Personal Tech

The Washington Post's Rob Pegoraro was online Monday, Jan. 22 at 2 p.m. ET to discuss recent reviews and answer your personal tech questions.

This week in his column, Rob takes on the topic of HD television in Counting Down To the Digital Deadline.

A transcript follows.

Past editions of Rob's e-letter are online here.

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Rob Pegoraro: Thanks for tuning in, everybody. Topic A for today is digital television (high-definition and otherwise), the subject of yesterday's Sunday Business section. But that doesn't mean we won't get to Topics B, C and D in time... so let's get started.

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Arlington, Va.: When my family upgrades to digital TV, would HDTV provide us with any benefits beyond that which going digital will provide? We live in Arlington, watch only broadcast TV (we have an antenna on the roof), and the largest of our 3 current CRT TVs is 27 inches. If we bought an HDTV, we probably would not get one any bigger than 32 or 37 inches.

Rob Pegoraro: At 37 inches, you probably would see the difference of HDTV. 32, maybe not... at that point, it depends on how close you are to the screen. This chart on CNet has some suggestions you might find helpful: Size up your screen

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Arlington, Va.: Rob, I'm thinking of purchasing a MacBook. Should I wait until the release of Leopard?

Rob Pegoraro: Probably not. I don't expect Leopard to cost more than any other Mac OS X update--$130--and that's not enough of a savings to justify postponing a computer purchase, not least when we don't even know when Leopard will ship.

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Richmond, Va.: If I want to watch TV in the future, do I need to get an HD set? I mean, are all the cable companies going to switch to HD-only, making my LCD and current Comcast box obsolete? It seems like a huge price jump to go from an LCD, the quality of which is fully sufficient for the limited TV watching I do. Also, if I'm a TiVo fan, is there (or will there be) an HD DVR out there?

Rob Pegoraro: Because HDTV is digital TV, any digital set can receive any level of HD input and convert it to its own resolution. For instance, if you have a 720p LCD screen, that TV will automatically convert a 1080i feed to its own 720p resolution; a 480i "standard-definition" TV will do the same "downconversion" for any HDTV input.

TiVo does sell a HD version, but its pricing suggests that the company has a death wish: $800, *plus* $18/month in perpetuity. The only wayt this Series 3 constitutes any sort of good deal is if you've already paid for a lifetime TiVo subscription; TiVo will let you transfer that to the new box.

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Bonifay, Fla.: Perhaps I should be thanking the FCC (or whoever) for removing the National channels from my Dish Network feed, so I can wean myself from Television entirely by February 2009. Rabbit ears don't work well here, and the local channels are not worth the price of a 50 foot antenna. (I really don't care about high school scores from 50 miles away.) It sounds like HD may be slightly less than $100 per month on Dish, and that the new equipment should cost less than 2 or 3 mortgage payments. Unless things change, it may be RIP television - can I send the sets to a landfill?

Rob Pegoraro: Actually, no--CRTs contain a few pounds of lead each. Hit your local county's Web site for info on what kind of disposal options it has for that.

As for your complaints about about the digital transition, I don't get it: You already have to pay for satellite TV now and will still have to do so in the future, so digital makes no difference that way. Further, Dish charges $55 a month for its cheapest HDTV package; if you just want a standard-definition feed, you can keep that and pay less for it. (At some point, Dish and every other TV provider will probably make HDTV the default option, but that day is many years off.)

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Arlington, Va.: Does an HDTV affect the viewing experience of a rented DVD? Or are all DVDs strictly low-def?

Rob Pegoraro: Technically, DVDs are "enhanced definition"; their native format is 480p, a step above analog TV. Almost all DVD players now pass that "progressive-scan" picture to the TV, and many now also "upconvert it"--that is, they electronically amplify the details in the picture so it looks like HDTV.

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SSID broadcast: Here's a question ... does one achieve any measurable benefit in security by disabling SSID broadcast on a wireless router/access point? I had always assumed so (why else would it even be an option), but a friend who was temporarily locked off the internet while in the neighborhood where the national security advisor lives happened to tell me that he could sniff out his wireless network (or at least a wireless network w/his name). (It was password/key protected and hopefully there wouldn't be any nat'l security secrets on his home network anyhow. But still.....). I'm assuming the nat'l security director knows more about computer security than I do, but I was just curious. Thanks

Rob Pegoraro: Yes, you can use network-sniffing programs to spot WiFi networks, even those that don't broadcast the network name. I've never bothered to hide my network's name... if somebody's looking to get free access, there are enough unprotected access points on my street.

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san francisco: Hi Rob, Could you alert someone at WashPost.com that if you try to launch a photo gallery in Firefox, after the first image, only the top half of the browser window is visible? How the heck am I supposed to know who those people are on the red carpet at the Golden Globes without the captions??? This is mission critical personal tech, to be sure.

on another topic, I finally ditched by nearly 7 yr old Dell laptop for a Macbook. Life is good. Was considering putting Ubuntu on the old Dell. Then I thought, "okay, I load the new OS, then what?" Just tinker around? If I'm not a hardcore geek hobbyist, is there any reason to be interested in test-driving Linux. Sort of a weird question, I know. More abstract than you're used to, perhaps.

