Buy HDTV now or Later?!!!!

[FeatureIsNow]

ok. so this DVI thing is kind of hot issue right now.
If government is aware of current consumers out there WITHOUT DVI input, how they gonna handle the flames from the people?!!
there are probably millions of consumers out there without DVI input. Just wondering what the hell is gonna happen??
Is the government REALLY gonna say "OK PEOPLE...WE GONNA HAVE NEW 1080I STANDARD FROM NOW ON. SO ALL YA'LL PEOPLE OUT THERE NEED TO GET A NEW SET OF HDTV PLUS RECEIVER.!!!!"" SORRY FOR FOKLS WHO ALREADY HAVE HDTV AND RECEIVER.......TECHNOLOGY IS CHANGING EVERY YEAR AND WE NEED TO KEEP UP WITH THEM..."
What do u guyz think?!!!

[JoeInBH]

DVI is not a government standard. It is an industry standard. Also, no one would particularly care about DVI except for the intention to implement HDCP encyrption. HDCP was developed by Intel, and if you read the licencing agreements you see that HDCP is supported entirely by private contractual agreement. The government has nothing to do with it. If you work-around HDCP (making the long-shot assumption that it actually becomes a working standard) you will not go to jail (I read the Digital Millenium Act as really having no teeth as applied to fair-use end consumers) but you will incur liability to Intel. If you think that the government should step in to help you, that's fine - but I think very unlikely given the superficial information upon which most legislators would base their opinions. I don't think HDCP/DVI will ever present any substantial problems for current HDTV owners, but we should at least understand the potential threats so we can respond intelligently.

Joe

[FeatureIsNow]

So if the whole industries agrees to adapt this standard, then what's gonna happen? already several companies started to put DVI inputs to their new products as if its already standard.

[kandyman]

OK.. I am new to this DVD/HDCP so apologies if this has been covered before.

But for an average person who doesn't care too much about HBO/SHow time but
would like to enjoy HDTV programs over the air + DVD movies would this whole issue matter??

Right now there are some great sales going on with the SONY KP series and I am wondering whether I should hold up for something that would probably not affect me and dole out extra cash for the next years models??

Thanks for any input.

K_man

[JoeInBH]

As to what type of material will be encrypted in HDCP, the most specific statement I have seen is "high value content" (from a press release touting the agreement of industry leaders to sign on to DVI/HDCP). However you want to intrepret that, it's going to be 100% speculation. That said, I think there's a consensus that OTA programs are the least likely content to encypted for 2 reasons: it's not really high value content when you're giving it away for free to as many people as will watch due to an advertising-driven business plan, and the FCC's role in broadcasting (look after everyone since the air waves are a public good). As for DVD's, no DVD's made to date have been HDCP encrypted and everything's going to keep on working fine. The potential problem is with HD-DVD, a technology widely anticipated but not likely to become popular in the foreseeable future. There's a good chance (IF, and I stress IF, DVI/HDCP becomes a standard) that many (but not all) 1080i DVDs will be encrypted, allowing your future HD-DVD player to only output 480p resolution via your component cables. The 480p is certainly not set in stone. As I recall the current licensing agreement calls for a degraded quality, but doesn't specify one. But pretty much everyone assumes that will be 480p. That's what you're getting now, so you're not going to loose any capabilities - but there's a strong chance you won't be able to see all future films in full 1080i DVD. I might be flamed for this, but I don't even see much difference between 480p and 1080i for material shot on film (1080i video blows me away).

BTW K_Man, I have a Sony KP and am very happy with mine. Looking at what you spend and the picture quality and features you get, I think it's a great value.

Joe

[kevinw]

And were at least a year away before HD DVD players are on the market and 5 years before they are affordable and have media readily available. This year is the first year that DVD players have outsold VCR's.

Now on the market are HD VCR's. They only connect by DVI or similar now.

There are still a lot of IFs in the connectivty battle. As long as you receive your HD OTA it will never be problem.

[57U]

I don't believe that anyone has yet discussed the HDPVR, but the issues will likely be the same.

Interestingly, I saw an article recently about a "virtual PVR". This would be similar to video on demand, but you would "programme" the vitual PVR using an interactive programme guide and the Cable/Satellite company would use its servers to record for you and you can then recall the programme at will. This could be used for Standard and High definition programming. I suppose the the set-top box could then require a DVI connection to the TV, but most current HD boxes have component video connections.

[anthonyR]

Wait until the model plasma you’re interested has DVI HDCP. But if your rich buy one now without DVI/HDCP and help out the economy, and when that set soon becomes obsolete you can always but another one!

Tony

[JimP]

I was looking into purchasing a Mitsubishi WS-55511 with built in HDTV tuner w/IEEE. Should I be looking elsewhere for a set that has DVI?

[hch]

If A/V entertainment is something you really enjoy, buy the Digital TV now that you like, and can afford. In a few years, you will want the newer, better, cheaper TV's that will be available at that point no matter what you buy today. In the mean time, sit back and enjoy the 480p DVD and current HDTV broadcasts until this whole mess blows over.