sjordan2 Posted January 12, 2012 Posted January 12, 2012 (edited) I agree, Skip. Hard to read any info even in HD, depending on the broadcast network. We purchased an HDTV only a year ago after our antique box started to blink out. First thing I noticed is the credits at the end of a movie. On the old set, the small white text on the black background was illegible, yet on HDTV I can see it fine. I wonder if your old TV affects your football game? No question my analog TV affects my picture, though I've been on a fiber-optic digital cable box for years. I understand nothing about why some cable channels can adapt their HD transmissions to letterbox to work with older TVs, and others, like my local PBS, have a cut-off image. You get some unintentionally funny images that way, like a tight shot of two people talking to each other and you only see two noses at each side of the screen. For those with the patience to "get the picture," here's the difference, and why our old-time TVs don't have the resolution of new HDTV sets and transmissions: "For old times' sake, let's start with NTSC analog TV, the kind we've all grown up with. Although NTSC has a total of 525 horizontal scan lines, it only uses about 480 of these for the actual image. There are 720 pixels in each interlaced scan line, so our NTSC pixel calculation looks like this: 480 scan lines x 720 pixels/line = 345,600 pixels Rounding up slightly, we get about 350,000 total pixels on an old-fashioned NTSC TV set. The main promise of joy with digital HDTV (High Definition Television) is its much greater resolution. HDTV pixels are smaller and squarer than NTSC pixels, so HDTV can resolve finer details and hold smoother curves. Plus, you get considerably more pixels to look at. HDTV has a total of 1,125 scan lines, but it only uses 1,080 of these for the actual image (hence the "1080i" HDTV specification). There are 1,920 pixels in each interlaced scan line, so our HDTV pixel calculation looks like this: 1,080 scan lines x 1,920 pixels/line = 2,073,600 pixels Rounded off, an HDTV set gives us about 2 million total pixels, about six times the number of NTSC pixels." Edited January 12, 2012 by sjordan2
Junkman Posted January 12, 2012 Posted January 12, 2012 No question my analog TV affects my picture, though I've been on a fiber-optic digital cable box for years. I understand nothing about why some cable channels can adapt their HD transmissions to letterbox to work with older TVs, and others, like my local PBS, have a cut-off image. You get some unintentionally funny images that way, like a tight shot of two people talking to each other and you only see two noses at each side of the screen. For those with the patience to "get the picture," here's the difference, and why our old-time TVs don't have the resolution of new HDTV sets and transmissions: "For old times' sake, let's start with NTSC analog TV, the kind we've all grown up with. Although NTSC has a total of 525 horizontal scan lines, it only uses about 480 of these for the actual image. There are 720 pixels in each interlaced scan line, so our NTSC pixel calculation looks like this: 480 scan lines x 720 pixels/line = 345,600 pixels Rounding up slightly, we get about 350,000 total pixels on an old-fashioned NTSC TV set. The main promise of joy with digital HDTV (High Definition Television) is its much greater resolution. HDTV pixels are smaller and squarer than NTSC pixels, so HDTV can resolve finer details and hold smoother curves. Plus, you get considerably more pixels to look at. HDTV has a total of 1,125 scan lines, but it only uses 1,080 of these for the actual image (hence the "1080i" HDTV specification). There are 1,920 pixels in each interlaced scan line, so our HDTV pixel calculation looks like this: 1,080 scan lines x 1,920 pixels/line = 2,073,600 pixels Rounded off, an HDTV set gives us about 2 million total pixels, about six times the number of NTSC pixels." Did you create an Excel table for those calculations?
sjordan2 Posted January 12, 2012 Posted January 12, 2012 (edited) Did you create an Excel table for those calculations? It's the only quote on the subject I can pretend to halfway understand! (And I can't begin to understand Excel, since I've never had occasion to need it - I leave that up to the company's number crunchers.) But you Brits and Europeans have had over 30% more scan line resolution than the US for decades, with your PAL vs. our NTSC. I am very grateful for a Mac computer that can play all regions DVDs, while I would have to buy a special DVD player to view Region 2 and above videos. Edited January 12, 2012 by sjordan2
Harry P. Posted January 12, 2012 Posted January 12, 2012 It's the only quote on the subject I can pretend to halfway understand! (And I can't begin to understand Excel, since I've never had occasion to need it - I leave that up to the company's number crunchers.) But you Brits and Europeans have had over 30% more scan line resolution than the US for decades, with your PAL vs. our NTSC. I'm not so sure that seeing Snookie in high-def is necessarily a good thing...
sjordan2 Posted January 12, 2012 Posted January 12, 2012 I'm not so sure that seeing Snookie in high-def is necessarily a good thing... Analog TV is depressing enough. I don't need to see mustache hair follicles.
