WMTW Channel 8 in Portland Maine - Maine's Total Weather? Are you sure?

WMTW in Portland, ME (Channel 8) has a tag line that it's "Maine's Total Weather".

That can't possibly be true if it's the ONLY station in its market that doesn't broadcast the weather in High Definition (or the entire local news broadcast for that matter).

Here are some screen shots of the 3 major affiliates in Portland. They are just random shots.  Open and look.

NBC WCSH 6

CBS WGME 13

 and finally poor little
ABC WMTW 8

Look at the quality (or lack thereof where appropriate) of each picture.  Channel 8 graphics look the same now as they did 10 years ago.

Now that's not to mention the overall broadcast quality of Channel 8.  When you add PBS to the the mix, Channel 8 is the only local broadcaster in the Portland market using 720p instead of 1080i.  That alone is not WMTW's fault.  Their affiliate parent, ABC, decided years ago when they had a choice, to go with 720p instead of 1080i for their HD broadcasting. (You may look elsewhere on this site or others for an explanation of the difference.)  And it took all local affiliates years to get up to speed with the right technology, studios, makeup, and field cameras needed to be able to broadcast the local new in High Definition

The problem?  WMTW never really caught up.  Their prime time programming from ABC is in 720p.  Some say it's the same quality as 1080i in that the average user can't tell the difference.  I beg to differ - strongly.  Just watch any broadcast or cable channel using 1080i including the other networks, plus cable networks like CNN, etc. and you WILL see the difference.  720p was okay (just okay) for HD TV's that were at most 32 inch screens.  But as TV's get bigger, the difference in quality becomes even more apparent.

As for WMTW, their local news broadcast appears to me to be in the right ratio (16:9 for HD, as opposed to 4:3 for SD) but the quality of the picture appears to be more like 480i or 480p.  These are the picture qualities used prior to HD.  So the picture might look correct (not stretched or oddly proportioned as can happen) but the quality is abysmal.  Many TV stations around the country try to fool the public by broadcasting in a 16:9 ratio, but use a 480i picture quality.  You will see this most prominently in "field" reporting.  The studio cuts to a location piece and suddenly the picture looks awful.  This happens because the field cameras they use are cheap, crappy cameras that can film in the 16:9 ratio, but can't film in high definition.  ANY MODERN SMARTPHONE HAS BETTER BROADCAST QUALITY THAN THE FIELD CAMERAS USED ON WMTW.

In my opinion WMTW should be ASHAMED of the quality of the content they are producing for the public. If you are watching WMTW on a High Def TV on the High Def channel, compare it to the standard definition channel.  Every cable operator has both.  And even if you're not using cable TV in preference of free HDTV over the air, compare channel 8.1 (their supposed HD channel) to channel 8.5 (the SD version), there is very little difference.  On the other hand, do the same with WCSH or WGME.  You will be blown away by the better picture in HD.

I don't watch WMTW for local news/weather any more because the picture quality is so bad.  It's bad in an era of television that has produced unbelievably crisp, clear, high definition TV.  What is WMTW going to do when Ultra HD and 4K HD televisions become norm.  Just like flat screen TV's became so prolific 10 years ago, within 5 years, Ultra HD and 4K will be the norm.  You can't even buy a TV that's not an HD flat screen anymore.  In 4K, watching WMTW will be like watching black and white, grainy, "news reel" footage from the moon walk in 1969  in comparison to every other channel in the Portland market.

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times:  Whoever has the best HD wins!

As the choices for watching television get broader each day, and in a world where the almighty advertising dollar still rules, can WMTW really afford NOT to keep up? 

I welcome your comments and opinions

Attn: Feedback needed! - What would you like to see in the black bars on your HDTV?

Doug Finck, the General Manager of WPXT (Channel 51) in Portland has asked that I pose a question to my readers.

"Do viewers want to see anything in the black side bars?"

