Digital Television

posts about #digitaltelevision more →
Does Your TV Still Work?
Reminder: DTV Transition Is Today, June 12th
The Price is Right Will Lose 3.5M Viewers Come DTV Switch
The Digital Transition is Proceeding Exactly According to Plan
Elgato Shrinks EyeTV Digital TV Dongle, Now MacBook Air-Friendly
Study: More than Half of U.S. Households Own a Digital Television
DoCoMo Digital Broadcast Phone - Now With Sears Walkie Talkie Antenna

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strider_mt2k
06/13/09

In reply to Reminder: DTV Transition Is Today, June 12th
Nothing lasts forever.
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OMG! Ponies!
06/12/09

In reply to Does Your TV Still Work?
So 15 people broke their TV with their Wiimotes?
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Sihanouk-s-Poodle
06/12/09

@OMG! Ponies!: Last week my TV started turning off randomly. Perhaps it's joined a union.
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Nick
06/12/09

@Sihanouk-s-Poodle: VCRs unionized and you saw what happened to them.
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OMG! Ponies!
06/12/09

In reply to Does Your TV Still Work?
Yes. My 200 lb. HDTV still works. And if it didn't, I wouldn't care. I have enough DVDs and video games to last me until analog television becomes a niche market that caters to bespectacled bearded videophiles to bore everyone within earshot with arguments of how analog television just looks warmer.
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ethanlechcharles
06/12/09

@OMG! Ponies!:

We all know the noise adds life to the image. DTV is so flat and lifeless. You'd be better off watching nothing without a $1000+ DA converter.
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OMG! Ponies!
06/12/09

@ethanlechcharles: Analog TV is so much better. Adjusting the rabbit ears and vertical hold was part of the TV watching experience. I would rather watch "All In The Family" or "Taxi" than the made-for-the-masses TV that the big conglomerates put out nowadays.

TV back then was about making a statement; now it's just about making money. You haven't lived until you've watched the Immaculate Reception on a 19" Zenith in an original wood cabinet. With the color skewed a little towards cyan, you can practically taste the Schlitz. All it needs is a gas crisis. Football on a 60" plasma just doesn't compare.
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Kaiser-Machead
06/12/09

@OMG! Ponies!: If it's so much warmer, how come they call it "snow", huh smart guy?
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OMG! Ponies!
06/12/09

@Kaiser-Machead: It's a technical term. That white noise added vibrancy to the broadcast. Plus, the color bleed added something that just can't be quantified.

There's a part of it that most people nowadays can't appreciate. Sure, digital TV gives you a "sharper" picture and you get stuff like 5.1 surround but you're missing out on so much more. Like adjusting the fine-tune dial to really tune in a station. Or, having to switch the top knob to "U" to get the UHF stations. There are people who don't even know what UHF is. And you don't even get knobs on TVs now.

You show someone still in high school an analog TV and I'll bet you they wouldn't even know how to turn it on, more or less how to get the news from Walter Cronkite.
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Nick
06/12/09

@OMG! Ponies!: i have to admit you are right on this one Ponies!. there are certain qualities in an old set that you can't find with HD these days. i, for one, would only hook my atari up to an old bunny eared, dual knobbed, UHF lovin' TV saved from some old motel somwhere to achieve the full effect the designers intended. any other TV would be like puttin leaded gas in a new prius.
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Cordfucious of Tech Clan
06/12/09

@OMG! Ponies!: But you fail to mention the joy in placing foil tips on the antenae to maximize your viewing experience. And when the "clicker" actually clicked!
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Cordfucious of Tech Clan
06/12/09

@Cordfucious of Tech Clan: and not to mention following the screen till it was the size of pencil lead when you cut off the set.

Ohh nostalgia why are you such a heartless shrew?
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Kaiser-Machead
06/12/09

In reply to Does Your TV Still Work?
It has yet to bring home a paycheck, so my answer, is no.
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nutbastard
06/12/09

@Kaiser-Machead:

yeah my TV, as far as i know, has been sitting on its lazy ass 24/7 since it was born. it spent some time laying down getting plugged the other day - again, lazy lazy lazy. didn't even push back when i was plugging it.
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OMG! Ponies!
06/12/09

@nutbastard: I can top that.

