The HDTV Conspiracy Theory

I'm no conspiracy theorist. I believe we did land on the moon, and that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. I don't think John Lennon was a communist, nor do I believe Elvis is alive and eating Whoppers in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

I do wonder about HDTV however. Is it possible the whole thing is a sham?

My "sources" say depending on what part of the country you live in, and how populated an area your cable company serves, the signal that comes through the box gets diminished, sometimes significantly. Surely these companies realized this early on, and had to react appropriately. Fixing the problem would cost money, and such companies aren't in the losing money game.

Enter the major television companies of the world.

Perhaps over a decade, cable signals degraded but at a pace we couldn't notice. Then HDTV is rolled out with a hefty price tag and signals far superior to smaller screen televisions. Did anyone compare the signal of today with the signal of two decades ago however? Of course not. How could we?

Could it be HD televisions don't include an innovative way to broadcast, but do include a top secret way to restore your picture back to 1990 quality. If an episode of “Perfect Strangers” appears briefly one day, I'll have my answer.

I do own an HDTV and marvel at the picture quality. It's a significant improvement on my previous box. But did I pay for High Definition, or the picture that was rightfully mine many years ago?

You see, when it comes to HDTV it's all relative.