WPXT has some new video equipment that gives them the ability to insert graphics into the black side bars (known as PILLARS) on the sides of a TV show when not in High Definition. These pillars exist because digital TV stations like WPXT broadcast a full widescreen (16:9 aspect ratio) picture even if the show being broadcast isn’t in HD or a 16:9 format. (i.e. if it’s only a 4:3 ratio on a 16:9 screen, you get pillars). Traditionally these pillars have been solid black and have served no purpose.

They now have the ability to fill those pillars with graphics. If you have seen an ESPN HD feed then you may have seen some of the things they do with the pillars. You may also notice on the evening network news when they receive footage from the field that is not in a 16:9 ratio, they fill the space with colors and textures.

And that gets to the heart of the question. Do viewers want to see anything in the pillars?

Should WPXT ignore their new-found technical capabilities and just leave the pillars black?

And if they do use "pillar fillers", should they be up all the time, or just during programs, or just during commercial breaks?

Doug and WPXT are interested in hearing from viewers, and the readers of this blog, about what they would like (and not like) in the pillars.

Please feel free to comment and be very honest. This is a great opportunity for us, the Maine TV watching community, to tell a local TV station how we really feel about something. It's a first, for me anyway, to see a local TV station ask the opinion of the viewership on issues like this. Doug Finck has been an avid supporter of this blog site so let's not let him down. Give him some feedback. I don't want to sway anyone's opinion so I will give my feedback to Doug separately.

Thanks,

The HD bait and switch

Have you noticed that some high definition television programs look better than others? I have. I always thought that the difference in HD quality was the result of the quality of the camera being used or the types of lenses and filtering used to produce special effects. For example, some TV shows want to look like they were produced in the 70's with that more grainy effect, or maybe they want black and white. Further, one show I can think of, "CSI: Miami", tends to have a yellowish glow through the whole show which produces a certain "look and feel" to the program. Some of these make an HD program look lesser in quality and some don't.

Well, come to find out the differences in HD quality are a result of the camera but not in the way I thought. For whatever reason, I assumed that all 16:9 aspect ratio television was high definition. It is not. Manufacturers like Sony make, and TV producers use, professional grade 16:9 standard definition cameras. I did not know that.

This explains why on Channel 5 out of Boston (WCVB), which is the first station in the region to go High Definition for its local news, has such a grainy looking picture when they show field produced pieces, whether live or on tape. It's quite jarring to see such a clear picture of the studio and then the anchor cuts to a journalist live at some "happening". The aspect ratio is correct, meaning nothing looks squished, or cut off, but the quality of the picture goes to hell. I never could quite figure it out until I read an article today on the "Broadcasting and Cable" web site.

There was an entire article there on all of the different cameras, definitions, and aspect ratios. The article talked about the different networks and what kinds of cameras they use and what they intend to use in the future. In an earlier post I wrote about ABC going to HD for its evening newscast, but the best they will be able to do for field pieces, even if they use 16:9, will be standard definition.

So don't be surprised when you are watching an HD program, or an HD network, and the picture isn't so hot. It's not you, and it's not your HDTV, it's the quality image being sent to you.

When is HDTV not really HDTV?

To be honest with you there is a lot of "high definition" programming out there that is not high definition. I'll give you a few examples:

On both TNT-HD and TBS-HD pretty much all programs are advertised (by that I mean in the on-screen program guide provided by your cable company if you have a cable box) as high definition. It show up in the description as a logo. The letters "HDTV" inside a little black box. The same is true if you check Internet-based TV guides like "Zap2It" or "TitanTV". They say that programs on these stations are in HD, but they are not.

So programming like reruns of "Friends" and "Sex and the City", or movies like "Deep Impact" are not broadcast in High Definition. These networks simply stretch the picture to fit the screen. The picture looks stretched, I mean, you can tell something is off, and the picture is no clearer or crisper than you would see it on a regular analog, standard definition TV. Obviously you can't broadcast programming in HD that was never produced in HD, but don't list it in programming guides as High Definition when it is not.

The TNT-HD web site addresses the issue by admitting they do broadcast non-HD programs and stretch the picture; and they also say they are "sorry for the inconvenience".

