[BC] Re: HDTV, IBOC and the dopy general public

[Xmitters@aol.com]

In a message dated 12/24/05 12:17:41 PM Central Standard Time, 
broadcast-request at radiolists.net writes:

<<  know that HDTV is not available in analog. That's a given. To be 
honest... 
 I just don't think it's worth the extra money. Everything we want to watch 
is 
 already available to us via our standard 27" NTSC set. It has a great 
picture. 
 We paid under $200 for it a couple years ago. I have yet to see an HD TV 
that 
 has a price that even comes close. (Right now, the cost/benefit ratio is 
 negative, IMHO.) We've looked at them in Circuit City, and some of them are 
 impressive... and so are the price tags. I have also noticed significant 
artifacting 
 on most programs, much like the effect of setting the compression too high 
 when saving photos in JPG. That would drive me nuts. >>

Willie:

I have been of the impression that IBOC will have a tough sell job to get the 
general public to go out and spend the money. It will have to provide 
somethig the bo=ublic really desires that they can't get elsewhere for less money. I 
have done a complete 180. I think the public will go out and buy IBOC just as 
aggressively as they will buy food.

I have made this change because of the incredibly stupid, outrageous way HDTV 
(at least the 18:9 monitors) has apparently successfully rolled out. I went 
to best Buy, all saw was 4:3 video being displayed in 16:9 aspect ratio. I gave 
the sales rep a severe tongue lashing. 4:3 video is all we have for 
demonstration, sir. 4:3 shown on 16:9 makes someone with anorexia look fat. Lots of 
restaurants I've been in at NAB, PREC and Broadcaster's clinic; HDTV screens all 
over the place with 4:3 video. Care wheels looked like eggs. TV newscasters 
looked like spokespersons for Jenny Graig (sp?) Now I see some TV stations 
sending out _some_ TV commercials in 16:9 but not HDTV so on my old NTSC, it's in 
letter box format, which does not bother me.

So if people are so dopy as to go out and spend big bucks on a TV to make 
most pictures appear as described, then selling them IBOC will be a cake walk. 
Now, maybe there are controls on the HDTV monitors that make it automagically 
switch from 4:3 to 6:9 but they are apparently not being used. I would rather 
have proper aspect ratio and dark lines on each side than all of the people look 
fat. Oh, I just figured out why they don't do that! Why buy a 16:9 monitor 
only to see what you've paid for, all chopped off. Obviously picture clarity is 
all that counts to most people. How real it looks matters not. Now all we have 
to do is find a clever way to convert this video mindlessness over to an 
audio sales pitch and we'll be in business. 

Jeff Glass