getting Started With HDTV series with this article.
There’s a lot to discuss about high-definition television, and we’ll be covering the technical details and comprehensive reviews of the Dish gear in upcoming issues,. This article, however, will take a different approach, a subjective approach.
Sometimes, my job doesn’t suck. The Dish folks (they sent a team of six guys) installed the HD television and PVR into my bedroom, which was the only room in the house with enough spare space to handle the 34-inch widescreen TV. Because I haven’t figured out where to put it, I still have my old, 1985 vintage 26-inch TV there as well. This, for now at least, means I’ve got two relatively large TVs in my bedroom, stretching my uber-geek status to heretofore unseen heights.
I’ve had the use of this system for about six weeks now, and the purpose of this article is to give you my first impressions. As I do, be aware that this is a new technology. HDTV is in its infancy and services will change, become more prevalent, and likely become considerably less expensive.
.H1 What can you watch?
The Dish Network provides six HDTV channels: TNT, Discovery, Showtime, HBO, ESPN, an HD pay-per-view channel, and something called HD Net. The Dish Web site says that there’s a CBS HD feed as well, but I’m not getting that. This array of channels is obviously only a small percentage of the hundreds of channels you can get with the normal Dish satellite service. I’m writing this the week of the summer Olympics and this week, Dish Network is also broadcasting an HD feed of NBC’s coverage of the Olympics.
.BREAK_EMAIL For more about HDTV and what it means for you, tap your mouse right here.
My understanding is that DirecTV provides a similar small selection of channels. You can also get HD signals off the air (remember rabbit ears?) but while I’m told that OTA (off the air) HD works pretty well, I just can’t bring myself to allow rabbit ears back into my house. In addition, there’s yet another service called Voom that apparently offers a wider array of channels, but we’ve not looked into them yet.
.H1 So, how’s the picture quality?
When everything is filmed perfectly, the HDTV image can be beautiful. Discovery HD seems to understand how to film in HD better than any of the other channels; some of their programs offer breathtaking imagery.
This, in fact, is the first important observation I made about HD. Just because you’re watching an HD channel, it doesn’t mean every image or scene is going to be magically improved or turned into a work of art. HD video that’s not in absolutely perfect focus is common. HD video that’s been taken in poor or slightly overexposed lighting is also common. This inconsistent level of image quality is common to all broadcast programming but because HD is all about stunning visuals, mediocre videography becomes more apparent when viewed on HTDV.
Obviously, I’ve been watching with an eye towards noticing the benefits the new higher-resolution video quality. The improved image quality is particularly noticeable on surfaces that are shiny — chrome, water, shiny cars, and so forth. That’s because normal video scan lines can interrupt the flow of a perfect shine, but with a higher resolution image, there’s far less interruption and the shine stands out exceptionally well. Some scenes with lakes and other water imagery can be astounding.
I’ve also noticed that the high resolution quality is particularly apparent on textures. On clothing, you can often actually see the texture of the cloth. There was an opening shot in a documentary that showed a brick wall and you could really see the texture of the brick.
Another place HD stands out is in close-ups. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Discovery filmed American Chopper in HD. During close-ups of the construction of a motorcycle, you could see the threads of screws and the details of welds with compelling precision.
I enjoyed discovering that some older films also show quite beautifully in HD. I watched the 1995 James Bond flick GoldenEye, which was quite obviously filmed before HD. Even so, some of the textures, close-ups, and shiny objects in the movie were quite a bit more vivid than when seen off the DVD played on a regular TV. It’s clear that a movie that’s been mastered nicely translates to HD with nice fidelity.
What really surprised me was that some very old television shows actually look quite good in HD. Just out of curiosity, I watched an episode of Hogan’s Heroes on HD Net. Interestingly, the show was broadcast in wide aspect ratio (widescreen) and it looked really good. It seems that those old TV programs that were shot on film and still have clean masters might look quite good in HD. It’s strange, though. I haven’t watched Hogan’s Heroes since I was a kid, and it was somewhat bittersweet watching Hogan, knowing what we now know about how Bob Crane’s life ended.