There are also plenty of other culprits out there in the land of HD networks. For example, FoodNetwork-HD, Science Channel-HD, Discovery-HD, and a bunch of others, broadcast programming that has been stretched, poked, prodded or god knows what else to make the picture fit the screen hoping nobody will notice that the HD Networks, for which you pay extra for to you cable company, are not giving you what you paid for. One of the worst offenders is the Science Channel HD. Usually, when you watch analog TV on a High Definition TV, there are black bars, called "pillars" on the left and right side of the screen. What the Science Channel HD does is make those pillars much smaller hoping you won't notice that the picture doesn't fit the screen. Essentially they simply re-record the program and zoom in on it when they do it so the outcome is a larger version of the original that "almost fits the screen". You can tell something is up because when there are graphics on the very bottom or top of the screen, they are cut off. If these programs have subtitles, or even credits, you can't read them in their entirety because they have slid off the screen somehow.

Listen, I know that we are in the midst of the big transition to digital, and High Definition, being a subset of digital, is also in its infancy. However, High Definition has been around for several years now. At least as far back as 2003, 2004 or even farther back, TV shows have been produced in High Definition. So if these so called "HD" networks can't find enough programming to fill the schedule, why launch an HD version of your network? I'll tell you why, for the money.

The sad part is that people are paying for high definition TV that they are not getting, and these cable HD networks are gambling on the fact that the public won't notice. Just because the picture fills up the screen on your new big screen TV doesn't mean it is in high definition.

Here are some interesting statistics I saw on the "Broadcast Engineering" and "Leichtman Research" web sites:

• More than 75 percent of HDTV owners believe they are watching HD programming, but Leichtman estimates that 20 percent actually are not. (So who's fault is it that people think they are watching High Definition when in fact they are not?)
• Forty percent of HDTV owners and more than 20 percent of all adults believe that their household currently has a High Definition DVD player, which is much larger than the total number of HD DVD players sold to date. (You can't watch a high definition DVD on a regular DVD player, well, you can watch it but it won't be in HD. You need a special player called either Blu-Ray or HD-DVD. This is the same fight that went on in the 80's when VHS went up against Beta. VHS won. And so did Blu-Ray. So if you don't have a Blu-Ray DVD player, or in rare cases an HD-DVD player, then you are not watching DVDs in high definition. However, if you have a X-Box or PlayStation, you can actually use those as high definition DVD players so don't go out and buy a new Blu-Ray DVD player if you have one of these gaming sets.)

So there you have it. HDTV is not always what it appears to be. Viewer may think they are watching HDTV when indeed they may not be. The honest truth is that if have watched HDTV you can recognize it in about a Milli-second when channel surfing. It is that good and that noticeable. I can only conclude that viewers who think they are watching HDTV think this simply because they are told it is HDTV. Don't be fooled and don't pay anybody money for high definition until you understand how it works and what you are getting for you money.

You can still, and always will be able to, get FREE HIGH DEFINITION programming if you have an HDTV tuner by purchasing an antenna. If you do this, like I did, you can view all of the major broadcast networks' programming (ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, FOX, CW, and MyN) in high definition for free. You won't receive cable-only high definition networks like the ones I mentioned earlier, but those networks are not providing enough HD programming to compensate you for what cable companies will charge you to get it.

Online Class - Digital Television - Part 6 - Mastering High Definition

High Definition TV will reach your TV in one of two way. You can receive it over the air from your local TV stations for free (see article on what HD programming is actually available on the big broadcast networks) or through your cable/satellite provider.

When I refer to cable here I am referring to cable or satellite (like Dish TV, for example).

There are many cable networks that now have a separate High Definition version of themselves. Examples of these are TBS, TNT, A&E, Food Network, etc.