Rob Pegoraro: Consider the folks here duly alerted... though the photo gallery I just clicked on works fine in Firefox. So I can tell you that the people on the red carpet are

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Pennsboro, WV: I live in a rural community which is to far away for a digital TV station to reach. Will my cable company convert the digital signal to analog so I can receive local TV stations.

Rob Pegoraro: Probably. It's also possible that you'll need a converter box after Feb. 2009, even if you don't use one now--that's entirely up to each cable operator.

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Woodland Hills, Calif.: Hi Rob, when I turn on my laptop the screen remains black, although it is on. I checked the Power Options" and even restored the system to an earlier date...nothing. What could be the problem? HELP!

Rob Pegoraro: Not to sound like Cap'n Obvious... but maybe the screen's dead. Laptop screens are backlit by fluorescent bulbs that can break; if that happens, the screen will look black (though if you view it from an angle, you'll barely be able to see what's on the screen).

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Southern Maryland: Rob, how long should a charge last on a laptop battery? I have a Dell Inspiron 5150 with a stock battery, and I'm lucky if I can get 90 minutes on a full charge. If I need a new battery, what should I look for in the specs for longevity?

Rob Pegoraro:"Stock battery"--that's the problem. A lot of PC laptops are sold with batteries that are the equivalent of the "starter" memory cards packaged with digital cameras--they're only good to give you a taste of what the machine can do. That's why you need to see what other batteries the manufacturer offers in its custom-build configurations; a lot of the time, they'll sell a higher-capacity battery that's no larger but a little heavier than the default starter battery.

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Washington, DC: One of the articles in the Post yesterday (by the sports writer who'd bought a set) mentioned that DVDs played on an HDTV make images of people appear wider than they would otherwise appear. Can you elaborate? Thanks.

Rob Pegoraro: I wish I could have talked to the writer about that--it sounds like his DVD player and his HDTV aren't talking properly. The DVD player should be able to send a widescreen picture that fits the HDTV's wide screen... but some HDTVs don't sense inputs properly. The story mentioned that this was a Philips set, and I know that the Philips plasma I tried out last year had an annoying habit of switching screen aspect ratios automatically, and sometimes incorrectly. The fix probably involves changing the TV's settings.

(Howard: E-mail or call when I get out of this chat and I'll try to help you figure this out.)

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Adelphi, Md.: Hey Rob, Great series the Post had this weekend on HD technology and programming. I don't have an HD set yet, and here's what I've been wondering: I have just basic cable with Comcast - is there HD programming available on basic cable, or do you have to subscribe to the digital cable package that I constantly get flyers for?

Rob Pegoraro: My understanding is no--you need digital. (But I could be wrong. Figuring out all of Comcast's different programming tiers and requirements makes my head hurt.)

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Alexandria, Va.: For the last few months there has been alot of discussion on this chat about people watching tv with over the air signals and rabbit ears. Exactly how many people are doing this and why? In this day and age of cable tv, I always thought it was a small percentage of people doing it because they were just trying to save money (or could not afford it). But based on this chat it seems like it may be a much larger percentage and they don't seem to be lacking in funds.

Rob Pegoraro: Historically, it has been a small--and shrinking--percentage of people who watch TV over the air. But from what I hear from readers, that is changing a little, for the reasons that I outlined in yesterday's column. And I'm glad to see that... I remember reading about digital TV for the first time, maybe all the way back when I was in college, and thinking "man, it would be great if I didn't have to pay to watch network TV."

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DC: I'm hoping to use my cell phone to keep track of my calendar and contacts, so I can stop carrying my PDA around. Verizon sells software that will sync my Outlook files with my phone (the LG EnV), but I have to pay a monthly charge to use it. Do you think there will be third-party software available for this purpose? I couldn't find it, but the phone is relatively new. That kind of software seems to exist for some other phones.

Rob Pegoraro: I'm pretty sure that such software exists (and am not surprised that Verizon would instead suggest something that earns them an extra fee every month!) but can't point you to anything specific off the top of my head. Any suggestions for DC?

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HoCo, MD: Hi Rob. Thanks for taking my question. After reading your article from Sunday's Post, I wonder whether the conversion to OTA digital will really affect television viewers. Do you have a rough idea how many households in the U.S. are still receiving OTA as their primary source of television signals? I can see using it with a secondary set -- like the old 12" B and W that sat in the garage/workshop/etc. But do you think that folks who subscribe to cable or satellite service really care about OTA? I think many of these people are quite happy to get rid of the rabbit ears and roof-top antennas when pay TV becomes available. When I buy an HDTV, I'll get an indoor antenna for OTA high-definition broadcasts simply because the cable/satellite HD program offerings still seem pretty weak considering the costs, and OTA HD picture quality is better than what pay TV companies choose to provide anyhow.

