HDTV - High Definition TV - HDTV Info

For many years consumers have been looking high and low for High Definition TV Information and asking where is High Definition TV or when are we going to get HDTV.

Up until the past year or so, there had been a noticeable lack of consumer HDTV info.

Sets that cost thousands of dollars were never going to be adopted by the mass market and even if you ignored the high price tag, the number of sources was somewhat on the small side. Unfortunately, also for several years, the industry was faced with a dilemma.

On the one hand, manufacturers could quite easily produce large quantities of High Definition equipment such as TV sets, players, recorders and camcorders, etc. But if there was no hope of adequate content to take advantage of them, it was hardly worth their while in making the investment.

Content producers such as film makers, film studios, TV broadcasters and the like were not going to go to the expense and trouble to create HD content until there was a large enough audience to buy or watch.

Then was the involvement of various government bodies such as the FCC in the USA, and the UK Radio Authority, who were either making the situation impossible or trying to arbitrate an impossible situation, depending on your point of view.

Fortunately for all concerned, many of the hurdles that had to be jumped have now been overcome and it appears to be all go for the long awaited superior pictures and sound that high definition TV will bring.

From July 1, 2006 in the USA, all new 25 inch or larger screen TV sets are required to have digital tuners, or at least be Digital TV ready. Following that and by March 1, 2007 the figure reduces to all 13 inch or larger TV sets. Finally, February 17, 2009 has been selected for the cutoff date for analog broadcasts. After that date, you will either need a digital TV or a converter to receive broadcasts.

At the same time, as both cause and consequence, HDTV sets are coming down in price to the mass market range, and will continue to fall as good old supply and demand kicks in. Some good quality, large screen sets are now available for under $2,000. That seems high by today's standards, but less than 10 years ago an ordinary 36" Sony twice the weight and several times the bulk used to cost that.

High Definition or HD broadcasts are becoming more common. Where only a few years ago there were one or two special broadcasts, there are now several regular programs shown weekly in HD format.

And, as often happens, the player and recorder market is now gearing itself up for the release of HD equipment. As is always the case, consumers have a choice of one of two formats in the form of HD-DVD and another oddly named Blu-ray.

Content for either HD-DVD or Blu-ray, which is primarily from the Hollywood movie studios, is thin on the ground, but so were DVDs not so many years ago. Now, there is only a small percentage of classic films that are NOT available for DVD, and nearly every new release is available a few months after theatrical releases.

Already a dozen films are available in the high definition format. With all the major studios committed to one or both formats, it will not be more than a few years before most films are released that way. Both HD-DVD and Blu-ray format players will play ordinary DVDs.

So for those who have long been clamoring for crystal clear pictures and stereo sound, it's now time to start looking at those big, flat screen sets. High Definition TV has arrived at last!.