Word: hdtv
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...many cases, however, that will amount to only a few hours of HDTV programming a day, and "high definition" will not be equally high. Some programs will be broadcast at 480 lines of resolution (compared with 330 or so on conventional televisions), others at a sharper 720 lines, and still others at the maximum of 1,080. NBC says it plans to start by offering 480-line quality for daytime programming and 1,080 for some prime-time shows and specials, such as the Olympics and the broadcast premiere of Titanic...
...sets deliver supersharp digital pictures, wide-format movie-style screens and magnificent stereo surround sound. And thanks to the content-neutral nature of digital signals--"Bits are bits," they like to say in TV circles these days--you could wind up seeing web pages and e-mail on your HDTV...
...should everybody rush out to buy one? Well...maybe not. HDTV's obvious advantages over conventional sets are offset by significant disadvantages. For openers, there's the price tag. Sony's smallish set, with a 34-in.-diagonal screen, lists for a largish $8,999. RCA's 55-in. projection-screen set goes for $6,999. Panasonic's 56-in. projection model might appear to be a bargain at $5,999, but it can pick up only nondigital broadcasts--unless you buy the optional $1,700 digital decoder. Prices will eventually drop, of course, but Bill Mannion, general manager...
...cable-TV customers--a full two-thirds of American households--may get a sinking feeling of another sort if they try to tune in. Cable companies are refusing, for now, to carry broadcasters' HDTV signals, saying information-rich HDTV channels overtax their systems and will force some existing cable channels off the dial. Viewers who want decent reception, therefore, will have to buy clunky, old-fashioned TV antennas if they plan to pull in digital broadcasts. Both sides hope to resolve the matter, but for the foreseeable future, "there will be a lot of finger pointing going on," says Torie...
...will it still display a crystalline digital picture? Hollywood must wonder after last week's word from ABC and CBS. Both networks will launch high-definition television programming in November, but despite the clear need for standards, they've settled on competing ones: CBS's 1080i, "the highest-quality HDTV digital format," vs. ABC's 720P, "the right solution for a converged future." With high-end sets that get both signals priced at $7,000, early HDTV could be playing to a paltry house...