HD Service Worth it?
 

I'm going to get Direct TV and I can get HD service for another ~$10 per month (I already own an HD-ready TV). I am getting the HD receiver for free as part of a promotional offer.

At Best Buy, Fry's, etc... they compare HD with 'regular' TV and I can definitely see the difference. However, I don't know if I would be missing the improved quality with only 'regular' TV.

For those who get HD service, has it been worth it for you? Is it worth ~$120 per year? When you go to a friend's house and see 'regular' TV, does it look like crap?

Re: HD Service Worth it?
 

It's a little cheaper here but it's through the cable company. I would say it is definitely worth it. Especially if you are a sports fan. And yes after watching something in HD it looks terrible on a normal TV IMO.

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I would say it is definetly worth it and the bigger your TV the more worth it it is.

Re: HD Service Worth it?
 

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It's a little cheaper here but it's through the cable company. I would say it is definitely worth it. Especially if you are a sports fan. And yes after watching something in HD it looks terrible on a normal TV IMO.

[/ QUOTE ] QFT, I hate that. [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img]

But anyway, as long as you can afford the extra $10 per month(which I'm assuming you could), then definitely get it.

By the way, for your "when you go to a friends house..." question: Well, my HD goes through a cable company, not direct tv so I'm not sure if it'd be different for you or not. But for me, I have ~400ish regular channels, and then 50-60ish HD channels. So basically, if you go to the regular ESPN channel, then to the ESPN HD channel you will definitely be able to notice a difference.

Re: HD Service Worth it?
 

It is definetly worth it. The difference between the non-HD and HD channels is very large in terms of both picture quality and sound.

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If you have a large-ish HDTV and aren't watching a lot of HD content through it, you totally wasted your money on the TV.

HD vs SD is pretty much night and day on a large HDTV.

Re: HD Service Worth it?
 

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If you have a large-ish HDTV and aren't watching a lot of HD content through it, you totally wasted your money on the TV.

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QFT. Why get the sick TV if you aren't going to watch HD programming? Also, baseball in HD FTW. No sport translates better into HD IMO.

Re: HD Service Worth it?
 

theres no reason not to have the HD service, I have the direct tv HD service - only issue with it is in my local area, CBS HD isn't available through direct tv, so we missed the Superbowl in HD, the NCAA tournament and the Masters in HD. Direct tv claims to be expanding their HD line up soon too, to over 150 HD channels- I guess we have to continue to wait for that.

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I consider myself an HD Snob. I dont watch much unless it is in HD because the picture is so much better. HD is amazing.

Re: HD Service Worth it?
 

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I consider myself an HD Snob. I dont watch much unless it is in HD because the picture is so much better. HD is amazing.

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When I first got my HDTV I was so enthralled by it that I watched "John Daly vs. Niagara Falls", which was a show an hour long show of John Daly attempting to hit a golf ball over Niagara Falls. My favorite show on the HD-only channels (besides the obvious everything on Discovery HD Theater) is "Three Sheets" on INHD's Mojo block, that [censored] is funny.

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HD is absolutely worth it, especially if your set is 50 inches or larger. It is now painful for me to watch a sporting event (like many MLB games) that is not broadcast in HD.

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FYI - I called up DirecTV and told them I was hearing about all the new great deals from cable etc about promos on HD channels yada yada yada.

I told them I didn't want to go to cable but I wished they'd give me a break on HD. They gave me HD for free for 6 months and the sports package (Fox Sports) for $2 a month for a year instead of $12.

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For all you HD lovers watch Planet Earth. That is just awesome. I've definetly never seen a show like that b4

Re: HD Service Worth it?
 

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For all you HD lovers watch Planet Earth. That is just awesome. I've definetly never seen a show like that b4

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So true. There was a thread in here about it but I think it got lost a few weeks ago. That show is unbelievably good. If I had an HD dvd player I'd order the complete set because the replay value is so high relative to most stuff.

Re: HD Service Worth it?
 

We can get it for our 46 inch Bravia at work, but they want to charge 50 bucks more for it on Cox Cable. At 50 bucks and $600 a year, it's a lot harder to justify.

Re: HD Service Worth it?
 

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It is definetly worth it. The difference between the non-HD and HD channels is very large in terms of both picture quality and sound.

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Re: HD Service Worth it?
 

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We can get it for our 46 inch Bravia at work, but they want to charge 50 bucks more for it on Cox Cable. At 50 bucks and $600 a year, it's a lot harder to justify.

