[opendtv] This is News? - Cuban: Consumers shortchanged on HDTV
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: OpenDTV Mail List <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2005 08:51:17 -0400
Cuban: Consumers shortchanged on HDTV
September 1, 2005 12:00am
Source: Denver Post, The (KRT)
Denver Post, The (KRT) via NewsEdge Corporation :
Aug. 29--BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF. -- Consumers are getting a raw deal
when it comes to viewing the best quality of high-definition
television possible, said Mark Cuban, co-founder and president of
Denver-based HD.Net.
Speaking to more than 200 members of the television-manufacturing
industry last week during an HDTV conference, Cuban said most HD
content is compressed or made smaller, underutilizing HDTV sets
capable of showing programming with extremely high resolution.
"It's all really depressed derivatives of what we really could see," he said.
Cuban was the keynote speaker for the conference sponsored by
DisplaySearch, an Austin, Texas, market-research and analysis firm
for the TV-display industry.
Cable and satellite companies are compressing HD video so they can
fit and send more programming over their networks. Picture quality is
being sacrificed and will continue to be sacrificed, Cuban said.
"It's your turn for your industry to stand up and say something, or
else you're going to be the redheaded stepchildren that keep on
getting kicked around," he said.
He urged manufacturers to speak up and demand that cable, satellite
and even movie companies allow for the picture quality the sets are
designed to show.
"Right now, everybody is looking at compression to squeeze more
channels in. No one is talking about using compression to come out
with a better picture," he said. "It means all that work you're
putting into picture quality is going to become worthless." Nearly 2
million HDTVs have been sold this year, up 28 percent from all of
2004, according to the NPD Group, a market-research firm.
Manufacturers need to have more control over how HD content is
displayed in retail showrooms. Cuban said 15 percent to 17 percent of
people who purchase HDTVs return them because they're not satisfied
with their viewing experience.
"That goes to presentation on the salesroom floor," he said.
"Showing decent standard definition and amazing high-def, you're
going to sell more and consumers are going to keep them."
<<Denver Post, The (KRT) -- 09/01/05>>
<< Copyright ©2005 The Denver Post >>
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