“You don’t have a flat screen yet?”
“There’s no reason to buy one. I don’t have a digital TV subscription or even the “box” that you need for digital cable TV.”
“What are you waiting for?”
“My regular TV to stop working.”
“How long have you had it?”
“Less than two years.”
We have 6 (yes… six) tube TVs in our house. All are still working and show no signs of making their “transition” anytime soon. My hope is they don’t all decide to “leave us” in the same month.
Oddly, I am no couch potato. I rarely just watch TV. In the kitchen, I’m either cooking, washing dishes or eating a meal while trying to catch up on the latest political news. There’s a small black and white in front of the treadmill only to keep my mind off how much I despise being on the treadmill. My wife has one in her office which she uses much the same way I use the one in my office – as background noise. We have one in the bedroom, which is only good for falling asleep. The one in the living room is rarely used, unless we watch a movie or there’s a special televised event.
So unless I win the lottery, I don’t foresee switching my TVs to HD flat panels anytime soon.
In previous posts, I’ve mentioned my son’s 1080p, 10 foot, TV projection system, which looks incredible. Watching a movie or sports is very dramatic when you’re only 8 feet away. He brought the projector home for the holidays and we watched OSU beat Oregon with it. Dad’s 50 inch flat panel looked like a kitchen counter television by comparison.
The only way to improve the experience is to go from two dimensional to three dimensional TV.
But we’re many years away from that… right?
Wrong.
3D HD TV, without needing any additional eyewear, is in development by Mistubishi.
Although it will be quite some time before general broadcasting can be done this way, some 3D broadcasts that do require special eyewear, are just around the corner. ESPN and Discovery Channel, in cooperation with Sony and Imax, are launching channels in 3D. Unlike the 16 camera true 3D TV being developed by Mitsubishi, these events will be recorded and/or broadcast with the more widely used dual-lense cameras.
Knowing all of this, I will play the waiting game.
After all, could 3D HD TV Projection Systems be far off?
I think not.
Sincerely,
PS – Just a few thoughts about the game: My dad, my son, my brother, my cousin and everyone else I spoke with said we would to lose to Oregon. I completely disagreed. Once the Purdue “wake-up” call came, I watched Terrell Pryor (QB) make steady progress each week for the rest of the season. That “deer-in-the-headlights” look was gone from his face by game day at the Rose Bowl. I watched a young man who had finally come into his own. I believe he will be a force to be reckoned with next year.
This year, OSU ended up at #5 in the rankings. We could very well end up in the championship game next year – with a win.
Rants and Observations by Michael Kontras 