First Night of HD: Stunning

The first night of HD is like switching from dial-up to broadband: amazing. While over-the-air channels such as NBC, ABC, and FOX have HD content only when the producers make it in HD, those programs are stunning and are sometimes the best on the network. The first thing I watched tonight was “Dancing with the Stars” on ABC. Every move was detailed, the camera movements were good, and overall, I had no complaints.At the same time, House M.D. was another stunning program to watch with great detail. The audio was crisp and you could see a lot more than regular 4:3 SDTV content. Almost an hour ago was Law and Order: SVU, the first time I’ve ever watched a Law and Order episode of any of the spinoff series. Once again, clarity is amazing. Audio on all of the programs was much, much better than their SD counterparts.Currently being watched as of 10:12PM on Tuesday, November 20 is our local St. Louis news, NewsChannel 5, which is a mixed bag of content formats. While in-studio cameras (showing the anchors) are HD, the field cameras are not. This is where you go from great to ehh… in terms of picture quality. Also, syndicated content (stuff from NBC News) is not in HD which really is somewhat depressing, but it is understandable. One thing people must remember when watching a mixed-definition show like their local news is that some things may look nice and crisp, while things like the weather forecast are still showing with SD maps and graphics. Why? I have no clue.I will post more reviews and hints as I get more used to HD content. Also look for a review of the EyeTV Hybrid and EyeTV 2 in the coming weeks. It would make for a great Christmas gift for your favorite Mac lover in the family.