I got a Wii and Wii Fit. My 200 lb. television had the audacity to call me overweight. Like that Wide Load was one to talk.

And yes, HDTV, you are fat. You're not widescreen; you're not 16:9; you're not a WEGA. YOU ARE FAT, YOU LOUSY CRT BEHEMOTH!
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nutbastard
06/12/09

@OMG! Ponies!:

the problem is that the skinny ones are always high maintenance. that's why i always go for TV's that are in good shape, but maybe have a little chub on em. there's less competition, and they dont make the rest of my appliances look ugly by comparison.

oh but they DO have to be black, and willing to accept multiple inputs simultaneously, and must be cool enough to let my friends watch, too. that's just how i roll.
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Nick
06/12/09

@Kaiser-Machead: you have to send in the UPC from the box and your original receipt. pay check will come in about 6 - 8 weeks.
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Jim-Bob
06/12/09

In reply to Does Your TV Still Work?
Well, I am too poor to afford cable, but I have a DTV converter box and rabbit ears. I was only able to get 1 channel before the transition, but now I get...NONE! So, yeah, my TV is now just a useless waste of space that does nothing, as compared to the useless waste of space that was occasionally entertaining before...
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ripfire
06/12/09

@Jim-Bob: You're not getting anything even with a DTV converter box? Where do you live?
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Pew Pew BOOM
06/12/09

In reply to Does Your TV Still Work?
Yes, I was just playing Red Faction: Guerrilla, seemed fine.
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nutbastard
06/12/09

@I have a cat that can beat me up:

word to the red faction action!
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infmom
06/12/09

In reply to Reminder: DTV Transition Is Today, June 12th
I'm an old person and I'm not giving up the rabbit ears. They provide the reception to our converter box, at least till my old husband puts up the outside antenna he's been talking about for 15 years.

Yeah, we also have cable.
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travisvannimwegen
06/12/09

In reply to Reminder: DTV Transition Is Today, June 12th
I agree completely with theeraserhead.
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infmom
06/12/09

@Travis VanNimwegen: Is that a big ditto from you?
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mikegriffin
06/12/09

In reply to Reminder: DTV Transition Is Today, June 12th
Analog, Digital-same old shit.
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IN THE FACE!
06/12/09

@mikegriffin:

+1 Insightful

Wait... um, no.
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hostile17
06/12/09

In reply to Reminder: DTV Transition Is Today, June 12th
"Today, June 12th, we'll all be moving over to digital television"

No, we won't ALL be moving over.

Americans will.

You know, the internets (and Gizmodo) is available to everyone you know?
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Cjay79
06/12/09

@hostile17: Indeed. Been watching digital channels on satellite, cable and broadcast tv in the UK for years now. It's kind of bizarre seeing some people having some sort of meltdown, or get confused over it, but I guess I understand that things are just different sometimes.

On a subject that's been mentioned in some other comments, it's true, some channels often look horrifically pixelated when you transition from analogue to digital, but that's not because of the method, it's because of the poor compression, equipment and recordings kept by some channels in a cost-cutting measure. Sometimes there's a show on Sky that just looks AWFUL because it's a poor copy, same with many other channels, but if it's a poor copy, I'll just change the channel and watch it elsewhere some other time.
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IN THE FACE!
06/12/09

@Cjay79: Yup, nobody can freaking flip the fuck out about something stupid like us 'Muricans can. Well, not me specifically, but generally...
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cattrain
06/12/09

In reply to Reminder: DTV Transition Is Today, June 12th
Analog > Digital. See that picture you posted up there? Ya, that's about the quality difference. Before, I would get clear pictures with the occasional snow. Now I get the same picture with regular channel death. I even got an inline signal amp, and the channel that was clearest before is now impossible to wat 9/10 times I try to see it.
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IN THE FACE!
06/12/09

@cattrain: An inline amp won't do shit if you have a crappy antenna...

