High Definition TVs: why we're mostly using them to watch standard broadcasts

Over half of the American public have bought High Definition TVs, but the expensive sets are mostly being used to watch standard broadcasts.

56% of Americans have TVs that support High Definition, but only 13% of TV watched in the US is actually in HD.

As Nielson put it: “Despite the billions of dollars that Americans have spent buying high definition TVs, more than 80 percent of television viewing is still a standard definition experience.”

The reasons for the lag seem to be that while people have sets capable of playing HD, they aren’t picking up HD broadcasts for various reasons. Most cable broadcasters do have HD output, but it tends to be restricted to people on the premium subscriptions and though people may buy new TV sets, they won’t always upgrade to the HD services. In other cases, getting the HD stream onto your TV requires tuning it and many people don’t seem to be bothered.

Okay, and call me a cynic here – but I’m still not won over by HD: lovely for nature documentaries, but just not necessary for most other content – news, soaps, current affairs or
It’s quite an unforgiving technology as the camera bears down on every crevice and blemish on human skin.

Maybe the output of TV will change to show more smooth glowy things with intricate details that I will love to see in high definition. Till then, I don’t need to see every pore of every X-Factor constestant.

[via TVbroadcast]