Found an interesting article. I've heard these kind of stats mentioned here, so I thought I'd post a source.

To summarize:

Out of 16 million homes with HD set:

• 49% not taking advantage of their HD equipment
• 18% didn't know they needed additional equipment, such as a set top box or antenna
• 25% admitted they thought they were watching HD video because the programs said at the beginning that they were "broadcast in HDTV"

From: Video Placebo: Is that Really HDTV You Are Watching?

I am not suprised. If I count all the households in my family it breaks down like this

HD/SAT 3
SAT 1
Cable 0
TV/Antenna 4

On my street I am the only one that I know of receiving HD out of about 30 houses.

That's crazy. What's the point of even having it

1) It's borderline-impossible to buy a TV over 36" (and really, it's tough over 32") that's not HD-capable. If you want a decent-sized television, you have to buy HD (or an EDTV plasma, but I don't consider that a 'normal' TV).

2) You can still take better advantage of DVDs on a large, widescreen HDTV than a small, letterboxed SDTV.

3) Probably the least significant of the three, but some people just want to be able to say they have an HDTV.

If you're going to spend the money on a tv 36" and over that's HD-capable just to say you have it....then why not show it off and buy the hd tuner or cables. That's the point i was trying to make. No way I'm spending all that money on HD equipment and not using it to it's fullest. That's like buying a surround sound system and not watching the dvd in DTS or using the component cables

People don't know and/or don't care.

Guess people can stop using the fast growing marketshare of HDTV to support their arguments that HD-DVD/Bluray will take off quickly.

Joe six pack just doesn't know, or doesn't care, about the PQ. They just bought the HDTV for one of the reasons Adam listed.

My uncle falls into that 49%. His old RPTV finally keeled over and he picked up a nice 55" Mitsubishi Widescreen HD RPTV to replace it.

At the same time he switched cable companies and had the cable guy hook up his equipment (cable box and dvd/vcr combo). The cable guy ran it all thru coax cable to channel 3

I discovered all this when I stopped by for a visit. Now the cable box is running through s-video/composite cables, the dvd portion of the combo through component with progresseve scan and widescreen support enabled and the vcr through composite cables. I also slapped on an antennae so he could utilize the built-in HD tuner (which he didn't know anything about) and he was AMAZED at the difference in visual quality now that everything was up and running properly.

He simply didn't know anything about HD or how to get it. But, now he knows better!

Just like some can't stop speaking up for what every J6P wants?

I bought three HD displays (2 TVs and a projector) in the last three years for HD content, be it for DVHS, OTA HD, and specifically in wait of HD-dvd or Blu-Ray. Now, I'm definitely more on the videophile side of things than J6P, but even I see the problem with people thinking HDTV is not in "great demand". Let's face it, most J6P's don't have the knowledge to get OTA HD and have never heard of DVHS. That leaves them with what, a dozen or so channels they have to subscribe to? It's a combo of limited, compressed channels for a lot of money. Even I don't place enough value in that to subscribe to any services. I know plenty of J6P types that want HD, just don't know where to get it or don't want to pay too much for it. It's all about value.

As for how fast the marketplace can grow, it's anyones guess. PS3 will be a big user base. We should also expect to see Toshiba, Sony, and Panasonic start package deals with all new HDTVs and HD players very shortly.

Because for many people as soon as they see that their brand new HDTV now needs cables, an antenna and a tuner box they lose interest. This means more dollars, installation, remote controls etc.

With owning a moving company, I move a nice HD display at least 4 or 5 times a week. They are really starting to pop up in more and more homes. But the more I see...the more I find out that people are just clueless. They buy the gear and either were not informed correctly or just fail to do their own research. They have a flower waiting to bloom but yet they keep it on ice. Those days I see it.....are sad days.

So....

...of course they love it when after collecting their bill, I sit there and if they really seem interested, start explaining the basics. Something they should have already known. No reason to beat people down for not using their HD displays right....take the time and inform them. I've lost count on how many clients I've had that knew little about HD progamming. Many have actually acted on getting the best HD provider, calibrating their system and understanding more through research. I don't go into the whole HD-Lite problem. Kid gloves are needed early in training.

But yes OP....the whole thing is true. Many are wasting their time and not taking advantage of what HD is all about. Now if they ever spent 1 hour here in the forums.....

I don't understand this. If you spend hundreds to thousands of dollars on home entertainment, wouldn't you want to educate yourself on getting the very best performance from the products you just spent big bucks on?

