Are regular tv owners screwed?

[Arrrhalomynn]

Nowadays the gamecube and the xbox support high definition images. Which means you don't take full advantage of the console's strenght if you play them on a regular tv, since they display images in a lower resolution. This kinda annoys me at the moment, but I can live with it.

But what about the next generation consoles? I'll be very surprised if they won't have better support for hdtv. I wouldn't even be surprised if the difference between a current generation console and a next generation console will not be really noticable unless you use an hdtv compatible television.

HDTV in Europe is practically non-existent and I doubt it's very common in the USA. The tv's are horribly expensive and in most cases huge. And I definately don't intend to buy a new 2000 euro tv to be able to play on a 300 euro console. So I guess I'll be stuck with a computer monitor for those.

I guess this all sounds a lot like an aimless rant, and I guess it is. But I'm afraid that I'll be screwed when the new consoles come out, and that consoles finally stop being the factor that limits what is possible.

[Izret101]

HD tv is over here but i don't think it is $2,000 unless you go al out for a massive one. You can get some smaller ones for 1k and less when they go on sale. But then you also have to be sure you get a good one. Some of them have very short warranties  and then break in a year or less.

[Tynstar]

I just got a HDTV that a 57 inch widescreen that was under $1700 dollars. There are lots of smaller HDTV's that are in the 1k range.

I have been playing my GameCube and X-Box on a 32" Zenith HDTV for little over a year and it sucks when I go play it on a S-Video hook up. There is a huge clarity difference.

But to answer your question yes regular TV owners are screwed.

[Lord Nepenthean]

And that's just for an HD-ready TV.  Then you still have to buy a receiver and pay to actually get an HD signal.  They are ridiculously expensive here, and most are very large and flat.  To me, spending $3000 on a TV that has a SHITTY resolution (often 1280x768) is a bigger waste of money than putting gold coins up a fat person's butt.  I think next-gen consoles will have better support for HDTV, but it's not like you won't be able to play them on regular TV's.  If I can't tell the difference, I'll buy a monitor or a projector and buy a few thousand copies of SMB/Duck Hunt to build a house.  Then the big, bad wolf will never blow my door in.

[Tynstar]

Well if the HD part is just used for games then you don't need to buy a reciever. The system converts the signal. But yeah the recievers for cable are still a bit expensive.

If you have an HD ready TV the some rabbit ears on top of the TV will get you your local HD channels.

[Izret101]

I think Comcast boxes have a built in reciever but you still have to pay extra for the stations.

[Zimbacca]

I've only used an HD-TV once or twice (if that) so its never really bothered me.  as long as it will work on my regular TV I'm fine.

[Sauza12]

You can actually get smaller HD ready TVs for even less than $500.  Of course having all of that on a 20" TV is kind of dumb...

[Lord Nepenthean]

And you can still by a 21 inch monitor that has twice (or greater) the resolution of a 60 inch HDTV, for probably a sixth of the cost.  Or, there are always projectors, which also get much better resolution than HDTV's, and are larger to boot.

[Izret101]

Projection TVs have other problems too.
If you are a smoker DO NOT get one because the smoke screws up the thing inside that recieves the signal and makes the picture. I think dust will do it too but smoke does it alot faster.

[Lord Nepenthean]

If I wanted to kill myself, I'd get a gun and shoot.  Inhaling poison doesn't sound like a good idea for my lungs, much less a projection TV.

I didn't know that about the TV's, though.  Is there any way to clean them to keep permanent damage from happening, or does it happen no matter what you do?

[Izret101]

I was just letting people who smoke or live with smokers know that.

Unless you have the knowledge of the TV you can't fix it yourself and it is something like 400 bucks to get the part fixed. I figure the only way to keep it from happening is to stop smoking, smoke ALOT less or leave it in a airtight room with its own airsupply with a airlock on the entrance.

The final method i assume would work the best... assuming you don't smoke in there.

[danvx6]

Anthony got the smoking info from me.  both of my parents smoke and it has broken our TV twice.  it did cost us around $400 to get it fixed and now that it broke again we are using the shittiest 27" TV ever. (there are 13" screens with better quality)  my parents vile habits have also caused our DVD player, playstation, and their computer to go completely nuts. not to mention the five pairs of lungs that live here.