I sent the following email to Toshiba last week and never received a reply. I sent it to the address for customer service I found on their web site.
[email protected]
Anyone else receive a response by email? Feel free to use the body of this email if you'd like.
Paul
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I am considering purchasing a 57H81 HDTV rear projection television next month when they become available. However, I am well aware of the turmoil in the industry regarding encryption and digital inputs. It now appears that any set I purchase now will not be able to receive ALL HDTV programs in the not too distant future if it does not support Firewire/5C and DVI/HDCP encryption standards. Please read this article by the LA Times.
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la...819jul26.story
None of Toshiba's 2002 or earlier models have these inputs. They offer only analog component inputs. The license agreements for these proposed encryption schemes prohibit that receivers output anything that has been encrypted on an analog output without "down-rezzing" it first. This means that if I purchase one of your televisions without these digital inputs I will have to view some HDTV programs in standard definition mode rather than HDTV mode which defeats the purpose of an HDTV and I would then consider my TV to be obsolete.
What will you do to protect me and other consumers that purchase, or have already purchased, one of your televisions that have been advertised as being HDTV upgradeable? In actuality it appears these sets are not upgradeable.
Toshiba and the other television manufacturers need to make a press release soon addressing these issues if you hope to sell HDTV sets in any volume this year. Now that these issues are hitting the press the consumer will likely wait until these issues are resolved before making a purchase. Unless, of course, the manufacturers make commitments to the consumers that the sets will be upgradeable, without a loss of resolution, as HDTV standards evolve.
Regards,
Paul
[This message has been edited by Paul G (edited 07-31-2001).]