I think, as indicated above, many people just want a big TV and don't care much about the HD aspect or PQ in general. All big TVs are now HD, so that's the disconnect.

First and foremost I would think. Most are just replacing old tvs and could care less about HD. Like Adam said, you can't buy a big tv w/o it being HD capable.

Second would be cost. Now you have to shell out extra $10 or so a month to the cable co. for an HD box, plus another $8 a month for the HD pak of channels.

Third, most don't have home theaters. They watch a tv in the family room and absolute best PQ isn't high on the priority list, especially when you are watching on a 36" set.

I bought the first Samsung DLP set back in 2002. It was HDTV ready, but I don't have cable and didn't bother to get up upconverting DVD player till last month, when I bought a new DLP. So that set never saw anything over 480p (which looked damn good). My new DLP has a built-in HDTV tuner so now I get OTA HD.

No. For a lot of people it has to be able to just plug in. Simple.

One plug, one hole.

These people can barely have sex.

You will be astonished at how many people who'll purchased HDTV's, and don't have a clue, or know anything about them. They just buy them because it's a new technology, but I'm not surprised at the stats listed above, and one of my co-workers is one of them. Heck, I had to tell him how to connect a DVD Player, and I'd stated to him, " if he needed any further instructions, read the owner's manual, that's the purpose for it" (which it's true!)

I know it wasn't mentioned as one of the three main reasons, but I think many people buy HDTV compatible tv's solely for dvd viewing.

When we first got our big screen it was used 80% + for just dvds. At the time our cable company didn't have any HD boxes, so we went without for many monthes.

The wife and I watch alot of movies, but very little tv so if we had to do without HD it wouldn't by heart breaking. I have a few frieds who all have big screen HDTV compatible tv's, and they are alll in their basements or rec rooms. They use the "home theatre room" solely for dvd's, and regular tv watching is done in other rooms.

Yes. I bought my HD ready display to watch upscaled DVDs. I have no access to HD programming. The difference between watching upscaled DVDs on a big screen and watching them at 480i on a regular TV is huge.

So, I count as someone who has an HD ready TV but doesn't use it for HD programming. But when the winner of the Blu-ray/HD-DVD battle is decided, I am ready to go.

Those who assume that anyone who doesn't use an HDTV for HD programming is an idiot, are being fatuous.

I'm assuming he doesn't have an HD cable box?

That's the point i as trying to make earlier. It just doesn't make sense to me either.

But to even educate yourself, you have to know you're uneducated. Like computers. Many non-computer people assume that whatever Dell or HP gives them, well, they're the experts, so let's go with it. It doesn't even occur to many people that there may be other ways of doing something.
And, 'home theater' and "HD" isn't necessarily the most newbie-friendly technology...SD, ED, HD, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p, resolution, s-video, component, composite, coax, digital/coax optical audio, bandwidth, etc. Then when you buy the stuff at Best Buy, the most 'help' you'll get is 'You need Monster Cables to go with that!" without being informed 'why' or 'here's where they should go'. Enthusiasts, some of whom post here often, usually either already know what to look for, or go to the more professional HT places. 'Joe Sixpack', and I mean that not in a mean way, but to refer to the 'mainstream', that is, people who don't spend hours on message boards talking about dvds or movies or HT, goes to BB/CC, buys a big TV, maybe adds on some cables pushed on him, and that's it. The backs of some of these things can be overwhelming, so he finds the "TV" hole and sticks it in.

I'll admit, I'm like that in some respects--I posted in the HTiB thread about it. When I first bought my HTiB, I looked for big numbers. Then after reading some magazines, I realized there are other numbers I should use a criteria. I don't understand them, or have them memorized, but if/when I make another purchase, I will do that research, now that I know there's more info out there that I need.

Now, the cable guy who set it up with coax--that's an insult. He should hook it up right, or if he can't spend the time, at the very least he should say "basic install includes this, but if you want HD, that's an additional fee" [if it is] or tell him he's not getting the best use out of it.

That's a good point. I never thought about it that way because I'm the same when it comes to computers.

The other thing to remember, to a lot of people buying these things, the money they spent on the TV may have been pocket change to them.

Where as for many of us, it's a huge sum of money and we're naturally going to be more inclined to research everything. Even those of us that don't care that much about PQ in general like myself will reseach because it's a major purchase and we want the most bang for our buck.

Nope. Just regular 'ol cable box, no HD.