As you know, I watch a fair amount of TV, and a lot of movies at home. As a consequence of this, I am more than a little interested in the option of upgrading to High Definition. Until now, I have held off, out of the belief that the technology really wasn't ready. However, with the Blu-ray/HD-DVD format war over, with second and third generation players becoming available, and with Sky now offering a significant number of channels, we're just about getting to the point where HD represents a worthwhile step.
Recently, I had to visit my bank to inform them of my change of address, a visit that required a trip on the Subway. En route to the Subway, though, I realised I'd neglected to bring a book for the trip. And, not wanting to start yet another novel at the time, I decided instead to purchase a copy of Home Cinema Choice, and thus to catch up on the state of the art.
However, there is a problem with upgrading to HD:
In order to move to HD, I would need to upgrade my TV (obviously). I would also need to add a Blu-ray player (probably the Playstation 3, although apparently the sound output isn't great). However, I would also need to upgrade my DVD player to a multiregion upscaling model (for all those region 1 DVDs). And, as my A/V receiver doesn't do HDMI, that would need upgraded too. And, most likely, so too would my speakers need replaced.
But I didn't buy all this kit at once. Shortly after I first started working, I bought what was then a large-screen TV. Shortly thereafter, I invested in a DVD player (back before everyone had them). A PS2 was added on release say, and then several years later I completed the setup with an AV receiver and surround sound speakers. Each step along this path represented a significant step forward in terms of viewing experience.
With HD, a piecemeal upgrade like this wouldn't represent a step forward. Pairing an HD source with a standard definition TV is pointless. And pairing a standard definition source with a high definition TV may even represent a downward step, rather than an improvement.
The only upgrade that it would really make sense to make on its own is to get a Playstation 3... and that doesn't make too much sense since I don't actually play electronic games enough to justify the expense.
And so, it would be a matter of upgrading the whole thing in one fell swoop, or at least over the course of a handful of weeks. At a cost of some thousands of pounds. Essentially, it's of the same order of magnitude as buying a new car.
And therein lies the problem with HD. It's not so much the inherent cost of the items themselves, which would have to be divided across the decade of service I would expect to get from them, but rather that the money would have to be spent all at once.
Anyway, it's all academic for the moment. I'm fully expecting to have to buy a new car in June, which means I don't have the funds to spare. And anyway, with the economy as uncertain as it currently is, it simply wouldn't be wise to spend all that money on something so fundamentally unnecessary.
Still, it makes a nice topic to talk about, other than my endless complaints about not getting Sky, or the latest in my epic series on food...
6 comments:
I got really excited when I read the post title because I thought: "HD = haemodiaylsis!" I am not so clever at technical things like the HD you mean though :(
I love my PS3. It's great.
It's really the multi-region DVD upscaling that's your problem. If it wasn't for that, it wouldn't really be terribly difficult and the order would be pretty clear.
Haemodialysis is an interesting subject too.
Actually, I think the upscaling DVD player is the least controversial aspect, since it would work fine with everything I currently have.
All it would take is a willingness to replace a perfectly-working DVD player (that I spent a lot of money on 10 years ago). Virtually all current players do upscaling, so really it's just a search for a multi-region one, and those aren't very uncommon.
So, what do you think the order should be?
PS3 - it will work fine with everything you've got just now. The AV receiver takes an optical fibre input doesn't it? As you say, it's a bit of an expense given how rarely you play the games, but it's all for the blu-ray.
You wouldn't be getting much added value, but you could start your blu-ray collection. And it's the part where you're unlikely to later on get a better product for less money.
Then telly. Woo! Along with Sky HD.
I would have thought the fancy new DVD player would do optical fibre sound output, and the PS3 does; so I think you're good without upgrading that.
So that then leaves your DVD player. And you're done.
Or you could look at seeing if there's anything that would allow you to do multi-region on the PS3. There won't be anything as an official product, but you can install other operating systems onto it. Someone will have done it somehow. That would remove your need for the multi-region DVD player entirely. One less bit of kit. And one less remote control.
I don't really understand any of this. Our telly is about 10 years old and stands on an upside-down purple box. We have lost the remote and we can't get channel 5. But fortunately there hasn't been anything good on it for ages. Think we're waiting for HD telly to be compulsory before we invest.
Being reduced to only the four channels I can receive through my aerial has shown up just how rubbish those channels are these days. Especially if you don't like soaps or reality TV. It really is quite shocking.
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