.H1 What’s not so hot
All is not perfect in HD land, however. When you’ve got such high definition image quality, imperfections become more apparent as well. I have a friend who used to work at Lucasfilm, the pre-eminent special effects shop. He once took me on a tour of Skywalker Ranch and explained that in matte painting, you’re not going for detail, but impression because the camera doesn’t capture all the detail.
HD does capture all the detail. I noticed that sometimes the more detailed image quality enhances imperfections that might be far less apparent with lower resolution video. I watched Will Smith’s 1999 movie Wild Wild West in HD. If you recall, there was a scene where Will and U.S. Marshal Artemus Gordon (Kevin Kline) were stranded in a mud pit with large metal rings for collars. Unfortunately, when the film was viewed in HD, those metal collars looked very much like spray-painted plastic — which is likely what those props were actually made from.
HD can also be unfair to beauty. I forced myself to watch an HD Net program called Bikini Destinations. During the incredible tedium of watching lovely models in gorgeous locales, I noticed that some of the close-ups on the models’ faces showcased the pancake of the makeup and blemishes that would never have been apparent in normal video.
I also watched a program called Perfect 10 Model Boxing. This was also very much a chore that I felt I needed to carry out strictly as a service to you, dear reader. Interestingly, although this was broadcast in HD, it was clear it was not originally filmed in HD. The program was broadcast in the familiar 4×3 aspect ratio (in other words, it was not widescreen) and the image quality was adequate but certainly not high-definition.
This, in fact, was something I was rather surprised by. It appears that some of the networks (Showtime is particularly guilty of this) broadcast large amounts of non-HD material on their HD channels. If you’re using one of the few HD PVRs out there, this is a particularly heinous crime, since an HD program takes up a vastly larger amount of disk space than a non-HD program. By broadcasting non-HD programs on HD channels, the network is unnecessarily causing its viewers to waste precious disk space that might be better served recording other programs.
For example, strictly in the interests of journalistic integrity, I watched Lord of the G-Strings and Busty Cops on Showtime HD. It was clear that these soft-core movies were low budget and shot on video. There was nothing HD could have done for these movies and, other than forcing me to curse the gods for giving me a job where I am required to watch incredibly cute women in various stages of undress, there was no good reason these programs were broadcast on the HD-specific channels.
This spotlights how new HD is. It’s pretty clear that the networks are struggling to provide regular HD programming. Showtime HD shows a lot of non-HD fare and HD Net seems to keep its schedule heavily packed with either old TV programs or clearly low-budget HD pseudo-documentaries.
.H1 Should you buy HD now?
I know there might be a few of you who are thinking about bitching me out because I mentioned watching the soft-core programming above. About 80% of our readers are guys and you know that the question of how hot women look on HD would be a key question they’d want answered. Yes, guys are pigs. They’re also likely to be major early adopters of this technology.
So, subjectively, is HD something you should consider? The answer to that depends on when you’re considering upgrading to HD and how much disposable income you’ve got.
Obviously, as time goes on, there will be more and more HD programming. Similarly, as time goes on, there will be better and better HD gear for lower and lower prices. So, if you’re not a videophile and you don’t have a pile of spare cash, you should probably wait a year or two before investing in HD.
On the other hand, if you’ve got a few spare thousand dollars and you don’t mind that you’re buying the bleeding edge of this technology, HD can be a kick. If coming by that cash is hard and you’re saving up for your HD system by eating macaroni and cheese week after week, you’re likely to be disappointed.
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In summary, HD is going to be a reality for most of us in a few years and is an impressive, if somewhat inconsistent medium today. If you’ve got a ton of cash and want to play, go for it. But if you’re not particularly flush with the bucks, it’s probably a good idea to wait.
As I said at the beginning of this piece, we’ll go into much more detail about the technology in future issues. And, once again, I want to thank the fine folks at Dish Network for donating the gear that makes this series possible.
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For more information about Dish Network, visit http://www.dishnetwork.com.
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