Free HDTV? Sure, With a Healthy Imagination

Want the good life? Think a top of the line HDTV would make you happier? According to a new study, all you need is a lot of imagination, a few props and you're there!

The study, conducted in Holland, tested the power of suggestion on a random group of people. According to an article in New Scientist:

"Sixty people in turn were shown the same video clip on the same television. Half were told to expect clearer, sharper pictures thanks to HD technology: an impression backed up by posters, flyers and the presence of an extra-thick cable connected to the screen. The other half were told to expect a normal DVD image."

What happened? You guessed it: the subjects "saw" a sharper image when they believed they were watching HDTV.

The purpose of the study was not to find out how easy it is to cheat customers. Rather, it was intended to investigate the impact of "framing" on perception. That is, how easy is it to shape perceptions through presentation, props and means.

In the case of HDTV, there really is a significant difference between the quality of digital and high definition images. But when the right framing was put into place, participants saw what they expected to see.

The effect, researchers suggest, "may be magnified once a person has paid out for an HD subscription, set-top box or television." And that makes sense. After all, who wants to acknowledge that they've put out hard cold cash for a poor product?

What's the moral of the story? There are actually two.

The first, of course, is caveat emptor: be sure you're really seeing a difference when you buy a more expensive version of a product.

The second, though, seems a bit subtler. That is -- maybe we don't really need souped-up technology to make us happy. Maybe, just maybe, that old-fashioned TV set is doing a fine job after all!

Photo courtesy of stock.xchng