Well... I can... but I hate it.
A standard definition set top box is about $50 at the cheapest. While a high definition box can't be found for much under $200.
What do these things do? I'd argue they do about as much as a DVD player. DVD players can be bought for under $50. So can 1Gb+ MP3 players. $50 is a good price for technology like this.
They have a chip in there for processing the aerial signal to a digital file, and other technology for turning that into various TV signals (RCA, SVHS etc.)
I cannot, and will not, accept that there is any real difference in production cost between an SD box and an HD box. The technology is identical, the HD format is just a bigger digital file.
The only reason they cost so much can only be some kind of technology rights issue. Someone has decided that SD = $50 and HD = $200.
The only way to really appreciate HD is to have a huge TV. I'm talking 40 inch plus. The difference between SD and HD on a 30 inch TV or less would be very hard to compare. Certainly not different enough to warrant $150.
But unfortunately the new HD channels (Ten HD, Seven HD) can't be watched with a cheaper SD box. If you want to receive these channels, you have to buy an HD receiver, even though the HD TV signal will look no better on your TV.
Or buy a new TV. A new, huge, TV. With a tuner built in.
All of this "forced" purchasing and replacing of TVs must do wonders for inflation.
But many won't bother. They'll keep their current TVs, or buy the cheapest receivers they can (SD) and put up with it. When the signal goes, so will they, to their DVD collections.
The quality of even standard definition digital TV is better than the analog aerial, with the added bonus of being mostly in widescreen.
The TV is not quite big enough to see any compression artefacts in the digital signal, something I notice a lot when watching Foxtel on a 42" plasma at a friend's place.
It seems as though almost all advertisements and modern TV shows in Australia are now widescreen. I think we've dived in the widescreen pond at just the right time.
The US seems to either be behind in the widescreen revolution, or we are getting shows that were made years ago (probably both). I'm aware digital TV is even slower to take off in the US than it is here, and so I suspect so is widescreen. The Americans are after all the consumers that demanded (still demand?) 4:3 DVD releases of their movies for so long.
Many of the cheaper reality shows from the US have all been 4:3 (see Biggest Loser). For some strange reason even the adverts for 16:9 shows are often in 4:3 (see House). I suspect the ads come pre-packaged.
The electronic program guide which displays briefly when changing channels that tells you what is currently on, how long it has to go, and what is coming up next, is excellent. The full scrollable guide (available via button) is OK but I rarely use it. It's hard to use and doesn't tell you very much. It's nice for checking when something is on.
The channels seem to treat their electronic guide information with little respect. It's often wrong and often not working at all. In the daylight savings changeover the time was wrong for ages.
It's nice to have an extra channel (ABC2). SBS2 and SBS News rarely show anything different from SBS. ABC2 has it's own content but tends to show repeats of ABC shows, although it's stuff we usually want to watch again.
Reception issues are far more irritating than in analog. We find the sound drops out frequently in SBS, but the picture is fine. Rarely we get weird digital artefacts popping up, but I suspect they're broadcast that way. I remember seeing them in analog too. Either way, one day we'll get Mr Antenna in to see if he can improve SBS.
It is irritating to have to turn on two things to watch TV now (TV and the set top box), but that is our fault for buying a TV with no built in tuner.
In our current setup we're still using the analog signal to tape with the VHS. The VHS can tape the digital signal (via the output of the set top box) and even tape in widescreen, but it's all too hard to bother. If we tape, we watch in 4:3. We're waiting desperately for Tivo.
Overall it's been worth the money ($70) for the switch to widescreen. But everything is nice, but wouldn't have been worth the money if not for the widescreen. Having ABC2 is nice but we wouldn't miss it. The quality is a little better but it doesn't blow your mind on our size of TV. The EPG is too flaky to be great, but it's useful.
The digitalness is mostly irrelevant.
In the first instalment of our three-part series on the future of music, we take a look back at what went wrong and when.