hdtv questions

[Sach]

1. how much is the hdtv receiver/adapter/converter(whatever u wanna call it) that lets u receive hdtv?
2. this adapter only works w/'hdtv ready' sets, right?
3. are digital tv sets hdtv ready?
4. how much are the converters that convert hdtv to regular analog tv?

thanks

 

[Workin']

1. Depends on the manufacturer. Right now, $800 and up.
2. Yep.
3. Not necessarily. Read the fine print.
4. Every HDTV that I know of includes the stuff to do this. I haven't heard of any stand-alone devices to do this.

 

[Sach]

thanks for the answers.

for #4, the way i understand it, upon 2006 all signals will be in hdtv and if u have an analog set, u will need a converter to watch tv. am i right? if so, how much will this converter be?

 

[Workin']

Right now the HDTV manufacturers group is trying to get the date pushed back to 2010!!! Because so far fewer than 100,000 HDTV and HDTV-ready sets have been sold, or so I have heard. That's about 20% of the number they hoped to have out there by this time - hence the effort to push back the all-digital date. Not to mention the MPAA and others are trying to force a copy protection scheme into the existing standard - which would render many existing HDTV sets obsolete!

Anyway, supposedly those digital->analog HDTV converters are supposed to be under $200. But then again, by this time HDTV sets were supposed to cost only $500 more than a standard set. And we know that's not quite the case. It's more like a $1500 premium at the moment. No one makes or has even announced a converter like you are asking about, since there is at least a 5 year window before anyone will need one. So it's hard to predict what they will actually cost.....