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Essays & Articles |
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June 6, 2006 by Gary North, Ph.D.
There are few modern inventions most expensive than "free" TV. Your time is not free. Besides, free TV is aimed at a low common denominator, culturally speaking. Advertisers are buying the 18-49 age group. They are not buying IQ points. If you prefer visual entertainment at home as your main means of recreation, then you should pay more for the equipment. Then limit the time spent in front of your home theater. Make this time special. Compared to the value of your time, the cost of the equipment is minimal. Before making any decision, do some homework on the latest deals and gadgets. Here is the strategy I use: Television Technology I have been looking at what is going on in television these days. It's really confusing. It's easy to spend a lot of money and not get what you're really after. So, here a few considerations. The #1 consideration is that a law goes into effect on July 1. All new TV sets that are 25" or larger must have a built-in high-definition tuner. Sets on display today are about to become superseded. Next month's models will offer more features. They may even be cheaper. If not cheaper, then at least the models on display this month are likely to be marked down, especially those that are "HD ready," meaning without a $200 HD tuner. Next, the death of today's analog TV is now set by law: February, 2009. All local TV stations will then broadcast signals only digitally. Digital broadcasting takes far less frequency spectrum than analog signals. Digital TV requires a box or built-in tuner that will decode the signals. Digital TV is universally available today. These images do not contain snow or create ghost images. But they are all or nothing. Either your set receives them clearly or not at all. Digital does not mean high definition. It is merely a way to broadcast TV signals through the air. Local TV stations broadcast analog signals (most viewers) and digital signals (advanced viewers). They may not broadcast high definition digital signals, especially during non-prime time. Most cable and satellite programming is not in high definition. Local over-the-air network TV is often HD, but not the broadcasts of these same programs on cable. You have to pay premium cable prices to get a handful of HDTV channels. So, to maximize your HDTV viewing, you must watch over-the-air network channels. Ironically, this means that the best reception requires a rooftop antenna. Remember the 1950s and 1960s, with those hideous rooftop antennas? They may not be coming back, but for HDTV buffs, that's the best way today. I use an indoor antenna, the Terk TV5. It works marginally better than rabbit ears, which are no better today than in 1949. I speak from experience. I remember 1949 rabbit ears. To find which local TV networks broadcast HDTV in your area, and where to aim one of those rotor-controlled outdoor antennas, click here: Then there is your DVD player. It's not high definition unless it's one of the new $1,000-plus units offered in rival formats, HD and Blue-Ray. We are about to see a replay of the VHS vs. Betamax war of the early 1980s. The winner will take all -- eventually. A standard DVD player produces what is known as ED (enhanced definition) broadcast quality. This is referred to as 480p, or 480 lines per inch, progressive scan. Because standard TVs are also 480 lines per inch of active video "information," this may not seem to be a major improvement, but it is. Clarity is dramatically improved, especially for larger screens. There are very few DVD movies that are formatted for true HDTV, which means 1080 lines per inch. Most HDTV sets are 1080i (interlaced), which isn't as good as 1080p. Most HDTVs offer 720p, which is better (less jerky) for high-motion broadcasts such as sports than 1080i. Top-quality sets offer two million pixels. This means 1,920 x 1080 pixels. Another factor to look at is the contrast ratio: higher is better. Anything over 1,000 is very good. When you view a set, watch especially for black. The blacker the blacks, the better. Sony sets are noted for their deep black images on the LCD screens. The CRT screens have no problem with black. Types of TV Sets Here, things get tricky. You have to trade off features and benefits. For clarity, the best sets are the old-fashioned tube sets, meaning cathode ray tubes or CRTs. They are by far the cheapest sets, too. Expect to pay $600 to $750 for a 32-inch screen (diagonally measured). There are two disadvantages: (1) they extend to the rear, and the larger the screen, the more they extend; (2) they are heavy. Some sets are 120 lbs. Others are 200 lbs. In short, they are monsters. Take your tape measure to the TV store. Pay extra money to have it delivered and installed. For convenience, the LCD sets are best. They are basically large, flat-panel computer screens. They weigh 20 lbs or less. They are not