Rob Pegoraro: This is kind of funny--HoCo starts out by saying "who cares about over the air reception" and ends by saying that he's probably going to rely on it for his own HDTV viewing.

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White Plains, Md.: Hello: About six weeks ago, my son installed the IE browser on my PC. I manually update about once a week. However, I keep getting this message about an inability to install - Microsoft VM - This setup will only upgrade over an existing version of microsoft VM". Can you offer any suggestions? Thanks for a great column in the Post and for these chats.

Rob Pegoraro:"VM" is computer-speak for "virtual machine," but the only VM software I know of from Microsoft is the horribly antiquated and insecure Java VM it once distributed. You don't want that: Go to java.com and get the real thing instead.

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Arlington, Va.: On a Mac, where's the folder that tells the computer what files to run at startup? There's a program that's invited itself to run EVERY TIME I turn the machine on, and it's driving me crazy.

Rob Pegoraro: Open System Preferences from the Apple-icon menu, select Users, click on your user name, then click Login Items. There, you can see what runs at each login, then remove the stuff you don't like.

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Washington, D.C.: Have you or anyone out there tried installing an HDTV antenna card on a computer? The cards are about $60-$100, and it seems like a cheap way to get HDTV (assuming one has a decent monitor). Am I missing something? Is the picture quality worse, etc? I have a 20" LCD with 1600x1200 resolution and am thinking about giving a HDTV card a try.

Rob Pegoraro: I haven't, though I should at some point (some of these HDTV add-ons are just little pods that plug into a USB port, which is a much simpler procedure). Any reports from the field for our reader here?

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Harpers Ferry, W.V.: To Buy or Not to Buy? My wife and I like to watch movies and I watch football. Other than that, we don't watch TV. I've had a 27" Mitsubishi for 15 years that I've been very happy with but have felt the 50" HDTV itch every time I'm in Costco or Circuit City. From what I've read, DVD's are in a flux due to a format clash (and the DVD's in the stores aren't in HD anyway) and that regular programming doesn't look as good on a HD set as your good old tube.

Here's the crux- Should we just wait a year or so to take the plunge until there is more available programming and the prices continue to fall- OR jump in now with a nice 50" 1080P LCD and an upconverter DVD player? One more thing- Here in HF, WV we would have to go with dish or cable and add another $60/mo to the household expense just to get HD reception. Your thoughts please- thanks!

Rob Pegoraro: From what I've heard from people in the industry, it's going to be a while before 50-inch prices hit bottom in the way that 30-40-inch TVs have.

As for TV-service costs: You shouldn't have to add that much to your bill. As we outlined in the chart that ran in yesterday's paper ( Which Comes First -- the Programming or the Sets?), the equivalent of an expanded-basic HDTV programming package will cost from $50 to $70. Also, if you've been relying on analog over-the-air reception, you should be able to use the exact same antenna with an HDTV. (Although some antennas are sold as HDTV-specific, there's no such thing; HDTV uses the same VHF and UHF as analog.)

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San Francisco, Calif.: Dear Rob, I have two perfectly good analog TVs (one with a built-in VCR), one very good analog VCR recorder, and one perfectly good analog DVD/VCR combo, both of the latter being attached to my perfectly good 21" analog TV. I purchased all of this equipment within the last two years, and, if experience is any indication, the TVs will last at LEAST another 10 years, the VCR and VCR/DVD combo at least another 5 years. I would have to spend at least $500 - $700 to get replacements to get HD reception (not to mention a $25 mandatory recycling fee for each piece of discarded equipment). I don't subscribe to a cable or satellite TV service: never have, never will.

In your article, "Counting Down To the Digital Deadline," you wrote: "You can buy an external tuner for an analog set, but these add-ons remain scarce and expensive." What are these add-ons? And could I buy one external HD external tuner for all my analog equipmnt and, using a 4-Way Coax Splitter, attach this one external tuner to my 21" TV, VCR and VCR/DVD combo which are already attached to each other? I'm one of those people who buy a (used) car and don't buy another car until the current one has died a natural death, usually after at least 10 years of service. And I don't want to buy new TV's etc., until the old ones die a natural death.

HELP! What do I and others do until our current TV equipment die a natural death? Especially those folks who don't HAVE $500 - $1,000 to spend on new equipment, much less at least $1,000 for one of those plasma screen TVs. Anne. P.S. Please feel free to edit this down.

washingtonpost.com: Counting Down To the Digital Deadline

Rob Pegoraro: Like I said, HDTV tuners "remain scarce and expensive." For now, there's not much of a market for them: Most new sets, and nearly all new HDTVs, include digital tuners, and the moment of truth has not yet arrived for people with analog sets.

