Sticker shock

Two years ago, the consumer-electronics industry lobbied Congress and the Federal Communications Commission to get moving on the nation’s conversion to digital television, promising that the new truer-than-life high definition TV sets would cost $2,500 or so for starters, then drop rapidly.

Early this year, as the timetable for the conversion was settled, the estimate for the first HDTVs rose to the $4,000 neighborhood, but — not to worry — a converter allowing existing sets to work in the new system would sell for a mere $150. Or maybe $300. Give or take.

Now, the new sets are due to hit stores coast-to-coast next month with price tages in the $8,000 range and no one’s even started making converters yet. Consumer-electronics industry executives offer this explanation: We’ve never built HDTVs before. Who knew?

This, to put it mildly, does not bode well.

But then this is just the latest piglet to wriggle out of the HDTV poke. Here’s a partial list of unadvertised consequences to date: Exorbitant conversion costs for broadcasters (Maine Public TV alone will need $12 million or so); enormous, zoning ordinance-busting broadcast towers of 1,500 feet or higher to beam the finicky digital signal; the auction of existing analog channels that was to take place when the conversion to digital was complete by 2006 and that was to raise tens of billions of dollars to balance the federal budget won’t come close on either count; industry spokesmen concede that early models of the new sets will be roughly the size of a compact car.

To be fair, HDTV still promises a cornucopia of benefits, even if they’ve gotten a bit pricey. Those with a voyeuristic bent will be happy to know that, according to the consumer-electronics pitch, the HDTV picture is so sharp it’s more like peeping through a window than looking at a screen. Dogs with particularly acute hearing swear the sound, if run through the optional six-speaker sound system, just might be a decibel or two better than today’s $299 TV run through a six-speaker sound system. Digital transmissions will be totally free of interference, provided one lives under the shadow of a 1,500-foot tower. Digital signals can be used to transmit e-mail and to surf Web pages, just like the $800 computer on sale at the corner convenience store. This high-tech miracle can serve as a central message center for the entire HDTV family and can provide complete information on other program options, things that today would require investing in Post-its and TV Guide. All for a mere $8,000. Besides, with a VW Beetle stuffed in your living room, think of the money you’ll save on furniture.