Why I do not have an hdtv (yet)
There are many people who have an HDTV of some sort. But for those who do not, many would would wonder why. Here are my reasons for not having one.
The television is a good thing to have and useful to many for different reasons. The high definition tv has been around for a long time and some have not upgraded for several reasons. These are some of the reasons why I do not want one.
Not much of a difference
To me the only difference is more details in picture provided that you already have high definition programming. And that is a good thing, but I do not really notice the difference and I would guess that after a while I would not even care. Although I may notice a difference, would I go "Wow, that's a good picture!" every time I turn on a television set. No, although that would be funny though if I did, differences would major or minor on picture quality. By the way, I did not really see an HDTV that was using a high definition source other than those at a retail store since most of the time I see one HDTV, I look on the menu when flipping channels that shows the resolution and source or the back of the TV that has everything connected by coaxial and/or composite cables not hdmi or component.
Programming
The programming in many cable and satellite companies is there, but they usually include standard definition and they charge for high definition versions of different channels which adds on to the monthly TV bill. And don't forget about those DVDs in which you would have to pay more for blu-ray just to get the full experience. The over the air antenna channels are just fine since they are digital already. The only HDTV that saw that was using HD programming outside of any store was using over the air which downscaled the 1080i resolution down to the 720 HDTV which looked good. For most people, standard definition on a high definition TV is just fine or negligible since it is less to worry about.
Standard definition
For anything that is not high definition, does not upscale very well no matter what, takes away from the experience by stretching pixels. Which makes the picture look different than one on a standard definition television set depending on how good the up scaling is.
Reliability
One thing that would sway me away from replacing a perfectly good TV is that it still works. CRTs tend to last a long time depending how well one is made. At the time when CRT was the only display technology available to everyone, it lasts when the standards were high and you could buy a TV from some brands like Magnovox, Sanyo (now owned Panasonic), Sony, and maybe RCA with it lasting more than ten years or longer and with little to no problems along the way. This should no longer be much of a problem any more since manufacturers have kept making improvements.
Good is good enough
Last, but not least, if our old televisions still works, then why replace it. This goes by the old saying of some sort and it would be more of a waste to replace a television that still works. That would mean less e-waste in landfills (if you care about that), and a few more Benjamins in my wallet. What happened to replacing only the broken stuff? Now these days, a few years ago in the digital switch, people dropped off televisions that worked to an e-waste recycler with lines cars waiting to get rid of them with the excuse of the digital switch and replacing them with flat panel TVs.
Not that HDTVs are a bad thing, I may get one in the household in the future if we really need a new one and there would be a good choices since the technology has already matured enough that I can assure that it would last a long time with no problems. For now, I will just settle for something that still works.
The television is a good thing to have and useful to many for different reasons. The high definition tv has been around for a long time and some have not upgraded for several reasons. These are some of the reasons why I do not want one.
Not much of a difference
To me the only difference is more details in picture provided that you already have high definition programming. And that is a good thing, but I do not really notice the difference and I would guess that after a while I would not even care. Although I may notice a difference, would I go "Wow, that's a good picture!" every time I turn on a television set. No, although that would be funny though if I did, differences would major or minor on picture quality. By the way, I did not really see an HDTV that was using a high definition source other than those at a retail store since most of the time I see one HDTV, I look on the menu when flipping channels that shows the resolution and source or the back of the TV that has everything connected by coaxial and/or composite cables not hdmi or component.
Programming
The programming in many cable and satellite companies is there, but they usually include standard definition and they charge for high definition versions of different channels which adds on to the monthly TV bill. And don't forget about those DVDs in which you would have to pay more for blu-ray just to get the full experience. The over the air antenna channels are just fine since they are digital already. The only HDTV that saw that was using HD programming outside of any store was using over the air which downscaled the 1080i resolution down to the 720 HDTV which looked good. For most people, standard definition on a high definition TV is just fine or negligible since it is less to worry about.
Standard definition
For anything that is not high definition, does not upscale very well no matter what, takes away from the experience by stretching pixels. Which makes the picture look different than one on a standard definition television set depending on how good the up scaling is.
Reliability
One thing that would sway me away from replacing a perfectly good TV is that it still works. CRTs tend to last a long time depending how well one is made. At the time when CRT was the only display technology available to everyone, it lasts when the standards were high and you could buy a TV from some brands like Magnovox, Sanyo (now owned Panasonic), Sony, and maybe RCA with it lasting more than ten years or longer and with little to no problems along the way. This should no longer be much of a problem any more since manufacturers have kept making improvements.
Good is good enough
Last, but not least, if our old televisions still works, then why replace it. This goes by the old saying of some sort and it would be more of a waste to replace a television that still works. That would mean less e-waste in landfills (if you care about that), and a few more Benjamins in my wallet. What happened to replacing only the broken stuff? Now these days, a few years ago in the digital switch, people dropped off televisions that worked to an e-waste recycler with lines cars waiting to get rid of them with the excuse of the digital switch and replacing them with flat panel TVs.
Not that HDTVs are a bad thing, I may get one in the household in the future if we really need a new one and there would be a good choices since the technology has already matured enough that I can assure that it would last a long time with no problems. For now, I will just settle for something that still works.
