2008 HDTV Buyers Guide, Part 4

[Rodolfo]

The last in a four-part series of articles on buying an HDTV. The following topics are covered in this segment:

HDTV as a System, not Just a TV Set
Recording and Digital Connections
Analyze the Connectivity Issues
HD Integrated Tuners
Controls, Cables, Screen Shields, ISF, Stores, etc.

[url=http://www.hdtvmagazine.com/articles/2008/02/2008_hdtv_buyers_guide_part_4.php]Read the Full Article[/url]

[RichardBronosky]

HDTV is a very narrow minded product. I wish the market would spend their resources on making their product better rather than stripping consumers of any form of freedom or choice. When I had the time to fight Comcast I used to have a MythTV that put me in control of my experience. I used to be able to watch Nip/Tuck on my widescreen zoomed in so that it filled the screen. But, now that I have given in to Comcast and started using their DVR I have to watch shows that are recorded in widescreen, but broadcast in SD, with black borders on ALL FOUR SIDES!!!

I used to be able to record 1 hour of HDTV to a data DVD and take it to my mother's house to watch it with her. Now, I can only watch it on the DVR that recorded it.

I used to be able to SSH into my home network and solve problems when my wife encountered them.

I used to be able to watch my recordings when the cable was out, or when the power was out and we had to use a generator. Now, Comcast's DVR assumes that if the cable is out I must not be paying my bill. So, it holds my recordings as collateral and won't let me watch anything.

The way Comcast treats me makes me need to go download shows that I should be able to record and exercise fair-use on.

[HD Library]

Check your manufacturer's warranty about ISF, they might object the access and use of the TV's service menu by unauthorized service technicians and the warranty can be voided.

Will Calibration Void My Warranties?
http://www.isfforum.com/FAQs/view/ISF-V ... es/33.html

Calibration that is performed with care by a professionally trained technician will not damage your HDTV. In addition to producing accurate images, calibration will extend the life of your display, as it reduces phosphor wear for CRT and plasma displays and may also result in reduced power consumption.

Although we hear the "voided warranty" threat from time to time, experience shows it's either a "scare tactic" or a matter of unintentional misinformation.

In fact, in the US the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act prevents this sort of pre-emptive voiding of a warranty. Gary Hailey of the Washington D.C. law firm Venable Baetjer Howard & Civiletti has written about Magnuson-Moss in Response Magazine, and when contacted by the ISF Forum, Mr. Hailey directed us to two sections of Magnuson-Moss that would be relevant to this sort of action:

16 CFR 700.10 says "a warrantor cannot...avoid liability under a written warranty where a defect is unrelated to the use by a consumer of 'unauthorized' articles or service."

16 CFR 700.10 also says "This does not preclude a warrantor from expressly excluding liability for defects or damage caused by such 'unauthorized' articles or service; nor does it preclude the warrantor from denying liability where the warrantor can demonstrate that the defect or damage was so caused."

In both clauses above, the manufacturer, distributor, retailer or third-party warrantor is required to demonstrate a cause-and-effect relationship between a consumer action (in this case, the act of having an HDTV calibrated) and a subsequent component or system failure. Voiding your warranty without establishing that connection would be illegal under Magnuson-Moss.

Of course, Magnuson-Moss only applies in the US, but similar consumer protections are in place in many other countries around the world. You should check your local laws to determine whether similar consumer protections are provided where you reside.

In the unlikely event that a calibrator's actions causes damage to your television, the calibrator would be responsible. Reputable calibrators carry liability insurance and it is a good idea to ask about this before you hire a calibrator.

[Rodolfo]

Regarding my recommendation of "Check your manufacturer's warranty about ISF, they might object the access and use of the TV's service menu by unauthorized service technicians and the warranty can be voided."

There is nothing wrong with recommending to "check" and "might" when this issue has a history of actually being objected by manufactures since ISF started, and in my case I experienced that problem since the early 90s on my own sets.

By checking, if you are lucky, your manufacturer could approve such unauthorized service and you should record that approval in writing just in case you need it for later.

If the manufacturer disapproves the unauthorized service you can still decide timely what to do, before anything is done to the TV.

But by not checking or by ignoring the manufacturer's position about an ISF you already did, you would be on the hands of lawyers in hope that they would eventually vote on your favor. By that time is out of your control, because is out of the "checking" time, and we all know what litigations mean regarding risks, time, stress, money, etc.

The purpose of the statement is to make you aware that issues about the subject existed and you are better off knowing about it, rather than from an article, or people, recommending ISF blindly and not saying anything about, because they probably sell ISF.

Best Regards,

Rodolfo La Maestra

[akirby]

But, now that I have given in to Comcast and started using their DVR I have to watch shows that are recorded in widescreen, but broadcast in SD, with black borders on ALL FOUR SIDES!!!

Your problems are with Comcast and has nothing to do with HDTV. I have none of those issues with my DirecTV DVR.

[RichardBronosky]

The way Comcast treats me makes me need to go download shows that I should be able to record and exercise fair-use on.

Update: I dropped down to the $9/month cable plan so I can get the local news, and I download anything I want to watch. It's easier to use bittorrent that to do things the way "they want you to". I'm willing to pay for what I consume, but I'm not willing to jump through hoops and be treated as "guilty until proven... wait we don't care what you can prove."

[RichardBronosky]

Your problems are with Comcast and has nothing to do with HDTV. I have none of those issues with my DirecTV DVR.

My problem is with DRM and everyone who says, "you consume media our way." I had my MythTV doing everything exactly the way I wanted it to, but I can't do HD on it because the video card manufacturers won't allow Linux users to take advantage of GPU video decoding and the result is needing to burn a ridiculous amount of watts to do it in the CPU.

[akirby]

What I should have said is all of your problems except being able to record HDTV to dvd is a Comcast problem and has nothing to do with DRM or HDTV in general.

Not being able to archive HDTV to removable media is an issue for everyone, although only a few people are directly affected right now. Most simply record HDTV for timeshifting purposes, not archival or transport.

[RichardBronosky]

What is lacking is freedom and respect in general. There are lots of things that I can do with SD that I cannot feasibly do with HD/Digital SD sources. I'd like to be able to resample and stream to my Nokia N95 and other devices over WiFi. I'd like to see 4/6/8/etc. channels at once for a quick way to decide what to watch. I'd like to be able to add features to my experience that I as a Linux hacker* am able to code. I'd like to not be treated as a criminal for it. Unfortunately the best way to get content, that I can view how I see fit, is to download it via P2P. But then the commercials are stripped. IT SHOULDN'T BE THAT WAY! I want to honor the advertisers who paid the price of creation of that content. But, because of the current system creativity and ingenuity are sent to the underground.

* Computer Hackers are not criminals. They are people who swing code the way a lumberjack swings an axe. Some hackers commit crimes, but not all hacking is criminal.