[/ QUOTE ]Assuming you work during the day(9-5ish) that'd be a complete ripoff imo. If you work later on(like 7:00+) then maybe. IMO nothing on during the day is worth paying that much for HD, not including baseball games which arn't on that often.

Re: HD Service Worth it?
 

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We can get it for our 46 inch Bravia at work, but they want to charge 50 bucks more for it on Cox Cable. At 50 bucks and $600 a year, it's a lot harder to justify.

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What a rip-off. Comcast is horrible, but HD is only about $15 more per month.

Re: HD Service Worth it?
 

I got my parents an HDTV back over christmas.

I looked into HD programming, and unfortunately Dish Network wanted something like $30-40 more a month in order to make it happen (programming fees, HD box, etc).

We decided it wasn't worth it right then - but we may upgrade if they bring the price down.

It's pretty stupid that HDTV is supposed to be mandated by law for over-the-air programming, but you have to pay extra for it on these services.

Re: HD Service Worth it?
 

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I got my parents an HDTV back over christmas.

I looked into HD programming, and unfortunately Dish Network wanted something like $30-40 more a month in order to make it happen (programming fees, HD box, etc).

We decided it wasn't worth it right then - but we may upgrade if they bring the price down.

It's pretty stupid that HDTV is supposed to be mandated by law for over-the-air programming, but you have to pay extra for it on these services.

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No the new mandate says that they all have to be 100% DIGITAL signals by a certain date not 100% HD signals.

Re: HD Service Worth it?
 

Before I got HD I didn't think it was a big deal and didn't see what everyone was talking about. Once I bought a plasma and got HD it was over. I could never go back now. It's something that you don't really appreciate until you have it. It also depends how much tv you watch. If you watch under 5 hours/week or mostly movies or don't plan on shelling out cash on a plasma, you don't need HD. Otherwise, you won't regret it.

Re: HD Service Worth it?
 

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If you have a large-ish HDTV and aren't watching a lot of HD content through it, you totally wasted your money on the TV.

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QFT. Why get the sick TV if you aren't going to watch HD programming? Also, hockey in HD FTW. No sport translates better into HD IMO.

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FYP

Re: HD Service Worth it?
 

Discovery HD is worth that by itself imo.

Sports in HD >>>>>>>>>>>>&g t;>>>>>>> sports in standard definition.

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I would say it is definetly worth it and the bigger your TV the more worth it it is.

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42" plasma.

After reading all the replies in this thread, I'll give HD a shot.

Thanks everyone.

Re: HD Service Worth it?
 

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I got my parents an HDTV back over christmas.

I looked into HD programming, and unfortunately Dish Network wanted something like $30-40 more a month in order to make it happen (programming fees, HD box, etc).

We decided it wasn't worth it right then - but we may upgrade if they bring the price down.

It's pretty stupid that HDTV is supposed to be mandated by law for over-the-air programming, but you have to pay extra for it on these services.

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No the new mandate says that they all have to be 100% DIGITAL signals by a certain date not 100% HD signals.

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not until February 17, 2009.

Re: HD Service Worth it?
 

Is this question serious? OK, HDTV might not be worth it to everybody. If you don't watch much (a) sports, and (b) primetime network shows, there isn't a lot to see in HD yet.

But....if you aren't willing to pay $10/month for HD, then why did you spend all that extra money on an HD television in the first place?

Re: HD Service Worth it?
 

HD is nice, I just wish Comcast offered more than ~25 HD channels. 2 or 3 years from now hopefully there will be a few hundred to choose from [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: HD Service Worth it?
 

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But....if you aren't willing to pay $10/month for HD, then why did you spend all that extra money on an HD television in the first place?

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Some people just want a big TV... You can't get a non-HD big screen anymore.

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HD is so much better than standard. It's not even close. This question is ridiculous. It's so very clearly worth it.

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But....if you aren't willing to pay $10/month for HD, then why did you spend all that extra money on an HD television in the first place?

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Some people just want a big TV... You can't get a non-HD big screen anymore.

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But there's no point in getting a big screen and only watching SD on it. SD was made for small TVs. Once you get past 50" or so, broadcast SD just becomes too blurry.

As for which sport shows the most improvement, that's very dependent on what you're a fan of.

But, IMO, it's not baseball. The problem with HD baseball is that they use the same camera angles as SD. So the main view (the batter and catcher) isn't much improved.

Hockey shows a huge improvement simply because you can see a lot more of the ice. Basketball shows a huge improvement also. Football is a little behind hockey and basketball (and again, that's because of the camera angles. A Madden video game type camera angle would exploit HD greatly, but the sideline camera anle is only slightly improved by the wideness of HD).

