A report from Frank Magid Associates states 53% of consumers are buying HDTVs for video games and DVD playback. Last year, 63% of consumers were buying HDTVs for high definition TV shows, the percentage has now dropped to 47%. Consumers are having trouble with HD subscription with their cable providers and feel that there just aren’t enough high definition TV shows out there, which is true. As a Comcast customer, I get about 10 channels in high definition, and a few of those are HBO and Starz, not standard programming. Consoles like the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 are high definition ready right out of the box.
At this point, consumers can choose between high definition and standard definition without losing much. I feel that in the next year, once HD DVD and/or Blu-Ray fully enter the market, it may force studios to slowly stop releasing DVDs altogether, forcing users to buy a HDTV. Of course, that all depends on how successful HD DVD and Blu-Ray are, but I really see the market pushing towards HD, mainly because if forces consumers to buy new products. We’re already starting to see this with video game consoles&mdash if you don’t have a HDTV, you’re really not getting the experience you could be getting out of your game. Only time will tell, we’ll keep you posted.
Forget HDTV, We Want HD Gaming [joystiq]
That is true, I’ve never really enjoyed televised programming all that much, but i’m thinking of buying an HDTV in the near future because of the PS3
HD looks beautiful
we just need more reasons to buy it
and HD gaming gave us another excuse to spend thousands on what would otherwise be college fund
What the h-e-double-hockey-sticks is with the spider?! Somebody squash it!
Not to go on an HD rant, but I’m still without-HD because of the headache involved to get a “true” HD signal from the provider to my screen – not because of the limited amount of shows.
Need: HDTV + HD receiver + HD satellite (if not on dig. cable) + all the incremental costs for each of those elements. I could stomach the cost if it was just the TV, but an extra $x/month for the receiver, and extra $y/month for the feed, etc…
I don’t think HD-DVD and Blu-ray are going to take off, for the same reasons SACD and DVD-Audio didn’t take off.
With a good upscaler, DVD looks awesome.