From technological novelty to mainstream format.

A couple of years back, I wrote a story in Video Systems about high-definition television to provide a broad perspective on everything from broadcast formats and available content to set-top receivers and HD-capable displays. The conclusion was that despite plenty of stumbles and false starts, HDTV was clearly making progress in early 2001.

More and more HDTV gear is finding its way into consumers' homes, especially now that an increasing amount of HDTV content is available for viewing.

Hardly a week goes by when there isn't some sort of news about HDTV programming or new HDTV channel offerings. Almost every major terrestrial TV network now offers HDTV programming, as do numerous cable and DBS service providers. Set-top receivers have undergone several evolutions, and in some cases are being replaced outright by integrated TVs capable of receiving and demodulating terrestrial and cable DTV signals.

You can shoot HDTV yourself with a high-end consumer MiniDV camcorder from JVC. You can also record HDTV programs to tape or hard drives for later viewing and even buy or rent “premium” HDTV movies in JVC's D-Theater format. Although they are still a few years off, we will eventually see HDTV programs delivered in a DVD format, possibly even on some sort of solid-state storage device, such as a RAM card.

The consumer electronics marketplace has also seized the term HDTV as a powerful marketing tool. The rapid growth of the flat-panel TV industry (plasma and LCD) is forever linked to the success of HDTV, a format that can deliver the pixel-rich, high-resolution pictures that these big-screen displays demand.

The same holds true for fixed-pixel front projectors, which started out with “basic” 640×480 resolution way back in the early 1990s, but have since matured to support display rates of 1024×768, 1280×1024, 1280×720, and now 1920×1080 pixels. NTSC video just won't cut it anymore with 400-plus picture lines of detail at best and a now-confining 4:3 aspect ratio.

Thanks to DVDs, the average consumer knows that “widescreen,” “progressive-scan,” and “Dolby 5.1” are all must-have enhancements to the TV-viewing experience — and all are key parts of the HDTV equation. The astounding success of the DVD format has been the driving force behind the growing sales of widescreen TVs. And now it's time for DVDs to hand the baton off to HDTV.

What better time to revisit the world of HDTV as we get ready to jump into 2004? We're just two years away from the original DTV broadcast transition date set by the FCC. (That date was Jan. 1, 2007, for all analog TV broadcasts to end, by the way.) There are so many HDTV players now that it is hard to tell them apart without a program guide.

The original leaders in HDTV program delivery were a handful of TV networks (CBS, ABC, and PBS) and a few cable/DBS channels (Showtime and HBO). Now NBC, UPN, and WB have joined the fray. UPN, which is owned by Viacom, parent company of CBS, is carrying two programs in 1080i HDTV this fall. NBC has managed to get most of its prime-time series into the 1080i format, including marquee shows like West Wing. And WB has expanded its prime-time offerings to seven weekly shows.

Even longtime holdout Fox finally bit the bullet and plans to offer 50% of its programming in HDTV by the fall of 2004, using the 720p/60 format. It's hard to swim against the tide!

In the cable/DBS world, HDNet now offers two channels of programming, including quite a few movies. The Movie Channel is also gearing up for HD service, while ESPN HD is halfway into its yearlong rollout of 720p sports coverage. Discovery HD has been providing some spectacular nature and travel programming for more than a year now.

One of the more unusual services is Voom from Cablevision's Rainbow DBS division. (Yep, it's a cable MSO providing DBS service!) Thirty-nine HDTV channels are planned after the Oct. 15 launch, but there's a catch — the system must eventually upgrade to MPEG-4 encoding (and upgraded set-top boxes) to achieve that 39-channel capacity, not to mention find 39 different HD program providers.

Cablevision's venture will compete with two new cable-only HD channels, InHD and InHD2. These channels combine satellite program distribution with cable end-user delivery on Time-Warner, Comcast, and Cox systems and are offering everything from movies to documentaries and sports coverage.

In my area, Comcast ran a successful promotion earlier this year to grab customers at Best Buy and sign them up for Comcast's HDTV package, which also includes basic digital cable and video-on-demand (VOD). (Unfortunately, none of its VOD programming is in HD — yet.) There are countless other specialty sports networks — NBA HD, Comcast SportsNet, and MSG TV — to cater to HD sports fanatics.

The point to be taken here is that HDTV content is no longer an issue, unlike in 2001. There's plenty of it and three ways to get it in your home, including the most important pipeline — cable TV. More and more terrestrial broadcasters are going on-air, although many stragglers have applied for at least two extensions of the original FCC deadline of May 1, 2002, for commercial broadcasters. Meantime, satellite folks are frantically looking for more transponder space to add HDTV programs.

Other developments are making HDTV viewing at home more mainstream. We've lived with VCRs for so long that “time-shifting” has become part of our lexicon, and PVRs made by TiVo and Replay have eliminated the need for tape altogether. Now, manufacturers are starting to bring time-shifting to HDTV, too.

Techno-savvy viewers have long had the option of installing a dedicated terrestrial DTV tuner card into a PC and recording shows to its hard drive for later viewing. Earlier this year, Zenith brought out the first standalone set-top tuner and PVR (HDR230) for recording and time-shifting terrestrial broadcasts only. Other manufacturers are following suit, including Motorola in the cable TV market (DCT 6208) and EchoStar in the DBS market (Dish 921 PVR).