For now, I'd advise you to wait. By 2009, these add-on receivers are supposed to cost no more than $50 and be no larger than a hardcover book--for the last two CESes, LG has shown a prototype model hooked up to some 1980-vintage TV.

FWIW, I wrote a column in mid 2005 with the same basic message as yesterday's--don't buy analog: As Prices Fall and Analog Dims, Digital TV Is a Clearer Choice

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Mt. Airy, MD:"Open System Preferences from the Apple-icon menu, select Users, click on your user name, then click Login Items." Just to avoid confusion, it's "Accounts", not "Users". (Also, in one older version of Mac OS X "Login Items" was called "Startup Items".)

Rob Pegoraro: Thanks for the correction! (Not in front of a Mac at the moment, so I was working from memory on that item.)

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Arlington, VA: Hi Rob - I just purchased a brand new 1080p HDTV on Saturday night, and received an error code as soon as I plugged it in. The code was for a fatal lamp error. There was no sign of physical trauma to the box or unit before I bought it, nor were there any issues when I transported it home. I have to wait for the repair crew to come out and look at my TV before it can be either repaired or return. Have you heard if people are having good luck with repaired DLPs or are they simply returning them?

Rob Pegoraro: The lamp in a DLP (digital light processing) projection TV is designed to be replaced--most are only supposed to last for a few years before requiring that replacement--so if yours only needs a new lamp, you're fine.

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Baltimore, MD: Can you say anything about "contrast ratio" vs. "dynamic contrast ratio"? What's the difference?

Rob Pegoraro: Good question, which requires a somewhat lengthy answer. You'll see one or the other figure when shopping for an LCD TV (plasma and CRT sets have such good contrast ratios that nobody really cares about the figures on those models). Plain old contrast ratio will be the lower number, while dynamic contrast will be higher; for instance, at CES Sharp was listing both numbers below each set--1,200:1 "contrast ratio" equated 6,000:1 "dynamic contast ratio."

The former number indicates the range of dark-to-light the screen can display at any one instant; the latter indicates the range it can achieve by optimizing its lighting to a particular scene. If you're a digital-music geek, think of dynamic contrast as the equivalent of variable bit-rate encoding, where a music program varies its compression settings as needed for each instant of music, instead of using one level of compression for the entire song.

>There's a really good Wikipedia entry about this that also points out how external factors, like the brightness of a room, can make these numbers meaningless in practice.

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Washington, DC: RE: HD with basic cable. I have digital cable in the living room, but in the bedroom, I have an HD LCD plugged directly into the cable. The digital tuner does pick up HD signals from the broadcast digital channels. I would guess you could still do this with basic cable feed.

Rob Pegoraro: I've heard from folks that this is possible on some systems, but not all the time (for one thing, the TV will need a "QAM" tuner that can read the basic, unencrypted cable signal).

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Santa Monica, Calif.: I finally popped for a digital/HD tuner from Samsung to get over-the-air digital broadcasts and was shocked to find that on the digital PBS stations in L.A. they do not air a version of their regular analog broadcast digitally. It's mostly repetitive travel, nature and cooking shows. Is that the case elsewhere? Will this change after the shut-off in 2009 (if that really happens!)?

Rob Pegoraro: Every station is supposed to be broadcasting digitally--but not necessarily in HD--by now. That's an FCC mandate, not an option, and I really doubt the feds would be granting waivers to any station in a market as big as L.A. by now, much less PBS. Something here doesn't add up.

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Capitol Hill, DC: Hi Rob. Regarding Comcast's Digital Cable, do you have to use their combination digital cable box/DVR, or can you get a TiVo or TiVo-like device and use that instead? I have tried to figure this out from their website, but it's hard to make heads or tails of anything on their site, which is something you hinted at . . . Plus, I'm guessing they want you to use/rent only -their- device, and not mention that you could use anything else. Can you give us the skinny? That's why we come to you, for honest, impartial advice!

Rob Pegoraro: You can use a CableCard--if you can find a set that includes a slot for this, and if you can convince Comcast that it exists. CableCards (little cards that pop into slots on the backs of HDTVs and some other devices, such as the TiVo Series 3, and can read an encrypted non-basic cable signal) are one of the biggest secrets, and the biggest failures, of digital TV. Electronics manufacturers supported this format early on, but the cable industry seems to have done a very good job of snuffing it out in the marketplace.

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Long Branch, NJ: My previous question was probably too specific. Is it ever a good idea to purchase a LCD big-screen HDTV as a floor model? Are there special considerations such as longeviity or burn-in?

Rob Pegoraro: I hope not, since my in-laws just bought a floor model of a Sharp LCD :)

Nah, you should be fine with an LCD. There's no real burn-in risk, and they're all made to last something like 60,000 hours--a few decades of hours-a-day viewing. But I would be wary of a floor-model plasma, since it could have picked up ghost images of whatever feed the store had running. I'd want to inspect the plasma's picture very closely before buying.

