Why is HD not Selling Like It Should?
One of the most common questions heard on the Internet from satellite fans is “when are we going to see new national high definition?”
And while both satellite companies have been trickling out new HD I have a feeling the HD rollout was slowed down because the high definition product is not selling as good as they expected it to.
So why isn’t HD selling as good as many expected? In my opinion its not the economy, it’s that the general public does not know what high definition is.
Many people think that just because they have a HDTV that they are getting HD! The confusion in this is because many of these folks have upgraded from a 27 inch tube TV to a 40 inch or larger flat screen HDTV. To these folks the picture they are getting is much better then what they were seeing on their old television, and because the TV is a HDTV they think they are watching in HD and they are HAPPY!
A few weeks ago I went to a friends house, and he was very happy with his new 50 inch HDTV so I went over to check it out. He kept telling me how amazing his picture was on his TV then I went and saw it and was shocked with what I saw… there was this amazing television and it was hooked up to a $40 digital off air tuner / converter!
He was impressed with the picture, he said it looked so sharp and clear and no ghosting. I said if you like the picture now then watch this. I unhooked his antenna from his digital off air converter and plugged it into the antenna jack on his TV. I grabbed his remote and did a quick scan and it stopped on a HD station and a HD show was on. His teeth nearly fell out of his head.
He got the digital off air tuner for his old TV and when he got the new one he just undid the wires from his old TV and hooked it back up on his new TV. He honestly thought he was watching HD up until I gave him a real HD signal. He had no clue!
This is common, I posted this story to a satellite retailers website and I was told that it happens all the time. I then got all kinds of stories about installers going into customers houses and they have HD cable boxes yet the boxes are hooked up via coax outputs or composite video hookups instead of outputting the HD via HD outputs such as HDMI, DVI or component.
I can only imagine there are many, many people out there who think that they are watching HD just because they have an HDTV when they are not watching true HD.
More proof of this can be had by walking into your favorite sports bar and taking a look around. How many of these sports bars have some amazing HD sets yet they are all tuned to the standard definition version of ESPN? I see this all the time and it just shocks me. Some of these places advertise how all their television are HDTV’s yet not one of those HDTV’s is showing a HD signal!
The general public has no idea what high definition is! The question is how do we inform the public what real High Definition is? Just because a persons picture looks better then their old TV it does not mean that they are watching in high definition.
I think that because the general public is uninformed about HD is the reason why we have seen the slowdown in national HD rollout from the two satellite providers.
So I think if we the HD fans of America want to see more national HD perhaps we need to start informing folks about what true HD is.
Can I get an amen?
Have a great weekend!
Dharma dhave commented:
You\’re missing the real reason, folks - HD, and picture quality in general, just isn\’t that important. How long was America\’s Funniest Home videos (a VHS-fest) the top-rated program? Why are so many wide-screens showing extended people? People can;t tell, and mostly they don;t care. I like HD and have been watching it since 1992 - professionally - at home I still don\’t find that I get one ounce less enjoyment out of an SD show if it\’s a good show. You can sell new technology on convenience, cost and content - quality is just a nice-to-have for most people.
Scott K commented:
Very true most people don't know what HD looks like. Whenever someone tells you they can't tell the difference between SD and HD you know they aren't getting the HD. I have come across a few people that don't know they have to pay extra for HD... My parents are seniors and can't remember where their HD channels are located. I have DirecTV and their HD channels are located the same as SD just when you have HD you get HD. You would think Comcast could do the same.
dd commented:
Perhaps the industry that likes to up-rez their SD content is also to blame. Someone new watching TNT or TBS (and others) thinks they are getting HD when all they are getting is an up-rezed picture. There should be a law to prohibit this practice.
Scott Gilbert commented:
First of all, Scott, it\’s \”why isn\’t HD selling as WELL as it should.\” Second, it\’s not selling as well as it should because it\’s not all that it\’s trumped up to be. I have a big screen HD TV and blue ray, but I still believe nothing will be better than a Cathode Ray Tube.
RobertS. commented:
I haven\’t upgraded to HD because of the \”premium\” factor. HD is not like a movie channel, there is nothing premium to it. Since I get CNN in my SD package, I feel I should be able to pay $100 or whatever to upgrade my 625 to a HD receiver and get CNN HD for no additional fee since CNN is already in my SD package.
I will go to a 100% HD package when DISH adds a key existing HD channel they don\’t carry yet to one of their HD packages, since that means all the channels I care for will be in one HD package on DISH that will save me money per month.
Grandpa J. commented:
Scott is correct. For a great many people the new set has a better picture than the old CRT so they are happy. They don\’t know how good the Picture would look in HD. Others look at an SD picture on a digital set and don\’t see a big enough change to buy one.
D SG commented:
Scott,
Perhaps you should put together a tutorial in simple to understand terms for the non-technical, showing that you need HDMI, DVI or HDTV-Component (Y/Pb/Pr), plus a true subscribed HD source, either satellite or terrestrial. I have seen several who don\’t understand the technology like us techno weenies. Amen!
Anon commented:
Public has seen the HD \”bug\”/panels on screen for years before they bought a new TV. They assume that all that was needed was a new TV.
Cody commented:
Similar story… I moved into an apartment with some friends and we decided to use my roommates HDTV for our living room TV because it was the biggest. She showed me how she had had it hooked up and it was all composite cables to and from everything. No HDMI anywhere.
I corrected the problem when I hooked up the VUDU Box and now everything is in HD. It\’s a shame that most people just don\’t know that having an HDTV doesn\’t mean it is HD.
Jamiel commented:
Ive helped alot of friends get upgraded to Directv HD. I generally go over to check out the new set up and 90% of the time Directv installers have hooked up the HD reciever with composite cables. Or they have Native resolution off and set to 480i/p.
Turnervision commented:
The problem is the majority of the SD settops out there can\’t support an HD signal, and swapping out all of the SD boxes for HD ones will be too costly for providers right now. Not to mention some networks like TBS and TNT do a horrible job when it comes to upconverting SD content, to the point where many viewers rather watch an SD program on the SD feed instead of watching a distorted picture on their HD feed.
Amen commented:
Amen
Scott K commented:
Put my brother in that class. Bought an HDTV, got HD service from his cable company and then was tuning to the SD channels not even realizing their was a separate HD feed.
I also think HD would grow more if providers phased out their SD feeds. Let people with SD sets deal with a down converted HD feed rather than provide two separate feeds.
Fred commented:
The early adopter phase is ending and now the general public is getting into the act, right when the economy is in the crapper. In the end, it's the economy plus cost has not dropped enough yet to entice people to get rid of perfectly good tube TVs.
Tom commented:
First intelligent thing I've ever heard you say, Scott! Amen fellow videophile!
RAD commented:
On a recent visit to my mom's house she had Fox News channel on the Sony 46" Problem was their on air talents heads were bigger then normal, she had a SD version of the channel on with stretch mode on the cable box. She thought it was HD all along and wondered why the channel now had gray bars once I turned the stretch off.
Reaper commented:
"D SG": That's true. For folks like us it's pretty simple: HDTV, HD source, HD video compatible cable. But to the layman, when I get beyond the HDTV, sometimes their eyes glaze over. How many people thought the DTV transition meant that all TV channels would be in HD? How many still think that? More than a few I think.
Reaper commented:
My brother has a honking big HDTV and refuses to get an HD source, even though I've tried to educate him. I'll never understand why people buy HDTV's and then refuse to pay more for an HD source.
