TechDigest have picked up that European High Definition TV celebrates its birthday this week. 25 years ago the first HDTV demonstrations were given to the European Broadcasting Union in Killarney, Ireland.
This news has really hit home for me how long it is taking for HDTV to be widely adopted. In the UK many consumers still don’t really understand what HDTV iss all about. Even some of my friends who have splashed out on HD sets don’t really understand the technology, they just heard that it is ‘better’.
They frankly haven’t been helped by the TV companies who still have a pitiful HD offering in the UK. If I didn’t have my modded Xboxs/HTPC or my Xbox 360 I wouldn’t have bothered buying a HDTV as there’s nothing to watch in the UK. Sky have a really poor HD service which requires a new HD box to be purchased, and Virgin Media’s service is virtually non-existant with only a few programs available on-demand.
Now with customers having to deal with understanding competing HD formats, on top of having to decide whether to get a 720p,1080i or 1080p set, things are probably going to get even worse.
Are you still using a standard TV? Why haven’t you upgraded yet?
