redford

Found an interesting article. I've heard these kind of stats mentioned here, so I thought I'd post a source.

To summarize:

Out of 16 million homes with HD set:

* 49% not taking advantage of their HD equipment
* 18% didn't know they needed additional equipment, such as a set top box or antenna
* 25% admitted they thought they were watching HD video because the programs said at the beginning that they were "broadcast in HDTV"


http://www.techliberation.com/archives/027416.php

Nimbus

I am not suprised. If I count all the households in my family it breaks down like this

HD/SAT 3
SAT 1
Cable 0
TV/Antenna 4

On my street I am the only one that I know of receiving HD out of about 30 houses.

Nero

That's crazy. What's the point of even having it

Augustes

That's crazy. What's the point of even having it


1) It's borderline-impossible to buy a TV over 36" (and really, it's tough over 32") that's not HD-capable. If you want a decent-sized television, you have to buy HD (or an EDTV plasma, but I don't consider that a 'normal' TV).

2) You can still take better advantage of DVDs on a large, widescreen HDTV than a small, letterboxed SDTV.

3) Probably the least significant of the three, but some people just want to be able to say they have an HDTV.

redford

If you're going to spend the money on a tv 36" and over that's HD-capable just to say you have it....then why not show it off and buy the hd tuner or cables. That's the point i was trying to make. No way I'm spending all that money on HD equipment and not using it to it's fullest. That's like buying a surround sound system and not watching the dvd in DTS or using the component cables

Nero

My uncle falls into that 49%. His old RPTV finally keeled over and he picked up a nice 55" Mitsubishi Widescreen HD RPTV to replace it.

At the same time he switched cable companies and had the cable guy hook up his equipment (cable box and dvd/vcr combo). The cable guy ran it all thru coax cable to channel 3

I discovered all this when I stopped by for a visit. Now the cable box is running through s-video/composite cables, the dvd portion of the combo through component with progresseve scan and widescreen support enabled and the vcr through composite cables. I also slapped on an antennae so he could utilize the built-in HD tuner (which he didn't know anything about) and he was AMAZED at the difference in visual quality now that everything was up and running properly.

He simply didn't know anything about HD or how to get it. But, now he knows better!

Augustes

Guess people can stop using the fast growing marketshare of HDTV to support their arguments that HD-DVD/Bluray will take off quickly.

Joe six pack just doesn't know, or doesn't care, about the PQ. They just bought the HDTV for one of the reasons Adam listed.

Nimbus

I bought three HD displays (2 TVs and a projector) in the last three years for HD content, be it for DVHS, OTA HD, and specifically in wait of HD-dvd or Blu-Ray. Now, I'm definitely more on the videophile side of things than J6P, but even I see the problem with people thinking HDTV is not in "great demand". Let's face it, most J6P's don't have the knowledge to get OTA HD and have never heard of DVHS. That leaves them with what, a dozen or so channels they have to subscribe to? It's a combo of limited, compressed channels for a lot of money. Even I don't place enough value in that to subscribe to any services. I know plenty of J6P types that want HD, just don't know where to get it or don't want to pay too much for it. It's all about value.

As for how fast the marketplace can grow, it's anyones guess. PS3 will be a big user base. We should also expect to see Toshiba, Sony, and Panasonic start package deals with all new HDTVs and HD players very shortly.