by Jim Bray
High definition TV is all the buzz in the consumer electronics world, and justifiably so.
HDTV offers a spectacular widescreen picture that can make DVD's pale in comparison, as well as the same type of digital surround sound that, as with DVD's, can bring the movie theatre's audio experience into your home.
alas, while you literally trip over HDTV-compatible television sets when visiting your local electronics store these days, the amount of programming doesn't match the amount of devices that can display it. This is changing, but it will take several more years until HDTV programming becomes the norm.
Does that mean you should wait? Not necessarily. If you need a new TV anyway, you can make the jump into HDTV right now and enjoy whatever HD there is.
The amount of HD programming available also depends on your programming source. Cable operators and the Canadian satellite providers offer varying amounts; some dedicate a few channels to HD, mixing and matching programming from a variety of sources depending on the whims of the program provider and the availability of programming. This is a lot better than nothing, especially since most of the dedicated HD channels aren't broadcasting HD 24 hours a day anyway.
On the other hand is satellite operator Bell ExpressVu, which has gone the other route by adding an entire HD section that transmits dedicated HD channels regardless of whether they happen to be showing something in HD at any particular time. This gives the user the freedom to choose his own programming rather than relying on the tastes of the providers. It also means you have a lot of non HD programming running on the HD channels, but at least you're getting the "unadulterated feed."
But before you can watch HD broadcasts you need the TV and some kind of HD tuner.
Finding an HD-compliant TV is easy: look in any store. Choosing your tuner is more difficult.
Fortunately, Star Choice and Bell ExpressVu both have new generations of HD satellite receivers that are about as state as the art as you could need right now. Many cable operators also offer HD receivers, but since cable operators and equipment vary across the country, I'll deal with the coast-to-coast satellite services in this piece.
Star Choice's offering is the $549, fully featured Motorola DSR500 HD receiver which for the most part is a good unit. Bell ExpressVu's newest unit is the Model 6100/6120, which is also a good performer.
The Star Choice receiver offers many features, from digital audio outputs, component TV outputs (for HD), and even a front panel connector that lets you input various external sources such as a video camera. The system also features both infrared and radio frequency remote (RF), the latter of which will operate from virtually anywhere in the house.
Star Choice, and its receiver, offers an new user interface that is bold and colorful. It even offers a guide that allows you to keep an eye on your original program while you're surfing for others. If you've been using the older Star Choice interface for a number of years it might take a bit of time getting up to speed, but once you're used to it the new "look" works better and is easier to read.
The DSR500 features a digital readout (though its clock only reads out in 24 hour format!), a good selection of control/function buttons on the front panel, and rear panel interface ports that include S-video, Ethernet, USB, and - for audio - optical and digital outputs. It also sports a DVI digital output. The DSR500 can up and down convert to/from 480i, 480p and 1080i while "native mode" passes the signal through and lets the TV choose its format.
Bell ExpressVu's model 6120 accepts and displays both 720p and 1080i signals, is available for $370 for a two year term (add about $100 for a one year term) and adds a lot of new functionality over the old model 6000.
The 6120 offers enhanced security via its removable smart card (though when I received my test unit it didn't have ≠ or need ≠ a smart card), an electronic program guide that also lets you watch TV while you're surfing and is compatible with interactive TV services. It's also DVI-equipped.
The 6120's HD and traditional ("SD" - standard definition) outputs are live all the time and the signals can be up and down converted to show HD and/or SD channels on the opposite type of TV. This is a nice touch for people who may want to run the signal to more than one TV, one of which isn't HD-ready. The 6120 also comes with a UHF remote control.
as with the Star Choice receiver, this remote is also really handy if you're feeding the signal from a single receiver throughout the house. In my home, for example, I have an SD receiver in our laundry room, where the cable from the dish comes into the house. This feeds TV's in different rooms and, thanks to the UHF remote, I can control the receiver from any of them (having extra UHF remotes makes this even better). The downside to this is that all the TV's hooked into that receiver have to watch the same program.
In use, both the Star Choice and the Bell ExpressVu receivers can sometimes make an HD broadcast appear like one of those oriental Godzilla or martial arts movies where the action and the soundtrack are out of whack. Star Choice told my partner that the problem originates with the CanCom broadcast centre in Ontario; apparently, the audio tracks aren't synchronized automatically for some HD broadcasts (such as ones that use Dolby Digital sound). I would think some kind of fix is in the works, and since I haven't noticed this problem nearly as much lately, it may have already been done.
