HD Ready is it a rip off ?

[tellboy]

Just bought a HD Ready TV and now find that sceptics warn there's an industry rip-off afoot. Because there are actually several standards for HD video, they say, today's sets sold as HD Ready will very shortly be superseded by "true HD". One day, the gold standard for HD will be the 1080p format

What does this mean without too much geek-speak

[kempie]

I think 'industry rip-off' is a bit strong.

The current rate of change in technology means that the vast majority of 'technological' purchases we make will be superceded in a relatively short timescale. How soon before we think 1080p is outdated?

Where a rip-off may exist is in the marketing of HD Compatible TVs i.e TVs with HDMI capability but with lower than HD-ready resolution.

[Ethel]

Apparently it is very difficult to see a difference between HD ready and 'true HD'.

Even in optimum viewing conditions the 'experts' could only see a slight difference on screens above 42".

Sadly the market is moving so quickly in technology that nothing is top spec for very long.

Enjoy your tv and don't worry about it.

[dawnI]

Yes most HD tvs on the market don't have the maximum line resoloution HD creates so although your picture is improved it ain't by much. The full resoloution tvs wont really be widely available for six months. Also nearly all HD tvs are LCD or plasma which have a worse picture than conventional CRT. I'm waiting a good couple of years for the technlology to improve, before I spend all that cash.