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Hyde Prk, NY: The PBS Hi Def feed in New York City is the same thing. I believe this is a national feed provided by PBS. It's really annoying as so much of the programming on PBS, especially Brit imports, are letterboxed.

Rob Pegoraro: Very strange. Here in D.C., WETA has been one of the best digital broadcasters around--it was on the air in HD years before most other stations and has also been one of the most enthusiastic adopters of digital TV's sideband-channels capability. Here's what they have on: http://weta.org/tv/dtv/

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Potomac, Md.: My parents and I have Dell towers running XP. At the end of each day, I put my computer in standby while they use hibernate. Is one better than the other?

Rob Pegoraro: Standby. It takes longer to get the computer out of hibernation mode, and the difference in power saved is next to zero. I would only use hibernate if I were going to leave the computer alone for a week or so... except on my laptop, the hibernate mode isn't even available for some weird reason, and I can't be bothered to fix that.

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My beloved TV/plant stand: I have been tuned out to the whole HD conversation over the years because i don't have the extra cash for a shinny new TV, espcially when my old floor model RCA (that is older than me) has been both a reliable TV and a stylishly retro plant stand. I am now just paying attention to all this HDTV stuff and am i to understand that my old old TV won't work with mandated digital signals? or will i be okay as long as i have a cable box, which i do?

Rob Pegoraro: You'll be fine with a cable box--maybe not the one you have now, but perhaps some updated model.

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Austin, Tex.: As always, thanks for your great columns and chats. Any rumors as to when Verizon Wireless might have a version of the Blackberry Pear? Thanks.

Rob Pegoraro: Your question made me think of a pear-shaped BlackBerry--not sure how well that would sell :) As for the BlackBerry Pearl... probably not anytime soon, as this phone has only ever been made for GSM networks, not the CDMA technology used by Verizon (and Sprint).

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What would Rob Pegaroro do?: I loaded my legally-obtained Adobe PhotoShop v.4.0 on my computer years ago when both were new. That computer has long since been replaced with newer computers sporting legal versions of Adobe Photoshop CS. Now I want to load the PhotoShop v.4.0 on my home computer so my daughter can use it for her middle school art class. My problem is: How do I install it without the Adobe and Microsoft people assuming I am trying to load someone else's software? I have all the proper serial numbers but they would duplicate the numbers in their files associated with my old computer. I would feel like a criminal if I just loaded it with the internet disconnected. What would you recommend? I'm assuming of course that it is legal to load old software from old, retired computers onto new computers.

Rob Pegoraro: It is, so long as you've uninstalled the old copy. I don't know how Adobe's current copy-prevention routines work, but you shouldn't have to worry about them on a release as old as Photoshop 4.0.

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Greenwich, Conn.: Do HDMI cables actually improve the quality of your HDTV picture? RH

Rob Pegoraro: Compared to analog component--NOT composite--cables, HDMI doesn't offer that much of an upgrade in quality. I know I couldn't see any real difference when I compared the same video source over both HDMI and component last year.

HDMI's main advantage is in cleaning up the wiring behind the TV--you've got one cable for both video and audio instead of four or more (three for component video, plus at least one audio cable if you use digital, more if you use analog).

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Baltimore, Md.: When the deadline arrives, my old TV sets will be obsolete. But your article makes it sound like my home theater receiver, my VCR, and my DVD player will all be obsolete too??? I still use my VCR a lot since it doesn't charge me a monthly fee, like TiVo, for the privilege of taping TV shows. And I am wondering why Congress is getting involved in setting deadlines.

Rob Pegoraro: Anything with an analog TV tuner will be obsolete. That includes your VCR, but not any of the other hardware you describe.

Why are we doing this, you ask? It's a long story--we couldn't fit it into the column--but I'll try here, if y'all can indulge me for a few minutes:

* Congress voted for the digital transition for a variety of reasons--making over-the-air broadcasts relevant again, improving the TV picture and, not least, giving U.S. electronics manufacturers a leg up on overseas competitors. (Guess which part hasn't worked out in practice :)

* Because the system adopted by the FCC doesn't allow digital and analog broadcasts to share the same channels, TV stations asked for a new set of channels for their digital broadcasts.

* They got these channels, for free. But in the bargain, they had to give up the old analog channels at some point so they could be auctioned off or reused in other ways. (Even Congress has its limits when it comes to handing out the public airwaves gratis.)

* The original DTV legislation wouldn't have shut off analog broadcasts until something like 85 percent of viewers nationwide could get a digital signal, and even that goal had numerous exemptions. As a result, this "deadline" had no real meaning.

* Nobody was too happy about this situation, not least the companies that wanted to get their hands on the old analog channels for things like broadband Internet--and federal budgetfolk, who have been counting on the billions of dollars this spectrum would yield at auction.

* So a couple of years ago, Congress voted in a real, non-conditional deadline. In the bargain, there will be rebate coupons--two per qualifying household--that will be offered to people who need to buy a digital converter box, but the conditions of this offer are still up in the air.