Keep in mind that just because these channels are supposedly all high definition, the truth is most are not. Keep in mind that these channels are showing current programming but in many cases reruns as well. TBS for example, shows reruns of Seinfeld, King of Queens, and other sitcoms and dramas that were never produced in High Definition. So how could a station like TBS broadcast them to you now in HD if they weren't produced in HD. The answer is, they can't. So in order to fill up the whole HDTV screen (remember it is a 16:9 ratio), they stretch the 4:3 picture to fit. Because the stretching originates from the source broadcaster, you have no control over it. You can use your TV's controls to "unstretch" it but that never works very will and you are left with black bars on the side and a picture that now looks squashed instead of stetched. There's just no way to win.

On the contrary, there are lots of HD channels including TBS that run either original programming or reruns that were produced in high definition. For example, TBS airs "House of Payne", an original sitcom, produced in HD. TNT airs "Saving Grace" and "The Closer" where this is also true. And they air reruns of shows like "Law and Order" and "The Office" which were originally produced in HD. So if a show was originally produced in HD and is airing on an HD network, you are truly seeing HD programming.

Let's go back to you local TV station for a minute. My local NBC affiliate airs "Law and Order" in the afternoons (because NBC has absolutely no daytime programming other than "Day of our Lives" so there's lots of room for reruns and/or "judge" shows). My local station can't record and play back at a later time, HD programing (see earlier posts). So in this case I am watching a channel that is HD capable and I'm watching a show that was produced in HD, but my local station can't record that show and play it back in HD so I end up with a plain old digital program with black bars on the side. I hope that makes sense.

The next example of HD is what I call "Fake HD". There are HD Channels out there like Discovery HD, Food Network HD, Science Channel HD who commit even bigger sins. There are certain shows on these networks that are broadcast in a strange format. It is as if they re-recorded a 4:3 program in close up and the outcome is that it ALMOST fills up the screen. It was originally a 4:3, non-HD program. They cleaned it up or something to get the picture to be a bit crisper, then zoomed in on it so make the picture bigger. But if you look, there are still black bars on the sides of the screen. The are smaller and a lot less noticeable than the typical black bars, but they are there.

The last and in my opinion the worst kind of HD programming is what I call "Horizon HD". On some HD Television sets, you can stretch a 4:3 picture to 16:9 (stretching) but everything looks a little off, so there is another setting called "Horizon Stretch". It's hard to explain but the picture is stretched out in a strategic way, not quite stretched evenly, to give the illusion that people are objects aren't so stretched. That's the best way I can explain it. But as the camera moves, let's say it pans the room, the picture looks like there are two rolling pins underneath the screen giving a wavy or undulating appearance. It can make you sea sick. And with all those makeover shows on TLC and HGTV where they pan the room before and after, Horizon HD is NOT a good choice. I find I must change the channel when I come upon these shows.

The moral of this story: HDTV is not necessarily HD so be careful what you're willing to pay for.

Stay tuned for more.

Online Class - Digital Television - Part 5 - What are those Black Bars?

OK, here we go. For the purposes of this post, I am going to assume that people either have a High Definition TV or an old style Analog TV. The other types (SDTV and EDTV) are not as popular and those who have them can figure out where they fit into these scenarios.

High Definition Televisions are wider than regular TVs. That's why they call them Wide Screen. Not to get too complicated but Analog TVs use a 4:3 ratio (picture it 4 inches across and 3 inches high). HDTVs us a 16:9 ratio (16 inches across by 9 inches down). That's a big difference. An HDTV is almost twice as wide as it is high. To make things more confusing, movies in the theater are in a 1:2 ratio, twice as wide as they are high. So when a movie plays on TV, even in HD, they still have to cut off part of the picture.

I want to talk about the most common scenario so let's assume you have a High Definition TV, subscribe to cable or satellite, and pay extra for the high definition TV package offered by your provider. You are channel surfing. Some of the channels are High Definition channels (meaning they are HD capable) and some are regular or non-HD channels. In this scenario sometimes you will have control over how the picture fills your screen and sometimes you won't.

