Backroom Report For Monday, December 29, 2009

Perhaps you’re one of the large number of folks who woke up Christmas morning to find a plasma or LCD HD television under your tree. Now you can watch your favorite shows, movies, and sporting events in amazing 1080p high definition… with such crystal clear clarity that you’ll be able to count the dandruff on the actors or ball players shoulders.

Well, you should be able to enjoy full high def... that is unless you subscribe to cable television instead of getting your TV service from Directv or Dish network.

Seems the cable companies have a dirty little secret they hope you won’t find out about.

The amount of content that cable companies can deliver to your home is restricted by the size of the cables they use… and as cable providers add more channels the only way they can squeeze them in is by compressing the signal they deliver… and that means that your 1080p high def channel may be delivered to your home at much lower quality.

I’ve seen first hand a demonstration using two identical televisions tuned to the same high def channel except one TV got its signal from a cable company and the other signal came from Directv. The comparison showed a noticeable difference in picture quality with Directv being the clear winner.

Now for full disclosure, I’ve been a Directv customer for 12 years… not by choice, but because Comcast has never installed cable on my road. However, if cable and satellite were both available to us I would pick satellite in a New York minute.

You probably spent a nice wad of money on that HD TV and you’re also dropping a bundle on your monthly service… for that kind of cash it only makes sense to get a true 1080p signal delivered to your home.

That’s my opinion… we welcome yours… Thanks for listening and I’ll see you next Monday… for a complete transcript of this morning’s comments, go to NewsTalk1270.com (End of complete transcript of commentary that aired on NewsTalk AM 1270 – WYXC at 7:35 AM Monday, December 29, 2008)