Red Ray: Beyond HD WTF??

I've got a question about HD TV signals, I know you receive them via a type of cable connection right. My question is, if it uses a cable connection then it isn't free right?

I'm asking this because our country is in on the "worldwide" transition from Radio TV broadcasting to HD Broadcasting. If it isn't free how would the less fortunate get any TV if every network switches over to HD Broadcasting? Will this mean after 60 or so years, the TV will once again be a status symbol?

 

I'm not saying I can't see it - I can. What I'm saying is, to me, and no doubt lots of other people who don't have ££££ to spend on the best quality TV and then more £££ for a Blu-Ray player and more £££ on the discs, the difference is just not big enough.
Plus, in the UK, where I live, the majority of TV is still broadcast in SD, unless you opt for a £40 (approx. $80) per month satellite or cable package with a £180 ($360) one-off fee. The cost of receiving HD broadcasts is just too high right now. Same goes for Blu-Ray. I'd rather stick with SD.

 

of course its expensive now but it is getting cheaper, i remeber dvds coming out and people where like "i'm not paying that much" but now dvd's are as cheap as bread.
also large lcd/plasma tv's are getting cheaper and cheaper, and in relation to the old tube tv's there are cheaper buy far i remember a 32" tube tv being well over 1000 pounds ($2000) and you can get a lcd the same size for half that and for a 1000 pounds you can get alot for your money.

 

Really loony if so that's great news

Unfortunately, the local Telecommunications Agency hasn't heard that yet because they're going through with the cable format. I also forgot to mention that they seem to be insane, as I said before, our country's an Archipelago of several thousand islands, if they're going through with the cable format, how will the more remote isolated islands avail of HD Broadcasts? Dumb asses

 

Like Loony said, HD can be broadcast over the air. Next year America is getting rid of SD television over the air, kind of sucks for some people because if you don't have cable/satellite then you either have to buy a conversion box or an HDTV.

 

Yeah I heard that by 2010 every household in the US will be tuning in to HD. And seeing as our country "loves to follow America's examples", our local stations marked the date for full HD Broadcasting by 2015. Hey wait, 2015 was the "future" in Back to the Future ;D , still no Hoverboards though.

I forgot to mention, the reason why the local Telecommunications Agency is pushing for the Cable sent HD signal is to free up the airwaves in the country, so Wi Fi Internet becomes more available. They are saying, the reason why Wi Fi isn't that big here is because of the Radio & microwave congestion in our country's airspace, by broadcasting HD via cable, they say Wi Fi will become more available & should replace the current DSL standard.

My reaction:

WTF!? Sacrifice "free" TV so that Wi Fi becomes cheap? Assholes

 

Is that so? Man those folks at our local Telecommunications Agency should have consulted you then.

 

There probably just saying nonsense that sounds like it could be true since the general public won't know otherwise. I believe that companies were careful about which frequencies they chose when they started to build up, if they used a congested frequency then their signal wouldn't be as clear and that would just be bad for business.

 

Thank God!

I saw a while ago the not so latest episode (last week's episode) of that local IT show here in the Philippines where I learned of the transition from normal TV to HDTV Broadcasting. Thankfully someone brought into the local telecommunications bureau's attention that going for cable delivered HD broadcasting won't work here, because of the cost on end consumers. Now they're looking into the various aerial modes of HD broadcasting.

W00T!