Do a little research, and I'm sure you'll discover somewhere along the line, that you're a dip-shit.
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i38warhawk
06/12/09

In reply to Reminder: DTV Transition Is Today, June 12th
People still watch TV over the air?
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kylenalepa
06/12/09

@i38warhawk: I canceled my cable and switched to OTA and Hulu/Bittorrent to save money. Works great.
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Skorpius
06/12/09

In reply to Reminder: DTV Transition Is Today, June 12th
Its kind of a sad day. Think of all the history and all that has come before. Its truly the end of an era. I'll forever miss the local TV of the late 70's and 80's with monster movies, cartoons, and all manner of weirdness on the airwaves. Those days are long gone, but this is that final death knell to a time we'll never see again.
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IN THE FACE!
06/12/09

@Skorpius: Yes, because changing the transmission format of local broadcasting == the death of local broadcasting? WTF are you smoking?
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theeraserhead
06/12/09

In reply to Reminder: DTV Transition Is Today, June 12th
Man! Gizmodo is such an Obama ass kisser / cool aid. Can't pass a week without another reference to him.
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d_r_e
06/12/09

@theeraserhead:

If you don't like it, THEN YOU CAN GEEEEET OUT!!!!
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GitEmSteveDave_OverSleptThisMorn
06/12/09

@theeraserhead: I read your complaint and feel your pain. I know someone who can cure it:

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Who Shot Who in the What Now?
06/12/09

@theeraserhead: Barack Obama cured my gout. What have you done besides complaining on the Internet?
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GitEmSteveDave_OverSleptThisMorn
06/12/09

@Who Shot Who in the What Now?: Really? B/c I have gout myself. What did you take? Was it laying on of hands? B/c I'd let him touch me if it would stop all the pain when I have a flare/swell up.
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theeraserhead
06/12/09

In reply to Reminder: DTV Transition Is Today, June 12th
Man! Gizmodo is such an Obama ass kisser / cool aid drinker. Can't pass a week without another reference to him.
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nathantrumbull
06/12/09

@theeraserhead: Why post this twice? Obama is the leader of the free world and I doubt you could go a week without saying his name in a positive or negative light.

Get over yourself.

Don't post things twice.
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dave the wet sprocket
06/12/09

@theeraserhead: moron. everbody knows it's "kool-aid".
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Con Seannery
06/12/09

@Nathan Trumbull: I don't say his name. I use PresBO. Also, and I know this is said for all Presidents, but isn't it a tad egotistical to call the US the leader of the free world? I mean, yeah, we're a powerful nation, but that kind of falls right in with out World Police package.
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GitEmSteveDave_OverSleptThisMorn
06/12/09

@theeraserhead: Praise his name and stop blaspheming! Or he will strike down with furious anger those who attempt to poison and confuse his children!

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GitEmSteveDave_OverSleptThisMorn
06/12/09

@OMG! Con Seannery!: While I agree with you, last week I was told multiple times that since the US Government didn't fund a certain type of stem cell research for 8 years, it prevented the entire world from doing any research and/or coming up with any treatments. So yes, they do control the world!
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GitEmSteveDave_OverSleptThisMorn
06/12/09

@dave the wet sprocket: It was actually "Flavor-Aid" used in Jonestown. People who say Kool-Aid are being racist as it's a stereotype that African Americans drink Kool-Aid. [www.google.com]
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Cjay79
06/12/09

@SupremeCourtNominee_GitEmSteveDave: Actually that's not true, because while the U.S. banned said research, a lot of the researchers carried on their research in other countries that hadn't banned it, including in the U.K..

It's now part of the conservative argument against resuming said research, putting forward the notion that research into stem cells has reached such a point that the formerly banned kind of research is backward and something of an archaism.
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GitEmSteveDave_OverSleptThisMorn
06/12/09

@Cjay79: Shhhhhh. You're talking crazy. Science and everything was delayed at least a decade by the Bush administration. It's main stream knowledge. There's no room for your "facts" in it. Or at least that's what I was told: [gizmodo.com]

But yeah, thank you for showing me there are people out there who realize we aren't the center of the universe. You made me have a little more faith.
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