I Want My HDTV (but not entirely for the usual reasons)
The Olympic opening ceremonies were almost two weeks ago now. Normally I ignore the Olympics as much as possible, but thanks to chronarchy and 35,000 previewers, I was aware that the opening ceremonies should be impressive. So when I got tired of packing for Pennsic, I flipped on the TV to take a look.
It looked pretty cool, but I was somewhat disappointed by it for three reasons:
- This thing demanded a wide screen to get a decent view of things
- In the wider shots, all the details were lost
- Worst of all, the commentators kept babbling over the music, ruining the whole effect
So why do I bring this up now? Well, yesterday I came across this AP story about HDTV watchers being annoyed by the HDTV version of the Olympic broadcast. They had two big complaints about opening night; one was that their broadcast started late, apparently ignoring the fact that the whole thing is broadcast on tape-delay anyway, since evening in Greece is morning here.
But the complaint that got my attention was that the HDTV broadcast wasn't narrated by Bob Costas and Katie Couric. This makes people feel like they're being treated like "throwaways"? It makes me want to go buy an HDTV, solving all three problems I had with the broadcast I saw!
Of course, somehow the FCC thinks we'll all be watching HDTV by May 2006 anyway.
Update: Almost missed this gem from the story. "Gerbrandt said he's seen only one advertisement on NBC's HDTV coverage - from a maker of a high definition TV set." Great picture, no commentators, and almost no commercials? Where do I sign up?
It looked pretty cool, but I was somewhat disappointed by it for three reasons:
- This thing demanded a wide screen to get a decent view of things
- In the wider shots, all the details were lost
- Worst of all, the commentators kept babbling over the music, ruining the whole effect
So why do I bring this up now? Well, yesterday I came across this AP story about HDTV watchers being annoyed by the HDTV version of the Olympic broadcast. They had two big complaints about opening night; one was that their broadcast started late, apparently ignoring the fact that the whole thing is broadcast on tape-delay anyway, since evening in Greece is morning here.
But the complaint that got my attention was that the HDTV broadcast wasn't narrated by Bob Costas and Katie Couric. This makes people feel like they're being treated like "throwaways"? It makes me want to go buy an HDTV, solving all three problems I had with the broadcast I saw!
Of course, somehow the FCC thinks we'll all be watching HDTV by May 2006 anyway.
Update: Almost missed this gem from the story. "Gerbrandt said he's seen only one advertisement on NBC's HDTV coverage - from a maker of a high definition TV set." Great picture, no commentators, and almost no commercials? Where do I sign up?