The HDTV Blog: Is It My choice, Or Is It

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November 03, 2007

Is It My choice, Or Is It

I wrote the piece (below) originally for High-Def.Org Magazine. It concerns the high-definition DVD format war High-Def.Org is a printed monthly magazine read by 20,000 professionals working in television and motion pictures. The article contains a highly personal view (certainly different from my partner Shane's) and one which I ask no one to follow...nor is it some official stand taking by HDTV Magazine. It would be misleading to say, however, that it was written without the hope of being an influence to putting to rest this dual format problem. How it falls is not too much of a concern for me (even if I push one way and it falls back to the other) but to end this "strike" a side must to be taken. I know some of you will think I am blindly biased for the side I did take and far too simplistic in my view while others will say that I finally see the light. The technology and arguments behind either format are challengingly good. But I have been in this predicting business for 25 years with a pretty good track record. I saw HDTV peeping up out of the ground in 1984 and said to everyone who would listen that it was good enough to sweep the world, and it is doing just that much as foreseen. I stood in opposition against every commercial and public telecasting business in the world when I started out. In this particular article I made a decision, perhaps, also not popular, but at least it is for one side all in the hopes of moving us past the barriers that have been erected by having two battle weary formats created to do essentially the same job. We know how to live with one format. Thirty five millimeter film has been a standard for more that one hundred years, and still comes with yearly improvements. We don't need the added burden two formats working in parallel provides. We need just one format and that is why I wrote the piece below. __Dale Cripps ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The motion picture industry and consumer electronic manufacturers have asked me to decide which high definition DVD format will be used in the future. What? Why me? Well, I am a consumer. I read in the newspapers that the consumer, of all people, is to decide on which high-definition format will be used in the future. The professionals who developed it could not make up their minds before they went to market. I keep asking why they would leave such an important decision up to moi? They didn't offer me (the consumer) any such decisions for HDTV. After everything was decided they offered some compatible transmission/reception formats, such as the 720p and 1080i, but the selection of either did not isolate me nor leave me a potential technical orphan as does a decision for either of the high definition DVD formats. It seems to me that this kind of decision should be left to the experts. I didn't decide to have 60 cycle power frequencies for my home either and I am not the worse for wear. So, why is my decision so eagerly sought for this high-definition DVD format controversy? Well, since they insist that it is my job as the consumer I best get on with it decisively. The good news is that to me it makes very little difference which format is selected. Either has its own cost of entry to me and each has an advantage here or there. And, they are both getting cheaper. When I (the consumer) make a decision the big commodity makers will produce it at a fraction of what either sells for now. So, I cannot find "cost" as a reason to choose one over the other. Nor can I find...