Re: HD is overrated
 

I don't think what's in the stores today is representative of what the majority of people have in their living rooms. The stores are always encouraging folk to "go large". A couple of years ago when I needed a TV for the bedroom I found that a 26in was around the same price as a 32in, now 37in or 40in seems to be only a little more than a 32in. In the end I opted for the 26in as I didn't want the TV dominating the room.

I look to buy something new every five years so my next purchase will be around 2012. I'll probably buy bigger and there'll be a lot more HD on all platforms by then, but the maximum size I'll consider is ultimately limited by the room's dimensions and how much we want a TV to shape the room (and our lives!)

Re: HD is overrated
 

As far as my experience so goes, HD is over-rated unless you have a TV that is at least 32". Its also over-priced. I will not pay £10 a month extra for it.

Re: HD is overrated
 

As I say, 42" is the quickest growing part of the market. They're so cheap now they're pretty much no brainers.

Re: HD is overrated
 

Same here. We have a smallish HD TV that has a good picture and wouldn't go much bigger because it would dominate the room and look out of place.

Re: HD is overrated
 

Hmmmmm.

Personal thoughts are: Overated no, overpriced definately. Although the price of decent hd equipment is dropping now, the only real viable "live" hd option at the moment (till July, supposedly) is SkyHD at an extra tenner a month on top of the already expensive packages. Thinks i'll sit in the corner with my tvdrive and wait it out.

Re: HD is overrated
 

Seeing little joe smoe, with his cinema sized panel above the fireplace or squeezed into the corner of their pokey little room ,never fails to bring a chortle from my normally sad face:D

(It's on the same scale as seeing someone wearing trainers(especially white grubby ones )with a suit or black pants")

He's not bothered about optimal veiwing distance/screen size ,or calibrating the set ,the important thing to him is being able to say "i've got a 50ft tv " to his mates
Along with a few over priced cables ,monster brand of course,
what a character :dunce:





Anywho,i think some people get far too carried away with their "the joys of hd,it's teh bestest " reasonings,and especially those that harp on over 1080p Vs 720.(cd versus vinyl again)

The picture quality can be nice to see for the first time(just as digital dvd was ,but that was mainly down to being able to fast forward and rewind and not having the picture break up) ,especially the clarity and fine detail of (some of) it,but that's it for me,i've never gotten carried away like some people (still) are,it's akin to a caveman, making fire for the first time for them ,and you'd expect them to also act this way when they look at non tv things during their daily life ,if they act this way with a tv picture.

A turd's a turd,and a rose is a rose ,both of which i see with far greater detail than any hd format and still it's not something which makes me jump up and down each time i see either.

Re: HD is overrated
 

At the end of the day, the programme content is identical in SD as well as HD.

Re: HD is overrated
 

It is realy simple and can be shown easy.
If you don't care about quality you click the first link.
http://movies.apple.com/movies/wb/sh...tlr1_h.640.mov
Stay on SD and sell your PC monitor you don't need it a SDTV CRT will do fine via S-video out.

If you care about quality you click this second link and upgrade your equipment.
http://movies.apple.com/movies/wb/sh...lr1_h1080p.mov welcome to HD

I click the second link. I no longer ever click the any thing below 1080p on trailers any more.

Re: HD is overrated
 

yep but thats blue ray quality which i agree is great but most HD is not that quality which i why i decided to vote with yes it is over rated

it still baffels be that they allow so many varying definitions all to be called HD and the words "HD Ready" may as well be put on all items as all are ready to be upgraded to hd via a new screen and receiver lol

Re: HD is overrated
 

I dont like that statement at all :mad: I have a 40" 1080p LCD in a very small room but i sit at the optimal viewing distance (according to the THX site) and it looks and sounds fantatstic. Ive not bothered with a professional calibration and i wont untill i get a new tv next year BUT i have spent a lot of time calibrating the image and sound myself as its extremely important.
I've had a few people laugh at my setup and say what a waste, all that equipment in such a small room but the main reason they have to drop comments like that is because they either cant afford it or the wife wont let them... it only takes 10 minutes of a blu-ray at -10db to put a smile on their face ;)

Oh.. all my hdmi cables were between £10 and £20 and i didn't like handing over £40 for 2 nevermind £120 for a monster HDMI cable.

Not everyone is a showoff and a large TV doesn't need an extremely large room especially when the optimal viewing distance from a 40" 1080p tv is 5.5'

Back on the topic of overated HD, personally i cant stand watching too much SD anymore simply because it looks terrible in comparison. I still have plenty of DVDs but watching Transformers on Blu-ray is in another league. The same principle applies to TV broadcasts, 24, heroes, and prison break in SD look awfull compared to the HD versions.

Re: HD is overrated
 

It's not about programme content. It's about the quality of the picture.

I have a large screen and there is a considerable difference in picture quality with a screen as big as 38". Pixellation also occurs fairly readily with SD pictures on screens that size and above.

It really should not be a case of either/or. Many of us who care about picture quality want to have the choice.

Why would anyone wish to deny us this? It should not even be a debate. We should just have it. Full stop.

Once upon a time, the customer was always right. Now nobody seems to give a damn.

Re: HD is overrated
 

Had SKY+HD installed yesterday and its far far far far far superior in SD than standard SKY+ and the V+ box . However the HD content is still noticably better than SD upscaled and I am very pleased with it

Re: HD is overrated
 

A crap programme in HD is still a crap programme. It just looks prettier.

Re: HD is overrated
 

The thread title is way too vague, especially when the term HD doesn't just apply to images. Since this is in the cable TV section we have to assume the material in question is the few On demand HD programmes and BBC HD channel so theres not really much to go on and saying HD is overrated just by watching what Virgin media offer is rediculous.
Lets pretend the title refers to a Blu-Ray disc, its 1080/24p movie and its 7.1 DTS-MA soundtrack, now is it overrated? Hell no, theres nothing better than watching a good HD movie in 1080p and listening to the HD soundtrack at -10db :D

---------- Post added at 23:27 ---------- Previous post was at 23:22 ----------

Pointless comment, did you complain when DVDs were released because a crap film on VHS would still be crap on DVD?

Re: HD is overrated
 

It's not a pointless comment at all. It's the truth. If (say) a drama has bad acting, a bad story or bad direction, it will have those things regardless of the resolution it's watched at.


Also, before you decided what I think about HD, read the rest of the thread. I said that whether HD adds to the viewing experience or not depends on the type of programme/film. Small character driven dramas don't gain a lot. Large blockbusters with lots of action do.

See http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/34799329-post19.html