According to a recent study, most TV viewers can’t really tell when they’re watching hi-def video and when they aren’t. It further goes on to conclude that so long as they’re expecting HD, they think they’re watching HD.
The study took two groups of 30 people and showed them the same video clips on the same CRT television. One group knew it was standard definition TV, the other was told it was HD and that notion was backed up by the room being decorated with posters advertising HD TV, high quality cables coming out the back of the TV, and flyers detailing the benefits of the high definition signal they were about to experience.
In the end, it was the imagination of the viewers that filled in the missing pixels, leaving researchers to conclude that most people have no idea what the difference is between standard and high definition television.
To further support the lackluster differences, are the sales figures for Blu-ray which seem to be flat as viewers concluded that their standard definition DVDs appear to be “good enough” for enjoying their favorite movies and TV shows. So what’s fueling the HDTV land grab? Uncle Sam, no doubt, as the US government was wanting to transition to digital television in order to free up analog frequencies to sell to wireless communication companies.
More on the study can be found in the September issue of New Scientist Magazine.
Hat Tip – Gizmodo
Comments are closed.