If a digital TV broadcast is simply that, digital, and not high definition, then by default it will be in 4:3 format. A digital 4:3 format displayed on a 16:9 screen leaves black bars on both sides of the picture. Those black bars originate from the source (meaning the broadcast TV station you are watching or the cable channel you are watching). You will not be able to stretch the picture yourself using your TV controls. If you have a cable or satellite box, there is typically an option to stretch the 4:3 picture to fill the screen. If this is your case then the box itself is stretching the picture. Things will look out of shape, people will look fat and squatty, but it will fill your screen.

If you are watching an analog 4:3 format (which is what you have been watching for years until digital and HD came along), you will also see black bars but those originate from your TV, not from the source broadcaster. So you could stretch the picture yourself using your TV controls. Again at the cable or satellite box, if you subscribe to one of those, should also have options to override this and stretch the picture.

There is one more scenario; black bars (pillars) on the sides as well as along the top and bottom. Sometimes, those who produce programming or even commercials, use the letterbox black frame for special effect purposes. In these cases there is nothing wrong with your TV, the broadcaster, or anything else. But sometimes you will be watching your 4:3 analog TV or your 16:9 digital TV and you see black bars on all 4 sides of the picture. This happens because a television program is produced in high definition and is only being broadcast in high definition. It is not simulcast in standard definition. In addition to that, the program is being broadcast from a TV station that is not showing it directly from the network feed, it is being recorded and played back at a later time. And because most TV stations can not (yet) record and playback HD programming (as we discussed) they can only broadcast this HD programming in non-HD format. That's why you'll get black bars on the top, bottom, and both sides of your picture. If you have a digital TV and can zoom in, you will be able to get rid of them, but the picture quality will suffer severely. The program, at this point, will most likely be in 480i or 480p which is not conducive to zooming; the picture will look grainy and blurry.

The moral of this story: Sometimes the picture doesn't look right; and just because the picture takes up the whole screen doesn't mean its High Definition.

Stay tuned for more.

WGME Channel 13 Portland - HD?

Portland's channel 13 - (CBS - WGME) has a very strange definition, to me anyway, of High Definition.

It started a few weeks back with some promos during commercial breaks. WGME touted their new and upcoming HD weather capabilities that would be something "Maine has never seen before".

Then, last evening I was watching something on my DVR that I recorded yesterday afternoon. The weather here was sketchy. Massive, violent thunderstorms, trees down, fires started by downed power lines, just all around chaos. So WGME broke into regularly scheduled programming for a weather updates.

For the first time I heard Charlie Lopresti use the word "HD" as in "HD Doppler". Hmm, HD huh? Well the picture was still in 4:3 aspect ratio (non wide-screen) and the quality of the picture didn't look any different that it usually does (not HD quality).

So what exactly is "HD" about what they are doing. High Definition television is a subset of Digital Television. You need to be in digital format before you can be in HD format. So if your picture is in HD, it is digital; but just because the picture is digital, doesn't mean it's HD.

High Definition means a full 16:9 aspect ration (wide-screen) picture, with full picture resolution at 720p or 108i. Additionally the sound should be in Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound.

I don't know what WGME has planned for the future, but what I saw being touted as HD by WGME was not even close.

It has been long assumed, and I agree, that the first broadcast television station in any particular TV market (in this case the greater Portland/Lewiston/Auburn market) would take the lead in ratings and revenue by the simple fact the people are craving HD programming. And the last piece of the HD puzzle is locally producing HD programming including the local news. So the first one to do it will get the biggest piece of the pie. In the case of WGME, using the term "HD" seems premature. For those of us with HD television sets, you can't fool us. We know what is and what ISN'T high definition.

Don't try and fool us please, it insults our intelligence.

The big lie called High Definition

First, a quick hello to the many people around Maine who have written to me directly over the past few weeks with questions. It is nice to know that people are reading and learning from what I have written, and that if I have not covered a specific topic in enough detail, they write to me to discuss things further.

I was going to start posting the questions and answers on this blog but it was a bit overwhelming.

Anyway, I subscribed to cable high def to see what was going on with that. I'll be canceling soon.