subject to permanent color distortion from unshielded speakers, which are magnetic. CRT sets are. Their colors do not fade after a few years, as plasma screens do. Expect to pay $1,500 to $3,000. For maximum viewing size, plasma screens and rear-projection screens are mandatory. Plasma screens are flat-panel. Hang them on a wall. They are large: 50" to 60" or larger. Defect: Their colors fade. They are expensive: $3,000 to $10,000. Pay for repair insurance. The rear-projection units are large. For their screen size, they are much cheaper per square inch than plasma units: $2,000 to $3,000. Their defect is that they are highly directional. You must sit right in front of them for maximum viewing pleasure. Then there is screen shape. For wide-screen DVDs and movies, the 9:16 ratio is best. It displays traditional TV broadcasts by inserting black borders, right and left. For traditional TV broadcasts, the 4:3 ratio is best. To display wide-screen movies, the 4x3 set inserts black borders, top and bottom. I recommend 9x16. I don't watch much TV. I do watch movies. Sound Adding an external stereo system to your TV is like going to EDTV: a quantum leap. Going to Dolby 7.1 (with subwoofer) is like going to HDTV. It's a noticeable improvement, but marginal compared to the first jump. Now, for the bad news. I mean really, truly, "it isn't fair" news. The key component is your ears. Age is the deciding factor in sound quality, especially for men. "How bad is it?" you ask. Really bad. Look at this pair of charts of what happens to you after age 25. I remember at age 14, half a century ago, paying close attention to speaker systems that would deliver 50 to 18,000 cycles per second (later re-named hertz). I wanted those high frequencies, which is where high fidelity (an ancient phrase) really shines. Today, it's money down the drain for me. This conforms to North's law of aging: "Whenever you can easily afford it, you can't use it any more." It is often said of a man's memory, "It's the second thing to go." Wrong. It's the third. You can spend $20,000 or more on a home theater system. This makes no sense to me. If you buy a 32" CRT unit for (say) $600 -- plus delivery! -- and a receiver-amplifier that offers Dolby 7.1 and THX sound for $375, and six speakers plus a low frequency subwoofer for a total of $700 to $1,200, you will have a very good system. I like Boston Acoustic speakers, but speakers are very personal. Besides, I am less and less able to tell the difference. For overall effect, you could spend half of what I recommend on the sound system and still have an impressive home theater. Your ears and the acoustics of the TV room will probably have a greater effect than doubling or halving my recommended expenditure on a sound system. Use the Pioneer VSX-1014TX as a starting point for the multi-channel amplifier system. The producers of these units are highly competitive. New models keep doing more. The main defect of the Pioneer is its lack of an easy alligator clip system for hooking up speaker wires. Messing around with wires is a pain. By the way, don't pay extra for fancy wiring. Good, old-fashioned, rubber-coated copper wire, sold at Lowe's by the foot, is fine. Use 16 gauge for small rooms, 14 for larger. For details, click here: Home Video to DVD Production If you want to transfer your home videos to DVD, and you know how to do this with your existing computer, you don't need a separate system. But if you are not ready to do this on your computer, you can buy a separate VHS/DVD recorder. Make sure it has a hard drive. You can also record shows and movies off the cable or satellite TV systems. One product that does this is the Panasonic DMR-EH75VS unit. It sells for around $450. Use this as an initial features guide for comparing comparable products. Conclusion "Mr. Tweedy" is a true middle-class cartoon character, a comfortable loser. I remember a cartoon that showed his closet. It was stacked to the top with videotapes of "Bowling for Dollars." Budget your time well. It is your only non-renewable resource. There is no such thing as free time.
Dr. Gary North earned a Ph.D. in history and is one of America's keenest economic analysts and commentators. He supports the Austrian school of economics and is a previous assistant to libertarian congressman Dr. Ron Paul. Visit his website at http://garynorth.com. To subscribe to Gary North's Reality Check go to http://www.dailyreckoning.com/sub/GetReality.cfm If you enjoyed this essay and would like to read more of Gary's writing please visit his website at http://www.garynorth.com or http://www.freebooks.com
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Resource Center Main Page & Index |
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Modern
man is addicted to entertainment. It is costing him
a fortune. If he were to invest his time spent on
entertainment, and compound its output at 10% per
annum, it would be a fortune at age 65.
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