The term “high definition” (HD) emerged five years ago, initially used to describe high pixel density on TV screens, but it has now expanded to encompass all types of products.
HD can be found in everything from skincare products to sunglasses, and there’s even a book titled “Starting High Definition Churches,” which guides the establishment of “improved” HD churches with “higher resolution.” Starting from February 17, 2009, analog television in the United States will transition to digital television. However, a recent market study revealed that many people still feel confused about whether spending over $2,000 on a completely new TV is a wise decision. “Consumers are currently purchasing devices without having all the necessary information about them,” commented Dale Cripps, founder of HDTV Magazine.
According to estimates by the American research firm Forrester, by the end of 2005, about 15.7 million households in the U.S. owned high definition TVs. In contrast, it took a decade for color TVs to attract 5 million households to transition from black-and-white television.
The rapid acceptance is attributed to the consumer electronics industry promoting that digital TVs would become widespread as early as 1998. Simultaneously, they introduced various new terms such as the 16:9 aspect ratio (widescreen ratio, whereas traditional TVs are 4:3), 720p (1280 x 720 pixels), and 1080i (1920 x 1080 pixels). At the same time, customers had to evaluate the differences among various types of digital TVs, including plasma, LCD, and DLP.
Forrester also reported that about half of high definition TV owners did not subscribe to HDTV services through their cable or satellite accounts. This means many are still watching traditional TV programs on an expensive new system, missing out on the “lifelike” images that HD provides. In theory, HDTV delivers images that are five times more detailed than standard TVs, allowing viewers to see every bead of sweat glistening on an athlete’s face or each blade of grass swaying in the wind. However, what consumers see on screen is not significantly different from before. In some cases, images may even appear worse due to the imperfections in the footage being more pronounced on digital screens.
“At least 4 million families believe they are watching high-quality programs, but simply bringing home an HDTV and plugging it in is not enough to display HD images,” Forrester asserts. Users need to equip themselves with additional necessary devices; for example, cable or satellite subscribers require a set-top box or CableCARD and must subscribe to HDTV services from their provider. “Retailers find it challenging to explain that spending $2,500 on a new TV is only the first basic step, not to mention the ongoing monthly subscription fees,” said Josh Bernoff, a Forrester expert.
Additionally, selecting the appropriate connection between the TV and the cable or satellite signal box also significantly affects image quality, which can vary by 1 to 2 million pixels.