That clear anything up?

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Silver Spring, Md.: Rob - now that I've bought an HDTV LCD with a built-in digital tuner, do I need a special HDTV antenna to get the on-air digital broadcasts? How much do they cost? Any specific features I should look for, other than HDTV compatibility?

Rob Pegoraro: Nope, any old antenna can work. I have done all of my HDTV testing with the cheapo tabletop model I got at Best Buy for $20 a decade ago.

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Manassas, Va.: I just splurged on a HDTV but am unable to receive HD programming until 2/13 (that's the earliest my sat provider can upgrade my satellite). Can anybody recommend a good indoor HDTV antenna for the Manassas area? I tried a phillips MANT510 over the weekend and was quite disappointed with both the quality and the size when the dipoles were extended (over 40").

Rob Pegoraro: That far out, you might need a rooftop antenna. (To follow up on my prior answer, I live only 5 or 6 miles from the TV transmitters in Northwest D.C., so I can get by with an indoor model.)

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Grants Pass, Ore.: There is a heated discussion going on at our senior computer group: whether or not to completely turn off your computer at night or just let it hibernate. Some never turn off their computer.

Rob Pegoraro: Standby mode, not hibernate. Don't leave the computer on; you're wasting electricity for no good reason.

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Beltsville, Md.: I don't subscribe to cable or satellite. How do I get my 32" LCD TV to display HDTV programming on network TV. I record programs on the Tivo connected to my TV. I had the same impression as most; buying an LCD would automatically allow me to watch High Definition Television shows like 'Desperate Housewives.' Thanks.

Rob Pegoraro: Sending the signal through your TiVo--unless it's the super-expensive Series 3 I mentioned--kills the HD signal. That's because older TiVos are standard-definition-only; the HD gets stripped off the second the video enters the TiVo on its standard-def inputs.

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Germantown, Md.: Do the HD providers such as Comcast, DirectTV and others have enough bandwidth to deliver their offerings? Or will bandwidth be a CONSTRAINT on the number of HD channels we can watch? Is there some upper limit?

Rob Pegoraro: Cable and satellite providers do employ some level of compression on their HD signals to make room for them all, but as they've upgraded their networks--which, in the case of Dish and DirecTV means launching an entirely new set of satellites--they've kept up pace.

(A lot of folks like OTA HDTV because it comes through without any such compression--you're getting the best possible HD signal that way.)

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Herndon, Va.: As far as content goes, will fiber services like Verizon's Fios service be able to offer more HD programming than Comcast or Directv? If I get an HDTV, is it worth switching from Comcast (which I'm not terribly happy with anyway)?

Rob Pegoraro: I think everybody ought to check pricing on TV services once a year... and especially if you use Comcast. Their non-promotional prices--what we listed in the paper yesterday, as opposed to the numbers on the flyers they put in my mailbox every few days--are the highest of all of the subscription services we profiled in the Washington area.

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Re series 3 Tivo: Don't forget that with the series 3, high-def-ready TiVo, all services of sharing shows from one tivo to another, or downloading shows to a PC are no longer operational, and as far as we can tell from talking to Tivo, may not be available anytime soon. Not only did we pay a fortune for the new Tivo, we felt pretty shafted that in the end we LOST functionality with the upgrade.

Rob Pegoraro: Right--TiVoToGo is no-go on the Series 3. Way to reward your loyal customers there, guys...

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From Daniel Greenberg: For White Plains MD- A new Java install might not be sufficient to get rid of the annoying Microsoft VM message. If it does not, you need to do some edits to the dreaded Registry. Here's the scoop from a helpful site with a name I can relate to: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial97.html. For Washington DC about the HDTV PC card, I have tried ATI's new TV Wonder 650, which requires opening the PCs case for an install. Picture quality looks very good, though of course the only HD it can display is over the air HD broadcasts- HD cable or satellite have to come in at Standard Def. It has lots of software extras, like PVR (TiVo-like functions) and conversion to portable device formats like video iPod and PSP. The remote is not included, but it free with a coupon. The USB versions are better for people who don't like tinkering with their PCs, but picture quality looks softer on USB versions than the ATI card.

Rob Pegoraro: From our indefatigable contributor... thanks again!

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New York, N.Y.: What is the value of having the video inputs and outputs on a "home-theater" receiver and of what special value is the HDMI input for soung as compared with using the other outputs which carry a 5.1 signal to the receiver decoder. The amount of input and outputs are those carrying video signals boggles my mind even tho I have in the past sought a good array of i/o. Basically I don't understand why I should put the video signal thru an extra device - what can it do but degrade it??

Rob Pegoraro: Not if it's digital. But why bother? If you use external speakers, you don't have much of a choice--you need a receiver to route audio from all the different sources, from the CD player to the DVD player to the cable/satellite box. Having the receiver route video as well means you don't need to switch inputs on the TV; just switch the reciever's input from, say, DVD to cable and everything is aligned properly.

