From: Monty Solomon <monty@xxxxxxxxxx>
Date: June 5, 2004 11:08:15 PM PDT
Subject: For High-Definition Sets, Channels to Match
STATE OF THE ART
For High-Definition Sets, Channels to Match
By DAVID POGUE
June 3, 2004
Correction Appended
LET'S face it: those $5,000 plasma screens are popular not just
because they're high-definition TV sets but also because they're
status symbols. Look at Gateway's 42-inch $3,000 plasma screen, a
runaway hit even though it can't actually display images in high
definition. At this rate, someone will surely come up with a $200
plasma screen that doesn't even turn on. It would just hang on the
wall and look cool.
But however cool the screens, as the nine million people who have
bought HDTV's have quickly discovered, the high-definition age is not
yet fully upon us. If you buy an HDTV receiver connected to an
antenna on your roof, you can enjoy a few hours of prime-time HDTV
broadcasts each night on ABC, CBS and so on - if you're within about
50 miles of a big city. If you have cable or satellite, you can
upgrade your plan to include a handful of high-def channels, like HBO
HDTV and ESPN HD.
Otherwise, what you'll mostly watch is low-definition shows, either
stretched to fit your wide-screen set or with black bars on the
sides. It will be years before the networks, cable and satellite
outfits broadcast all HD, all the time.
The executives at Voom, a new satellite service controlled by
Cablevision and offered throughout the continental United States,
don't think you can wait that long. Started in January, Voom already
offers 39 HDTV channels, many more than you can get from any other
source.
Now, HDTV aficionados may already be furrowing their brows.
"Thirty-nine high-def channels?" they're saying. "There aren't 39
high-def channels in the world!"
Actually, there are now. For starters, Voom gives you those
prime-time over-the-air network broadcasts, because Voom's installers
put not one but two antennas on your roof: one satellite dish and one
that picks up NBC, CBS, ABC and so on. (If you live in an apartment,
check on your building's restrictions.)
....
<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/03/technology/circuits/03stat.html>