'Intel Inside' Comes To Flat Panel TVs

New Scientist ^ | 1-4-2004 | Celeste Biever

[aShepard]

Gateway got some really terrible picture quality ratings in a recent Ken Webber column, so shop carefully.

[ken5050]

Thanks..I don't know who he is....do you have a link?..I figured in something like this Consumer Reports is the best source of advice..

[BrooklynGOP]

Computers with the specs recommended for these clips are sold mostly for gaming now, but they will be on the junk heap in five years.

Sure. I got a pent4 3ghz, ati 9800 pro which I use for gaming, coding and home theater (via the projector). It handles those HDTV files just fine (with 5.1 sound, too!), but I don't expect to be using the same pc in 2-3 years. Then again, at this rate, the current HDTV standard might be on the junk heap in five years.

[aShepard]

He's the guy that does a weekly tech column in the Wall St. Journal, that's picked up by alot of Sunday papers. I'll take a look around and try to get his column to post.

[BrooklynGOP]

If you are talking about gateway's 42" plasma, then definately do not get it. A friend of mine got it a year ago for something like $3200 (i think its $2500 now) and its eh... The resolution is crappy too - only 852 by 480 (which is nowhere near HDTV), and the contrast ratio is rather low...

[ken5050]

Thanks..I usually read Mossberg's column, but in the weekend section, I read the wine column and do the crossword puzzle..

[ken5050]

??? Flat TV's aren't HD?....huh?..I'm confused..

[BrooklynGOP]

lol!

[js1138]

I don't think the HDTV standard will be on the junk heap, because it is flexible, like computer displays. It is more of a broadcast standard than a display standard. If the display device is a computer, then software will be able to translate any available content.

Satellite and cable providers will have to standardize on formats because of their infrastructure cost, but DVDs may come in multiple formats with varying degrees of quality.

All the more reason for movie and music producers to stop worrying about piracy and start looking to the future of selling new and improved content.

I am quite certain that within twenty years, someone will take existing movies and convert them to 3-D with digital animation and rendering software. Within fifty years, you will be able to don a pair of specks and walk around within a movie. This could be done now, except for cost.

[BrooklynGOP]

I don't think the HDTV standard will be on the junk heap, because it is flexible, like computer displays.

Well, its not really a standard if its flexible :)

[aShepard]

Ken, you're right. The name is Mossberg, not Webber - senior moment

[Nowhere Man]

My current television is dying, I just hope it lasts long enough for the prices on the next generation stuff to drop to a reasonable level.

Me, I think I'll be watching my 1982 25" Zenith for a while. I remember we got it in early 1983 when I was in 10th grade and it is still in current daily use to this day. It's kind of amazing that I watched everything from Ronald Reagan's "Evil Empire" speech to the "Evil Axis" speech by President Bush along with many other things. My father had the same model Zenith as we have but he got his in 1979. I think we have the Zenith "System 3" chassis model, actually that came out in the late 1970's.

I also have a 1970/71 Zenith 23" color TV, it was our first color set, if I get a "round tuit," I'd like to fix it up and put it back in service. One interesting thing about that set, it had tubes and chips all in the same model. B-)

[js1138]

Well, its not really a standard if its flexible :)

OK, wiseguy, HDTV has standards for the broadcast format, but because the image is digital it can be decoded to any of a number of screen formats and resolutions.

[BrooklynGOP]

OK, wiseguy, HDTV has standards for the broadcast format, but because the image is digital it can be decoded to any of a number of screen formats and resolutions.

I know exactly what you are saying, but as far as I am concerned, if your set up downgrades the 1080p HDTV signal into 480i, then it doesn't really support HDTV, since its no longer high definition.