Here's the big lie. While I know all cable companies are different, the basic HD package on my cable system offers TBS, TNT, and then a bunch of what I call reality TV channels for $10.95 a month. I don't get USA, A&E, History Channel, and any other channel that is what I call "watchable" on a regular basis. Not only are these channels not in the basic package, they are not even in the "Ultra" package which is where they have HDNet and WealthTV. Two years ago I had the whole Ultra package and enjoyed HDNet, and HDNet Movies, but they charged yet another $15.95 or something like that.

So for the money I am paying for cable HD, I get 2 channels that are worth it. I don't really need the Outdoor Channel in HD and most of the other channels, like Discovery, HGTV, etc. don't really have true HD programming. It is mostly old technology that has been stretched to fit your screen. Some of the channels don't even bother doing that and if you look closely you will see that they don't even fit the 16:9 ratio, there are extra black pillars on the side that you don't notice unless you really look. It's just cheesy TV.

So I'm done. My cable company doesn't offer anything worth paying for and I'm going back to basic cable (channel 2-26). I would go totally cable free but they haven't even perfected HD broadcasting over the air yet so I need to rely on something.

When will this industry get its act together and give people what they want. High Definition TV consisting of the same damn channels we have on analog TV. It's not that difficult.

Suzanne Goucher urges consumers to buy a High Definition TV, Why?

I saw Suzanne Goucher, President and CEO of the Maine Association of Broadcasters, on WCSH 6 during the 6:00pm newscast on Sunday, February 17.

She said the while there are ways that consumers can buy just a digital TV or get a converter box and keep their analog TV, the best choice really is to go out an buy an HDTV because the prices were so reasonable now, and the resolution was so good on a High Def TV, you can "see the little hairs on Tom Brady's adorable little chin".

You're kidding me, right? This is what the president of the Maine Association of Broadcasters uses as a reasonable argument for purchasing a high definition television. High Definition is a subset of digital television. HDTV is in a wide-screen (16:9 ratio as opposed to 4:3) format, and has much better sound quality.

The reality is that yes, HDTVs are cheaper than they were. But the investment to the consumer is still several hundred dollars. The "affordable" HDTVs that you can get at Wal-Mart are inferior in quality; for example at my local Wal-Mart I could not find ONE HDTV that could handle resolutions higher than 720p. Most broadcast networks are providing programming in 1080i.

Further, with the possible exception of PBS in Maine, not one local broadcaster can record HDTV programs from their respective networks and play them back in HDTV.

Let me state it more clearly. A network like ABC sends a feed of a high definition broadcast, live, up to a satellite, at which time, the local station (in our case WMTW) can send that same feed out to the public. They can't record it and play it back later, if they don't send it out in HD format them, they never will. That doesn't even mean that they have to, they have the option to.

Also, not one Maine television station has the ability to broadcast its own local news in High Definition. Now keep in mind that the "rule" is that as of 2/17/09, the FCC has mandated that all broadcast television must be in Digital format. Digital format is a clearer, crisper format than the old analog style TV but just because something is in Digital does not mean it is in High Definition. The rule does not apply to cable channels (or satellite channels if you have something like Dish network or Direct TV). Only broadcast television. That means ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, MyNetowk, and the CW.

While I agree that if you are going to buy a new TV you should buy an HDTV. But don't buy one thinking that now, or even as of 2/17/09, every TV broadcast will be in high definition. The TV broadcasting industry is simply changing from analog to digital. You TV will either be OK, or not, depending on how you get your signal; either via cable, satellite, or over the air.

High Definition is the next logical thing you need to think about. However, other than the national morning new shows (Today Show, GMA), one soap opera, SOME prime time network shows between 8pm and 11pm, The Tonight Show, Letterman, and Conan, that's it. The broadcast network and all other programming coming from your local TV stations is NOT in high definition. So if you like watching reruns of Everybody Loves Raymond, you're out of luck. The local TV station will stretch the picture out, or you can do it yourself with your shiny new HDTV, but Raymond was never produced in HD and will never be in HD.