The high definition picture quality is very good, a quantum leap from standard definition. Remembering that "GIGa" (garbage in, garbage out) affects HD as well as anything else, with a good HD signal the colours are rich and the picture detail is incredible. It almost makes sitcoms worth watching!
There's a depth to the HD picture that's remarkable; it's so good it makes you notice the limitations of DVD's and their lower, 480 pixel (as opposed to HD's 720 or 1080 pixels), resolution from the top to the bottom of the TV screen. and the widescreen aspect ratio is terrific, especially on sports events (where you can see more of the playing surface in longer shots) and for movies. I watched Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in HD and it was nothing short of spectacular.
all isn't sweetness and light, however. Besides the lack of audio synchronization at times, I also noticed some "digital breakup" in the background of fast-moving scenes such as Olympic diving (this was on both Star Choice and ExpressVu receivers). The divers would look great, but the scene behind them as they plummeted became digitized.
I had other audio problems with the Bell ExpressVu unit, too. Periodically, usually when the timing of it was the most annoying, the audio would fade out completely to silence and the only way to get it back was to change channels or bring up the programming guide and then return to the original channel. It was quite annoying. and a few times the audio would disappear only to be replaced with a horrible noise, which was fixed with the same solution as the audio fade out.
The model 6120 needed to be rebooted a few times as well, which meant I had to unplug it and plug it in again.
Fortunately, these were the exceptions rather than the rule, and I expect software downloads should fix them.
The bottom line here is that both of these HD receivers do an excellent job and will serve you well.
What's more important is who offers the most HD programming, and as of this writing Bell ExpressVu beats the competition hands down.
Star Choice currently offers six HD channels, with US broadcasts originating from Detroit, Seattle, and Boston. Star Choice picks and chooses what HD programming is offered at any particular time, a little from one channel and a little from another, so your favorite shows may or may not be in HD. Most of the special event programming, such as major sports events, awards shows or the like, are broadcast in HD when available, however.
One real downside to this mix and match HD is that you can be watching an HD program happily, only to discover that all of a sudden the powers that be have deigned that a different show be broadcast and you'll find yourself kicked out of your HD heaven and forced into something else you may not have chosen.
This is one of the reasons why I prefer the way Bell ExpressVu does it.
Bell ExpressVu offers "full time" HD channels and they're up to about 18 of them now, not counting pay per view and occasional HD feeds such as special sports events. The downside of this approach is that there are plenty of times when you can surf through your HD channels and find little, if anything, that's actually being broadcast in HD. This isn't Bell ExpressVu's fault, of course, but is caused by the fact that there just isn't enough HD programming to go around yet.
Incidentally, what you get when a non-HD program is broadcast on the HD channel is the old fashioned, squarish picture in the middle of the screen, with black or grey bars to each side, kind of like letterboxing turned on its side. This is no big deal if you have an LCD or DLP television (except for the loss of the glorious HD picture), but if your TV is traditional CRT or plasma you need to stretch or zoom the picture to fill the whole screen or those bars will burn in permanently, damaging your TV.
anyway, Bell ExpressVu offers full time HD broadcasts of aBC, CBS, FOX, NBC and PBS from the US, from both Boston and Seattle, as well as WGN HD, and its Canadian offerings include CITY HD, Global and 2 CTV feeds, along with Rogers Sportsnet.
For an extra premium of two bucks per month you can also access TSN and Discovery Channel HD, but unfortunately their HD offerings are few and far between and probably not worth the premium at this time. apparently, you can avoid the premium by subscribing to the non-HD packages in which those channels are bundled.
Bell ExpressVu's regular HD channel lineup (not including TSN and Discovery) costs $10 per month.
CBC fires up an HD channel every few months, it seems, so they can force us to watch Brian Williams at some sports event I rarely want to watch. It also did a couple of HD specials in October, but their on-screen descriptions made them look like typical CBC stuff so I didn't bother with them.
Hey, as great as HD is, it won't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear!
Last year the CBC missed presenting the Grey Cup in HD, but managed to mount an HD feed of the heritage hockey game from Edmonton the following week. as a football fan who could care less about hockey, I was not amused.
So right now, if you're looking for the best HD bang for the buck, you can't beat Bell ExpressVu.
Star Choice says it's planning to add more HD channels, but as of this writing no confirmed date has been given as to when this will happen.
HD is definitely the future of television, whether transmitted via satellite, cable, or (eventually) the Internet, and I can't wait until it finally becomes ubiquitous.
Unfortunately, that won't happen overnight.