The Masked Engineer

You might not have noticed that this time all the technical rules have changed. Ayup, this is another rant on DTV - and its new "enhancements."

Good old analog NTSC is supposed to die one second after 11:59:59 p.m. on Dec. 31, 2006 (and, if the FCC had its way, it would be a year earlier than that). Will it?

You might not have noticed that we live on the third planet from the star in our solar system. I mention this because of the ultra-alien things that have been going on lately in TV-set pricing.

You might not have noticed that, if you want recent commercial-free movies on video, there are better places to look than broadcast TV.

You might not have noticed that summer's over. Congress is back in session, and it's time to knuckle down and complete the DTV transition.

You might not have noticed that there's a word in every language for someone who makes predictions. That word is idiot.

You might not have noticed that numbers used to mean something. I mean you wouldn't say two is the same as one, would you? Hint: You might not want to answer this right away.

Somewhere out there, you might not have noticed that audio exists. This is especially true if you are a producer, director, member of the lighting persuasion, or camera op.

What I really want to rant about this month is good old high definition. The problem is defining definition and figuring out how high is high -- that and some other stuff.

You might not have noticed that sometimes a purchase has more than you wanted.