The American public may be less willing than the television industry believes to embrace a high-resolution TV system with improved picture quality, clearer images and more brilliant color, according to a recent study.
The results of the study, by the Media Laboratory at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, ”contradict the accepted wisdom . . . which posits that high-definition TV knocks the socks off everyone who sees it.”
The study found that, to most viewers, the differences between conventional TV and high-definition TV, called HDTV, are subtle and that screens would have to be two to three times the size of sets found in most American living rooms to have a significant impact.
But the MIT report said the American public is unlikely to rush out to buy HDTV sets, which are expected to cost upwards of $3,500 when introduced.