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Alexandria, Va.: Have you (or others) heard of a problem with the reception of local HD prime time telecasts, especially on ABC? I experience 10 - 20 seconds of pixelation and/or audio clipping 5 - 10 times per hour watching Ugly Betty, Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, etc. This is definitely related to HD prime time telecasts of scripted dramas (i.e., not programs presented in video, like American Idol). Very annoying. Otherwise, the Dish HD service is OK. Just want to understand if this could be a problem in my sat receiver or is common to this area.

Rob Pegoraro: Not common AFAIK. This sounds like a reception problem... a digital-TV signal will break out in blotches if the bitstream gets interrupted. Does this happen when it's raining or snowing? (Satellite signals can get attenuated by this "rain fade")

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Arlington, Va.: Why do we see so few HD channels from the cable providers? In the one year I have had Comcast HD, they have added two channels that show mostly fake HD content, and taken away another channel. I know of several other full time HD channels they show no inclination to add.

Rob Pegoraro: A lot of channels just aren't available in HD yet.

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Rockville, Md.: Hi Rob, I read your article yesterday and did not know that regular (analog) TV was being phased out. I did not completely comprehend the article. Towards the end of the article, you stated that "most sets smaller than 26 inches still lack the digital tuner . ..etc."

I have a Sony Trinitron 27 inch color TV (model KV-27s25) that was manufactured in Jan 1997. I lost the owner's manual for it and the Sony website doesn't help in determining whether I have a digital tuner. Do you know anything about this model? Could it mean I would have to purchase a new TV in 2 years even though it still works perfectly?

I bought a new (cheap) VCR about a year ago to replace my old one that broke since I have lots of old VHS tapes. Is that out the window too? If so, does that mean I have to somehow transfer the movies, TV shows, etc. on those tapes to newer media? My TV needs are not great (I don't subscribe to cable), so what might be my future options? Thanks.

Rob Pegoraro: Nobody was selling digital TVs at any price in 1997. So, yeah, in two years you'll have to do one of a few things:

* Get a new TV.

* Buy a digital converter box

* Keep using your existing cable or satellite service and forget about over-the-air reception.

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Cumberland, MD: My neighbor bought a 42" plasma HD TV at Christmas. The store people who loaded it in his car said it could not be tilted at ALL or it would be damaged - any truth?

Rob Pegoraro: That's complete nonsense. Where do these people get this stuff?!

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Mays Landing, N.J.: Is there a difference in picture quality among the various choices - LCD, Plasma, Flat Screen, or Non-flat screen (not CRT) I can't remember what these large non-flat screen models are called. Thank you.

Rob Pegoraro: Have a look at this recent column: Rob Pegoraro - LCD or Plasma? Consider Size, Weight, Glare

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Irving, Tex.: Recently, I switched my "cable" service from Time Warner's conventional cable to Verizon's FiOS service. With Time Warner, my HD pictures displayed in 1080i format, now they're in 720P. (This is using the same HDTV.) Am I correct in believing that the 1080i mode shows more detail, while the 720P shows less detail, but is better for situations where the picture rapidly changes (e.g. sports)?

Rob Pegoraro: Basically, yes--but most flat-panel sets have 720p resolution, so the 1080i feed would have been converted to that resolution anyway.

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WETA, HD, NOT: Not sure if you'll still be online to get this, Rob, but WETA-TV does not provide a simulcast of its regular programming in HD. OTA and Cable for channel 26 may be digital, but it's not HD. WETA's other channels carry different programs. You can't watch the Newshour in HD at this time.

Rob Pegoraro: I don't have an HDTV on my desk--yet another thing I have to upgrade about my workspace!--so I can't verify this. But: If there's no WETA HDTV channel, why does the WETA Web site call its primary digital channel "WETA HD"?

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Potomac, MD: Two questions: (1) I am in an area that has Verizon FIOS available. I recently installed the FIOS Internet service and am hopeful that their HDTV deployment will shortly follow. While Montgomery County has granted them a license, it is very difficult to determine their deployment schedule. What do you know about their schedule relative to houses where they have already installed the FIOS infrastructure? (2) There are various articles on the web re: comments on the need for a high contrast ratio relative to LCD TVs as well as "true HD" capabilities (TVs being able to handle 1080p input vs 1080i input being upconverted to 1080p). Can you help clarify the key aspects to be concerned for?

Rob Pegoraro:1) I don't. I've asked Verizon if they publish their Fios-TV rollout schedule anywhere online, and the answer is "we don't."

2) Please see the article I just linked to!

