M and I have noticed that quite a few of our channels have cleared up and become easier to watch... but that we're not seeing the entire picture any more. By this I mean that the picture being transmitted is now a digital, Hi-Def picture in wide screen aspect and we're only seeing it in standard aspect, so parts of one side or the other are cut off from our view.
Similar to the problem where the two coasts of America are much more digitally advanced than the entire middle of America when it comes to computing, internet connection, and even hardware owned, the digital revolution is leaving the vast majority of people behind.
The switch to all-digital signal in February hasn't led to the conversion to Hi-Def, LCD TVs quite like the TV manufacturers were hoping. The vast majority of people in middle America have simply gotten their government chits for free converter boxes and plugged those in. Some have needed to upgrade their antennas, too, but there are still vast areas of land that cannot get digital cable and will not pay for digital satellite.
We own a very high-quality, 36" standard TV. We have little to no need to upgrade it to an LCD/Plasma or wide screen aspect TV because of its quality. We have some desire to do so, but no need. And we're on much more of the digital edge than most. If they cannot get people like us to buy new TVs, what hope do they have to get the farmers, trailer living folks, and others that make up the vast majority of middle America to upgrade their TVs? Why do they cater to the 20% minority who have upgraded to those aspect TVs rather than continuing to cater to the vast majority of owners?
I think that the digital conversion in February is going to still catch a bunch of people by surprise, and we'll have angry letters to the editors, emails to distribution companies, and comments on network news by people. This will then lead to people questioning why words on their screen are being cut off one side or the other, why nearly everything has "those black bars" on it, and a variety of other complaints.
While it is true that the simplest, easiest solution is to buy a new TV, the current financial climate isn't really promoting that as a possibility for a lot of people. While spending money is the only way out of a recession, if people don't have it to spend it, they cannot comply. If they do have it, they tend to want to spend it on less frivolous items (like a new TV when the one they have "works") and instead on more need-based items (like food, housing, transportation, and health care).
When T-W installed my new digital converter box and showed me how to access the digital channels, I, too, was immediately struck by the smaller picture banded on all sides with black. I questioned it and was told that if I had a flat screen, the picture would fill the screen. I responded that if I wanted a shorter, squatter picture, I would buy one of those screens -- but I prefer my bigger screen with a bigger picture! At that point, the installers showed me that all of my "regular" channels still work and the picture fills the screen, so that's what I'm viewing.
ReplyDeleteToo much of our society is based on change for change's sake, rather than on need. Auto makers would probably sell more vehicles if they put out new product every other year, instead of twice every year. As you point out, we can no longer afford the conspicious consumption that has marked the past decade, but the producers don't seem to have caught up to that awareness ... yet.