Ok, you buy yourself a Hitachi Plasma 42 inch HDTV and you connect it to an HD receiver from your cable or satellite company. All your cables are set up right, you even bought the top of the line cables. You sit back, grab the remote, turn it on and your 42 inch Hitachi HDTV comes to life. BUT, for the life of you, you can’t tell the difference between this picture and the one you were getting on your old color TV. What the heck is going on?!?

Not all channels or programs are created equal. In order to get this great High Definition your were promised the channel you are watching AND the program you are watching need to be in HD. Programs like I Love Lucy and All in the Family are not going to be HD. Most of the new programs in prime time are HD. All channels are converted or in the process of converting over to HD so finding a channel in HD is getting easier every day. Keep in mind that just because the channel in broadcasting in HD doesn’t mean the program is in HD, both channel and program need to be HD to get the great High Definition your looking for.

So, look for the HD Logo from your TV station and at the beginning of the new TV show during prime time, sit back and enjoy the show. OH, and don’t forget the popcorn!

I here this one all the time; do you really see the difference between HDTV and TV or DVD?

In most cases, yes. The story I always tell is of my first experience seeing HDTV. I was watching a Penn State football game, the camera zoom in on the quarter back and you could see the hairs on his arm. You won’t see that kind of detail on TV or DVD.  If your DVD player has built in up-converting circuitry, that’s where your DVD player with it’s 480p of res can digitally enhances it to near 720p, you’ll see a mush sharper image although still not of the quality of HDTV.

Keep in mind, just because you have an HDTV, that doesn’t mean you will see everything in High Depth. You need to be watching a  channel that is in broadcasting in HD. Not all channels are currently sending a true HD signal.

A. If you have one or the other stay with them unless you find switching would be cheaper. If you have neither, I would go with Direct or Dish Satellite. I say this not because the picture quality is better then cable but because they offer many more HD channels (this may change in the near future as February  2009 rolls around).

 

Some would say that satellite TV has bad reception in inclement weather, so go with cable. I’ve had Direct TV (satellite) for about 5 or 6 years now, in my home (both, I moved). and I can count on one hand how many times I had a bad signal.  So, as long as you can get a good line of sight from your dish to the satellite, bad reception really is not an issue.

This is one of those times where there is no wrong answer. Base your decision on price and or number of HD channels offered.