Rob Hall Posted January 12, 2012 Posted January 12, 2012 Analog TV is depressing enough. I don't need to see mustache hair follicles. LoL..yeah..one of things I noticed first when I went to HD was that you see skin blemishes, etc people have and also bad makeup jobs.
sjordan2 Posted January 12, 2012 Posted January 12, 2012 (edited) LoL..yeah..one of things I noticed first when I went to HD was that you see skin blemishes, etc people have and also bad makeup jobs. One thing I read a while back (though I know NOTHING about it) is that some aging porn stars thought that the sharpness of HDTV would spell the end of their careers. Edited January 12, 2012 by sjordan2
SuperStockAndy Posted January 12, 2012 Posted January 12, 2012 One thing I read a while back (though I know NOTHING about it) is that some aging porn stars thought that the sharpness of HDTV would spell the end of their careers. LOL!!
crazyjim Posted January 12, 2012 Posted January 12, 2012 Jim, next time I'm down in your area on my bike, I will let you know. I usually go to Daytona Bike Week and October Fest and then ride around Leesburgh and a few other places. We went to BikeWeek once when we first moved down here - never again. The only good thing we found was the restaurant on Main Street just before the Causeway. I forget the name but GREAT burgers and crinkle cut fries. Leesburg is about 40 miles east of us. Drop on by.
SuperStockAndy Posted January 12, 2012 Posted January 12, 2012 it's truly disturbing that a 13yr. old kid would find Skip's statement "funny" I fail to see your point.
scalenut Posted January 12, 2012 Posted January 12, 2012 I wish they would lay off the graphics on tv shows anymore ...I mean do we really need to see the american pickers dragging things around on the lower part of the screen every 5 minutes? I know it's coming on next...jeeze. I notice now the history channel is ticker-taping random facts across the bottom of the screen, for no reason , and the facts have nothing to do with the show I'm watching. watching tv is becoming more and more like playing a role player game.. box's popping up ... things scrolling ,, overlays ... good grief.
Chuck Most Posted January 12, 2012 Posted January 12, 2012 What I don't understand... you PAY for cable (or satellite), so why do so many channels still run advertising? Might be why I usually watch DVDs a lot these days.
Harry P. Posted January 13, 2012 Posted January 13, 2012 What I don't understand... you PAY for cable (or satellite), so why do so many channels still run advertising? Might be why I usually watch DVDs a lot these days. You pay to get TV service into your home. You are not paying for the programs themselves, the advertisers are. The channels have to run advertising, because the advertisers paid for that airtime. It's just like if you buy a magazine. Yes, you paid for the magazine, but you're still going to get the ads, because the advertisers paid for those ads.
martinfan5 Posted January 13, 2012 Posted January 13, 2012 Heck even the paid movie channels run adverts during the movies, its minamal, but its still there at the bottom of the sceen
Harry P. Posted January 13, 2012 Posted January 13, 2012 One of the new technologies I really like is the DVR ("tivo" to some people). If there's a show you like, you program the DVR to record the show, then you can watch any time you like, but the best part is, you can fly through all the commercials in super-fast-forward. I can watch a 3 hour NFL game in 45 minutes!
martinfan5 Posted January 13, 2012 Posted January 13, 2012 (edited) Harry , best ###### thing to be invented for us TV fans, thats how I watch NASCAR race's , I start watching about 30 mins or so after the race started , fly thru the commericals, but now with some of the networks doing side by side, stuck with the commerical, but least you can see the race in the tiny window . I was very sad when Directv told me I could no longer use my Tivo box, as it was outdated, but its was a fair trade off as the new box is HD, but it wont say on 720 or 1080 , always goes back to 480p Edited January 13, 2012 by martinfan5
Rob Hall Posted January 13, 2012 Posted January 13, 2012 I love my tiVo..I hate trying to watch something w/ commercials w/o it...
martinfan5 Posted January 13, 2012 Posted January 13, 2012 Rob, do you have a real Tivo box or a DVR, I am guessing you have a real Tivo , who do you use it through. And on a side note, my 5month old likes things that are techno , all her doing, its what gets her attention
Rob Hall Posted January 13, 2012 Posted January 13, 2012 (edited) Rob, do you have a real Tivo box or a DVR, I am guessing you have a real Tivo , who do you use it through. And on a side note, my 5month old likes things that are techno , all her doing, its what gets her attention I have two of them, actually...my old one-a 2nd gen TiVo (low-def) and an HD TiVo Premiere Elite. Using a cable card w/ Cox. Cox does have an HD DVR cable box available, but I want to keep my content on my own box so when I move I can take it with me.. Edited January 13, 2012 by Rob Hall
Dr. Cranky Posted January 13, 2012 Author Posted January 13, 2012 Holy smokes, talk about a runaway thread . . . it never dawned on me that so much discussion could be had about technology. But really, don't hold back. Tell us how you really feel. Loving it.
Rob Hall Posted January 13, 2012 Posted January 13, 2012 Holy smokes, talk about a runaway thread . . . it never dawned on me that so much discussion could be had about technology. But really, don't hold back. Tell us how you really feel. Loving it. Well, technology--especially consumer electronics--is such a big part of living in the modern world that it's a lot of fun to talk about..and this week is the CES convention in Vegas...lots of cool gadgets announced there.
martinfan5 Posted January 13, 2012 Posted January 13, 2012 I am not sure what gen my tivo box is, so I would have to look, not that it matters as I cant use ever again, but I bought in 2005. So you went and bought one out right.
Rob Hall Posted January 13, 2012 Posted January 13, 2012 I am not sure what gen my tivo box is, so I would have to look, not that it matters as I cant use ever again, but I bought in 2005. So you went and bought one out right. Probably a 2nd gen like my first one...yeah, I bought mine from the TiVo website...
Tom Setzer Posted January 13, 2012 Posted January 13, 2012 I like to read the Computer Magazines, and The Computer Sites, to keep informed. My Son is a Web Designer, and Developer, and we talk about what the Latest Tech is!
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