There are several cable stations that are supposedly in HD. Many of them have the same problem I describe above in that most of the shows aren't produced in HD so they obviously can't show them in HD; they can just stretch out the picture to fit the 16:9 ration of your HDTV. Some of these same channels do have real High Definition programming.

So there is a lot of misinformation out there. You need to be careful and ask some questions before you buy anything else you will be very disappointed.

In my humble opinion Suzanne Goucher should be spending her time convincing the local Maine television stations to invest in high definition equipment so they can broadcast their local programming in HD, to invest in equipment that will allow them to play back network television shows that were originally in HD, in HD at a later time, and all of the other things they need to do in order to be considered up to date with current technology. This seems like a better use of time than convincing consumers to spend money to see Tom Brady's scruff, only to find out they may never see it.

Ask the Forum about HDTV - Questions and Answers

Do you have questions about High Definition TV?

If you’ve looked through our site and can’t find your answer, or don’t feel like searching, simply send your question to mainehdtv@gmail.com. We’ll do our best to answer you question as quickly as possible. We’ll send you the answer directly if you provide your email address and post your answer on the blog to help others.

WMTW - Channel 8 loses its HD broadcast again.

I have yet to get a definitive answer on why or how this happens but across the Portland, Maine television market it happens frequently. By this I mean a program that is supposed to be in high definition is not, or it was in high definition and loses it at some point.

Tonight, 12/20/07, at about 9:20 or so, there was a commercial break during "Grey's Anatomy". When they came back from commercial break, which ended in a studio segment regarding what was coming up at 11:00 on the news, HD was no longer in force and WMTW's HD broadcast was in Standard Definition.

I tried to call the station, as I do whenever this happens to any of the Portland TV stations, but nobody answered. I tried several times but nobody answered. I ended up writing a quick email asking for someone to "flip the switch". Within seconds, it was fixed. I doubt it was my email, it was probably someone on site who figured out what was going on. But I just can't believe that I, as a regular everyday consumer, have to call my local television stations and ask them to fix their HD problems on a regular basis.

How do I get HDTV?

It is a simple question. But not such a simple answer. Many television viewers probably see a logo or an announcement that the program they are watching is available in High Definition. If you know nothing about high definition, you might do some research or most likely call your cable company. You might even call a satellite company like Direct TV or DISH Network. All of these entities claim to be the only source to tell you the truth.

Here’s the truth. Over the air broadcast TV (like ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, the CW, and MyNetwork) are by law required to broadcast television signals for FREE. Local affiliates are also required to broadcast in 100% digital format by 2/17/2009. Once your local TV station transfers to digital format, it can then continue to broadcast in regular definition or it can broadcast programming in High Definition.

To receive High Definition programming, you need a High Definition TV. Once you have that you can get all of the FREE programming broadcast by over the air TV stations with an antenna. You should be able to use any UHF/VHF antenna. They do have some new models marketed as HD Antenna which essentially do this. I have one of the new ones and it works great but your older one, if you still have one, may work fine. These antennas picks up the signals in HD and shows them on your HDTV just like in the old days when television was invented. That is all you need. The new antennas cost between 30 and 60 dollars depending on which one you buy (which is a whole different article).

Now, if you want national cable TV stations in high definition (for example, The Food Network, A&E, The History Channel, The Biography Channel, National Geographic, etc) then you need to get more equipment and higher monthly charges from your cable company or satellite company. Again, how to handle this is would take a whole new article.

