HDTV Placebo

Scientific Atlanta, the maker of a lot of those set-top boxes, which was recently acquired by Cisco, released a study on consumer perceptions of HDTV that's pretty funny. Millions of people out there apparently think they are watching HDTV when they actually aren't. Among the findings:

Close to one in four (28%) of HDTV owners reported that they did not get any special equipment from their service provider to watch HDTV channels because the picture quality was already improved with the purchase of an HDTV . 23% of HDTV owners did not invest in special equipment to watch HDTV channels because a message at the beginning of the programs they watch tells them that those programs are being broadcast in HD. Nearly one in five (18%) reported that they believed the HD television would give them high-definition channels without additional equipment.

If TV was the opiate of the masses, maybe HDTV will be the placebo of the masses. Sourced fromReblogged by dymaxion on December 15, 2005 04:07 PM | TrackBack