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HD is so much better than standard. It's not even close. This question is ridiculous. It's so very clearly worth it.

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Is this question serious? OK, HDTV might not be worth it to everybody. If you don't watch much (a) sports, and (b) primetime network shows, there isn't a lot to see in HD yet.

But....if you aren't willing to pay $10/month for HD, then why did you spend all that extra money on an HD television in the first place?

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And who doesn't? Do people watch CSPAN? All the big channels now have HD.

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Is this question serious? OK, HDTV might not be worth it to everybody. If you don't watch much (a) sports, and (b) primetime network shows, there isn't a lot to see in HD yet.

But....if you aren't willing to pay $10/month for HD, then why did you spend all that extra money on an HD television in the first place?

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And who doesn't? Do people watch CSPAN? All the big channels now have HD.

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Not to mention how awesomely insanely badass it is to get a dual tuner DVR that records shows in HD for you. Nothing better than recording Sopranos/Lost/etc. in HD and watching it commercial free and at your leisure.

Don't forget the dual-tuner works great for watching 2 football games at the same time in HD also.

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But there's no point in getting a big screen and only watching SD on it. SD was made for small TVs. Once you get past 50" or so, broadcast SD just becomes too blurry.

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Not to get into an argument here but big screen TV's (yes, 50"+) have been around for decades, long before HD. I had my 50" DLP for about a year before I got an HD box from Comcast, it was great going from a 20" SDTV even though I was still watching SD programming.

Just my $0.02.

Edit: Also, every female who has watched my TV has said she can't tell the difference between regular TV and HDTV. *shrugs*

Re: HD Service Worth it?
 

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Edit: Also, every female who has watched my TV has said she can't tell the difference between regular TV and HDTV. *shrugs*

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My wife is actually more offended by SD than I am. She refuses to watch anything that isn't in HD (except her favorite college basketball team). She thinks regular DVDs look like crap and usually prefers to watch HD-DVD. She's actually stopped watching shows because they weren't available in HD.

Re: HD Service Worth it?
 

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But there's no point in getting a big screen and only watching SD on it. SD was made for small TVs. Once you get past 50" or so, broadcast SD just becomes too blurry.

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Not to get into an argument here but big screen TV's (yes, 50"+) have been around for decades, long before HD. I had my 50" DLP for about a year before I got an HD box from Comcast, it was great going from a 20" SDTV even though I was still watching SD programming.

Just my $0.02.

Edit: Also, every female who has watched my TV has said she can't tell the difference between regular TV and HDTV. *shrugs*

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Is every woman you know retarded? It's like night and day. Regular TV on an HDTV looks very mediocre compared to a HDTV signal. I think even a partly blind person could tell the difference. Maybe regular TV on a regular TV vs HDTV on an HDTV, but there is a huge difference between the two, there are a ton of more pixels. I will admit I am a HDTV nut but come on. I can't wait till everything is in HD.

Re: HD Service Worth it?
 

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Is every woman you know retarded?

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Evidently. I can't explain it. Even watching, say, Seinfeld on Fox HD, the difference is amazingly obvious versus regular Fox (to me).

Anyway, my whole point was some people care more about a bigger picture than about a sharper picture. Even though the sharper picture would cost them a whopping $10 more per month.

Re: HD Service Worth it?
 

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Is every woman you know retarded?

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Evidently. I can't explain it. Even watching, say, Seinfeld on Fox HD, the difference is amazingly obvious versus regular Fox (to me).

Anyway, my whole point was some people care more about a bigger picture than about a sharper picture. Even though the sharper picture would cost them a whopping $10 more per month.

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My wife can't tell the difference. She'll watch Law and Order on non-HD TNT and it drives me nuts.

Re: HD Service Worth it?
 

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My wife can't tell the difference. She'll watch Law and Order on non-HD TNT and it drives me nuts.

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Here I'm with her. TNT-HD has AWFUL lip sync. I can't stand to watch it at all.

Re: HD Service Worth it?
 

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theres no reason not to have the HD service, I have the direct tv HD service - only issue with it is in my local area, CBS HD isn't available through direct tv, so we missed the Superbowl in HD, the NCAA tournament and the Masters in HD. Direct tv claims to be expanding their HD line up soon too, to over 150 HD channels- I guess we have to continue to wait for that.

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I read an article on CNN that said the local over-the-air broadcasts carry HD content that is better than what you would get through your cable because of compression issues. Something to look into.