You can record HDTV programs to tape, too, using JVC's D-VHS format. The original D-VHS decks cost a pretty penny, but prices have dropped considerably to less than $600 for basic machines that can also play back VHS tapes. The FireWire (IEEE-1394) interface found on these D-VCRs connects to at least one consumer set-top receiver, Samsung's SIRT-165.

For cable TV viewing, the Motorola box is the only way to time-shift digital cable. There aren't any D-VCRs capable of working with Motorola, Scientific Atlanta, Pioneer, or Pace Micro STBs as of this writing. The same holds true for DirecTV and Dish HDTV programs — hard disk recorders are the way to go in this marketplace.

Eventually, set-top boxes will be seen in fewer homes now that 14 consumer electronics manufacturers have reached agreements with CableLabs to produce digital cable-ready TVs. These point-of-deployment (POD) sets will have smart card slots and conditional access for pay-per-view and premium channels. More importantly, consumers will be able to take their digital cable-ready TV (or set-top box), move to a new system, and still have it work. Among the first sets to be shown are rear-projection models from Panasonic and Samsung.

You can still get HDTV off-air for the cost of a set-top receiver. Panasonic's TU-DST52, Samsung's SIRT-351, RCA's ATSC-11 and ATSC-21, and Zenith's HDV430 are all priced at less than $500. All models provide analog component, and some include DVI-HDCP (High Definition Copy Protection) outputs for the newest TV sets, along with optical and coaxial digital audio outputs. All that's needed is some sort of roof or attic antenna to pull in the signals.

As of mid-November, there were more than 1,000 commercial terrestrial DTV broadcasters on the air, according to the NAB. And, according to the Association of Public TV Stations, alongside them are nearly 200 public TV stations, not all of which carry HDTV programming.

Still, there are stations on in every major market, with more than 80% of the national TV audience having access to at least one local DTV broadcaster, and most of the major market stations are carrying HDTV programs in prime time. That includes filmed programs in prime time and live sports (Super Bowl, Stanley Cup, NBA Finals) and such special events as the Grammys and Oscars telecasts this past winter.

The key to all of this is having a display capable of showing HDTV programs. As more and more fixed-pixel front projectors and flat-panel TVs take over the market, prices are plummeting. You can pick up any number of 30in. to 46in. plasma or LCD TVs for less than $5,000, and numerous business projectors in that price range are compatible with one or more HDTV formats.

The direct-view TV market still has its supporters, and there are several sets offered in the 22in. to 34in. range with HDTV compatibility and widescreen aspect ratios. Many direct-view and rear-projection models are coming to market with integrated ATSC/NTSC tuners, anticipating the July 1, 2004, FCC deadline for sets 36in. and larger.

Rear-projection sets from RCA, Zenith, Panasonic, Sony, and Samsung using DLP and LCD technology have already achieved true HD resolution. These typically have 1280×720 imaging panels and chips and a price tag around $3,500 to $4,000. New models from Toshiba, JVC, and Mitsubishi incorporate liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) technology and are seeking to raise the resolution bar to 1920×1080 with progressive-scan conversion. But these carry much higher price tags.

In the flat-panel market, LCD TVs have broken the 50in. barrier and are closing in on 60in., and current models from 15in. to 42in. all offer 1280×768 native resolution. The larger LCD screens shown earlier this year (LG's 52in. and Samsung's 54in.) have 1920×1080 pixel matrices and amazing image detail, although both will come with steep price tags when introduced in 2004.

Even the lowest-resolution plasma TVs (852×480) now being sold at less than $3,000 by Gateway, V Inc., and others still look great with HDTV content, and they're perfect matches for widescreen movies on DVD. Under the consumer electronics designations, these plasma TVs only qualify as EDTV monitors, but typical consumers won't understand the distinction and certainly won't care each time they view a football game or concert in HD.

So where do we go from here? There is still a great deal of programming on TV in 4:3 SDTV, and that may not change for some time. What will probably change is the expanded use of HDTV commercials, given how many TV spots are presented in a widescreen letterbox format to begin with. In fact, many CBS O&O stations were equipped with HD servers a few years back in anticipation of locally produced HD commercials.

The rollout of POD-ready TVs will stir the pot even more, as the cable industry seeks to recover subscribers who have defected to Dish and DirecTV. Cable MSOs are in a better position to add more HD channels that are DBS providers, given the scarcity and cost of additional transponders.

Fox's decision to move to 720p HD content distribution is good news for all, given its extensive sports coverage of Major League Baseball, NFL football, and NASCAR. NBC has been a bit reticent to make major moves in HDTV live programming, but it's a sure bet it will offer HD coverage of next summer's Olympic Games in Athens, possibly in partnership with HDNet again.

There has also been talk of syndication companies and studios remastering old TV shows into HDTV formats for rebroadcast. This task is obviously easier with filmed originals. And the number of programs shot and edited in 1080p/24 continues to grow as TV producers move slowly away from film.

Two years ago, HDTV was largely a promise. Today, I can argue that it has simply become mainstream, and its effect will be enormous in the coming years. As predicted, the naysayers have slipped back into the shadows while manufacturers, content producers, service providers, and consumers have awakened and smelled the coffee.

Got HDTV?