December 8, 2005

HDTV Education for Consumers Has a Long Way to Go

There's no doubt that HDTV can be confusing. One of the things we try to do at TVSnob is offer a little guidance and understanding about TV technologies before you go spend your hard earned money.

Obviously there needs to be more HDTV education from the HDTV industry. According to TechLiberation.com:

The Scientific Atlanta survey found that, yes, some 49 percent of households were not taking advantage of their HD equipment. About a quarter found that their HD set itself provided better reception, without taking the additional steps necessary to view HD. Eighteen percent said they didn’t even know needed additional equipment, such as a set-top box or antenna.

Here's the amazing part:

A quarter admitted they thought they were watching HD video because, after all, the programs said at the beginning that they were broadcast in HDTV.

This all has to a failure by TV manufacturers of not educating the consumer. Sometimes I think it comes down to the industry thinking it get's more customers based on people buying because of "it's the newest and best" and not because of the customer understands what they're buying. The sad part is HDTV is so awesome, once you know what it is, it's really hard to not go buy one whether the TV makers say you should or not.

At TechLiberation.com [via TechDirt]