I had it all planned out. I was going to be the digital television holdout. I already reserved a coupon for a digital-to-analog converter box so I could keep using my TV to get over-the-air broadcasts well past the February 2009 cutoff for analog signals.
I like being non-conformist in some ways. I don’t have a cell phone. We only have one TV in the house (well, technically two, if you count the 1979 12″ black and white TV in the kitchen). I was all set to add “old analog TV” to my list of eccentricities. After all, I don’t need a big screen, and what good is all that extra resolution if you’re going to have a small TV set anyway?
But it wasn’t to be. The TV died. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say it was failing. It was getting darker and darker. My daughter watched “The Chronicles of Narnia” on DVD the other night… or I should say she listened to it mostly. Even thought the brightness was turned all the way up, any scene that was at all dark in the film was completely black on the TV — just like if the TV were turned off.
So I did it. I bought a new TV. A new LCD TV. A new LCD HDTV. And, let me tell you, I’ve been mesmerized by HD programming ever since. The clarity, the detail, and — since it’s a 37″ television — the enormity. I realize there are larger sets out there, but in our family room, and coming on the heels of our 20″ analog set, this thing is huge. (For the techno-geeks out there, it’s an LG 37″ 720p LCD with an NTSC, ATSC, and QAM tuner.)
I watched the Late Show with David Letterman last night. Dave has a lot of wrinkles on his face I never saw before. And you could distinctly see every hair in Jessica Alba’s eyebrows. I’m not sure why I need to see this fine of detail, but it is nevertheless fascinating. The NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams is in HD, too. And PBS — let’s just say I have new-found interest in not wanting WTVP to go dark now.
Perhaps the worst thing is that I work in TV — a big part of my job at Grace is editing video of the morning worship service each week, and editing our big Christmas production each year. It used to be that the picture I saw at work, which is broadcast-quality NTSC on professional TV monitors, was far superior to what I saw on my consumer television at home. Now it’s a different story. I look forward to the day that we shoot Grace Family Christmas in high-definition.
I have the TV just in time for the Superbowl, but we already have plans to watch the game at a friend’s house. But that’s okay. He has a 46″ HDTV.
