COMMENTARY
Pergament: Pondering the intricacies of high-definition TV
You might be amazed to hear that your friendly neighborhood TV critic didn’t get his first high definition television set until February, just before the Super Bowl.
The five months I’ve had the 42-inch set have led to some amazing discoveries and questions about local and national TV that I probably wouldn’t have been aware of if I hadn’t gotten one.
• I didn’t realize how cool “CSI: Miami” is to look at, with all of its Florida colors. Or how old star David Caruso is looking these days.
• I didn’t realize that the high definition PBS channel, 703, carries programs on the national PBS schedule when WNED-TV is carrying a fund drive or something else.
• I can’t understand why a mailing I got from a satellite service claims that my cable system has as many as 55 HD channels when I confirmed it only has 22.
• I wondered if our Time Warner system isn’t carrying as many HD channels as there are in other areas. Sure enough, some systems in the state have more. But at least a Time Warner representative here told me weeks ago he expects 10 to 20 more HD channels will be available by the end of the year.
• I found it comical that Versus, the National Hockey League channel, carried the CBC feed of a playoff game in HD although the CBC affiliate in Toronto doesn’t come in on HD on my cable system.
• I better understand why DirecTV subscribers are thrilled that Channel 4’s owner, LIN Broadcasting, made a deal last month with the satellite service to carry the CBS affiliate in HD. During the 2007 Buffalo Bills season, it was especially aggravating not to have those games in HD when available.
• I hope that the Buffalo Sabres quickly find a way to carry their road games in HD next season because the home games look so much better.
• I was confused when my DVR ran out of space so quickly until I asked someone at Time Warner if HD programs on DVRs take up more space. Sure enough, they do.
• I can’t imagine how many people are like a relative of mine who had an HD set for a year and didn’t realize he had to get HD service through cable or satellite to actually get programs in HD.
• I thought it was funny that Channel 4’s Don Postles and Jacquie Walker were worried about how they’d look with the station being on HD on the DISH Network. Apparently, they didn’t realize the local news won’t be in HD until Channel 4 invests in HD cameras.
• I now better understand why nature shows featuring animals and water are so attractive to HD viewers.
• I wish I could always watch the Discovery Channel’s “The Deadliest Catch” in HD.
• I don’t understand why A&E is available in HD on my cable system and so few other basic cable channels are.
• I don’t understand why WNLO-TV, the local CW affiliate, is the only local network affiliate that isn’t on in HD on cable when it would be so cool to see young Superman that way.
• I didn’t realize you could get WNLO in HD if you spend about $25 for rabbit ears and placed them on the back of the set.
• I loved watching Wimbledon and the National Basketball Association playoff games in HD as much as I loved watching National Hockey League playoff games. And I can’t wait to see the Beijing Olympics in HD.
• I also can’t wait until local news and other local programming are carried in HD.
• I find it distracting when commercials aren’t in HD and wonder how long it will be before they all are filmed that way. According to Nick Magnini, the general manager of WUTV and WNYO, all national commercials should be in HD by January. He also said that “Seinfeld” reruns — which don’t look so good on HD sets now — will be converted to HD about then.
• I can’t imagine how I lived all those years watching a 27-inch set without HD.
• I didn’t realize that, after a few months, a 42-inch set can almost seem small.
