re : HDTV

[Mark Shneyder <bostonradio@yahoo.com>]

From: "A. Joseph Ross" <lawyer@world.std.com>Subject: 
>For HDTV to catch on, first the programming must be >there, and so
far it isn't.  Especially, the cable >companies will ha ve to convert
to HDTV.  And for it >to really catch on, someone will have to offer
>something that is simply not available on
>regular TV.

HDTV might be the ultimate electronic
toy of the moment but networks are starting to give it their full
attention. Last weekend(12/19)CBS produced a national NFL
telecast(Bill-Jets)using a different camera crew and different
announcers for the HDTV and the NTSC broadcasts.

As for your unfriendly and uncooperative local
neighborhood cable company, the technology to
carry digital TV signals by cable systems is already here and it's
called Firewire. This technology
links cable set-top boxes to the new digital sets. 
The bigger problem is that many cable providers still 
haven't agreed to show local broadcasters' over-the-air digital
programming. The first cable-ready digital sets probably won't appear
until late 1999. 

In my opninion, the biggest problem will be with video
players/recorders. HDTV technology makes all current VCR's obsolete.
Even today's DVD players are  not compatible with HDTV sets.
Eventually, a totally new recordable DVD format will be in place but
that's quite some time away. I just don't see so many people investing
6-7 grand into a 250-pound unit for which there's currently no VCR or
DVD technology available...

- -Mark
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