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Columbia, Md.: I asked you last week about progressive scan and upconvert DVD players. You said with an HDTV you should have a player that has both. All of the ones I have seen have either progressive scan OR upconvert. Are all upconvert also progressive scan even if they don't advertise it? I still don't know which one to choose. Seems like the upconvert ones would be advertising on the box that they are also progressive scan. I could almost ask it like a logic question, if some progressive scan are upconvert, and some upconvert are progressive, etc. Thanks

Rob Pegoraro: AFAIK, all upconverting players have progressive-scan capability.

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Williams Bay, Wis.: I was notified of a virus outbreak via Symnatec-is there a threat out there today? thanks, Norma

Rob Pegoraro: Yes. (I can answer this without looking up anything--there's *always* a Windows virus threat somewhere out there.)

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Reston, Va.: Do you see any evidence that Digital Video Recorders and/or DVD Recorders will be available soon that have tuners so they can record over the air digital TV signals?

Rob Pegoraro: Yes--I saw many on display at CES. Look for them in stores starting in March or so.

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Bowie:"No, the TV cops won't come kicking down your door to terminate your old set on Feb. 17, 2009, the date Congress has set for analog broadcasts to end. But on that date your favorite shows could turn to static, as over-the-air TV is reduced to a digital stream that only the right kind of set can decode."

So how can I tell if my current TV set will still work in 25 months?

Rob Pegoraro: If you're not sure, it's almost certainly not digital. (Most sets didn't include digital tuners until early in this decade; those that do would have been showing you digital channels off the air.)

The easiest way to tell: if your remote lets you enter a channel like "9.1," then it's digital-capable (that's the digital channel of WUSA, the CBS affiliate here.)

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Fairfax, Va.: Rob, We purchased a 53" Panasonic rear projection TV about four years ago and recently upgraded to the Cox HD/DVR cable box. However, we could not get any picture on the HD digital channels. We had a technician from Cox come for a service call and learned that the cable wiring in our house is not up to spec for the digital signal. The technician replaced a splitter which gave us a picture on a few HD channels, but the quality is only about 80 percent of what we expected. The solution? We need to upgrade the cable wiring. Fortunately, we are about to remodel our basement and will have the electrician take care of this when we have new lighting and home theater speakers installed.

Rob Pegoraro: Interesting... hadn't heard of this problem before. Thanks for the post!

(Gonna wrap up this chat now after one or two other questions.)

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Washington, DC: A follow-up about upgrading to Leopard. I'd like to know about the hassle factor. Is upgrading from 10.4 to 10.5 likely to be less troublesome than a system upgrade can be on Windows?

Rob Pegoraro:"Likely"? All but guaranteed! Mac OS X upgrades are about as painless as you can get. You pop in the DVD, click a few buttons and come back in an hour or so and just about everything works. It's a rare program that doesn't function right after a new version of OS X is installed.

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Washington, D.C.: I'm shopping for a mid-size LCD with built-in DVD player, for use with over-the-air signals only, and I found a good deal on a Sharp Aquos ($599 for model LC26DV20U). However, several people reported in Amazon reviews that it took about 3 seconds to change channels: so, no channel surfing. First, is this a plausible problem, or can you think of something they might be doing wrong? Second, if plausible, is this a common problem?

Rob Pegoraro: All the digital TVs that I've tried do take a moment or two to change digital channels--just like satellite or digital radio, the tuner needs a moment to lock in the bitstream over the air. 3 seconds sounds a little long...

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Silver Spring, MD: Could you explain to me why the broadcast digital TV signals are so erratic and unreliable? I've had a HD TV hooked up to an external antenna (a DB 4) for about a year and the reception of the digital/HD channels varies in with time. Some (e.g. Ch 20) are non-existent. The CH 9's signal varies from no signal to unwatchable due to signal dropouts to good. CH 7's signal is fairly consistent and strong. However, Ch 9 told me that both signals are broadcast from the same station. I have very little trouble with the analog signals and many times I have to revert to watching those signals.

Rob Pegoraro: Two possible explanations here. One is that the stations involved have been futzing with their digital signals--sometimes I've seen them shut it off entirely to get some upgrade done. Another is that your TV doesn't have a good tuner. The quality of this hardware seems to have improved a lot lately, especially over just the last year or so... but there are still differences. (The Sony, Samsung and Panasonic HDTVs I tried last year all did better at OTA reception than the Philips model I reviewed.)

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NW dc: I have an old iMac DV (ppc) that I would like to donate to a worthy cause. It's in fine shape except for some issues with cable modems. Any suggestions? Thanks.

Rob Pegoraro: Everybody, please bookmark/Googlebomb these two stories so people can find them more easily:

Here's advice on donating a used computer;

and here's how to wipe your old data off the machine's hard drive before donating it

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Rob Pegoraro: And that's going to close things out for today. (Is it really 3:50 already? Yikes.)

It looks like HDTV still confuses a lot of people, but it's equally clear that HDTV has been a huge benefit for one group of folks: technology journalists! I've been writing about this stuff since 1998, and it looks like I've got plenty of work left to do :)

Thanks for showing up; see you all the next time...

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