High def is Television at its pinnacle

By By Will Bradwell / staff writer
Oct. 9, 2003
Was blind, but now I see. Really, really well.
I'm talking about the meaning of life high definition television. I saw it this past weekend for the first time, and I'm sold. It may not be "Amazing Grace," but it's definitely a religious experience.
Look up from your paper right now and look at something. Anything. See it? Now make a box with your fingers and put it around whatever you're looking at.
There you go. High def. No joke.
One of my co-workers has been harping about high def for weeks. When he invited me to watch the Auburn-Tennessee game on Saturday, I headed on over. Even if high def wasn't all he'd hyped it up to be, at least I'd get a burger and some rotel out of the deal.
I was blown away. You could see EVERYTHING. Shoe laces. Blades of grass. All seven of Phillip Fulmer's chins. Everything.
I could make out the colors of childrens' braces from across the stadium. It was amazing. And you think Casey Clausen's hair looks bad on regular TV? You ain't seen nothing.
It completely changed the way I look at TV. Standard definition is horrible. I had no idea before Saturday, but it is. You can't see a thing. ESPN frequently showed highlights from other games, but the highlights were all in standard def, so you could see the difference right there.
If you haven't seen high def yet, trust me on this one. High def is to Picasso what standard def is to a moldy casserole dumped on the kitchen floor. Heck, depending on how good your eyesight is, you can probably see better on high def than you can in person.
See my goofy looking picture at the top of this page? Standard def. Your face in the mirror? High def.
Got a DVD player? Put in a movie and look at it. See it? Trash! You think that's clear? It's nothing! High def eats DVD for breakfast.
High def is so good that I'd watch almost anything. I used to take jabs at the co-worker in question and say that he'd watch grass grow if it were in high def. After seeing it for myself, so would I.
Hockey season is coming up, and at least two games per week will be broadcast in HD. I've never watched a full game of hockey on TV in my life. So what? I'll wear a sweatshirt, turn the air conditioning down to 45, and have somebody sell me a plate of nachos for $6. I'm as good as there.
Sports aren't the only thing being shown in HD. ESPN airs my weekly fix of "Playmakers" in HD. I haven't seen it yet in high def, but it's just as well because I'm not sure I could handle the excitement. Imagine how chilling evil Mr. Wilbanks' scowl would look in high def. Hold me back.
Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, owns an all-high def network called HDNet and another high def movie network called curiously enough HDNet Movies. HDNet shows a lot of random stuff (including NHL, some Major League Soccer, and an occasional college football game).
Movies in high def would be nice simply because of the allure of clarity, but how clearly do you really want to see a piece of garbage like "Intersection" or "Coma"? Break out "Rocky III" or "Caddyshack," though, and I'm there.
The most obvious problem with HD is that it's mega-expensive.
An HD-ready television is going to drop you a few thousand bucks. Plus, if you want HDNet, you've got to subscribe to DirecTV or another satellite provider that carries the network and then you have to pay for installation too.
I'm not saying that it's not worth your time and money. Far to the contrary. It's awesome.
Your best bet, though, is to pick up a pizza and drop in on a friend who has the dough to drop on such an expensive toy.
It'll save you a lot of money, and you don't have to wade through crystal clear Richard Gere movies to get to the good stuff.