So the bottom line is that with an HDTV and an Antenna, you can receive all of the free HDTV broadcast available in your area without additional charges. There are right now only a very small percentage of cable channels (even the HD ones) that are actually producing ALL of their programming in HD to be careful what you pay for. Here’s an example:

TBS is a national cable channel and is on most cable and satellite channel line-ups. Programs like Seinfeld and Friends are on every day of the week. Those programs were produced back in the 1990’s before HDTV was being used to film TV programs. They are not now and never will be in High Definition even though they are being shown on what is called a “High Definition” Channel. The picture may be slightly, and I mean slightly, clearer than the original one, or maybe not. It may be stretched out to fit the size of your HD screen (16:9 aspect ratio) or it may have the black bars on the side of you HD TV and it would be in standard old style 4:3 aspect ratio. 4:3 aspect ratio is the size of all televisions since they were invented. They are basically square boxes. I’m sure you’ve noticed that HDTV sets are wider than an old style TV. This is the 16:9 aspect ratio. It is ALMOST twice as wide as it is high. So those old TV programs can be stretched and prodded to fit but they will never look normal on an HDTV and will never have the picture or sound quality of a true HD program.

So that’s how you get HDTV. You can get it for free and receive whatever you local stations are broadcasting in HD. Or you can pay the cable or satellite company lots of money and get whatever programming the stations in their channel line-up have that are offering HD programming. But keep in mind that there are only a very, very small handful of channels that are broadcasting ALL of their programs in High Definition, in fact I believe right now there less than 10, and most of them you have probably never heard of yet.

So be careful what you pay for. And please read more on this blog to learn more about the whole HDTV picture (no pun intended). Please feel free to email me if you have questions to which you can not find the ansers and I’ll try my best to answer them.

Why do satellite and cable companies say they have 100 HD channels?

This, to me, is the big lie about High Definition TV. There are now, and have been for a while, some very specialized channels that are in HD all the time. There is a network called HDNET which is a good example of this and HDMovies (I believe owned by the same people). You get these channels when you subscribe to the upper end HD package from you cable or satellite provider. There are a few other channels specializing in HD like the National Geographic Channel, Discovery HD, and so forth but this number is very limited.

Other nationwide cable channels like A&E, TBS, the Food Network, etc, claim to be HD channels. However they are still airing lots and lots of programming that is not really in HD but rather reformatted in a stretched out version of the original. Let me state an example.

TBS claims that all it’s programming is in HD. However, all of the re-run, syndicated shows of the past like Seinfeld, Home Improvement, Friends, etc, etc. were never filmed in HD when they were created so they aren’t in HD now and never will be. They may fill up your entire screen if you have an HDTV (16:9 ratio) but the picture will never be in 1080i or 1080p quality. They will simply stretch the picture to fit your HD wide screen but it will still be just as grainy as it ever was when it was produced. Even if the original tapes or digital format still exist, can you imaging how much it would cost to go back and re-engineer 200 episodes for Seinfeld and then redistribute them to every local affiliate that bought the rights to air it?

My advice: WAIT. If you really want an HD TV, get one, but get a UHF/VHF Antenna and pick up as many local programs in HD as you can that way. That’s what I do. When HDTV really comes into its own, then spend the money paying the cable company to receive more programming. In my opinion, it’s not worth it now. I had it all and got rid of it all because all of this supposed HD programming available is, right now, a big Hoax.

I’m getting black bars on my HD TV. What DPI is non-HD?

Even broadcast networks (i.e. NBC, CBS, ABC) that have HD capabilities are not always sending out an HD signal.

Also, most local programming or re-broadcasted programming that originates from your local affiliate (like reruns of ”Friends”) is most likely not in HD either. When not broadcasting in HD (1080i or 720p depending on what network you are watching) stations operate in what is referred to as Standard Definition (SD) mode. That is only 480i. This results in black bars on the side of the picture. The official term for the black bars on the sides of an SD image, is “pillars.”

An SD broadcast (4:3) on a 16:9 display in the “normal” mode will have pillars on the left and right sides. Otherwise the user, or the broadcaster, has the option to “stretch” the picture from 4:3 to 16:9 on their HD TV resulting in fat, wide people. If you see black bars on the sides, top, and bottom of a picture, that means you may be watching an HD program in non-HD mode. So if you have an HD TV, you need to make sure you have set up your TV properly if you know that you have the availability to watch that station in HD. There are situation where, for example Fox Movie Channel, program is shown in letterbox format but the channel is not in HD. This will cause the pillars on the side and on the top and bottom.