Future converter boxes may be able to process all of that, at the click of a remote. And the plans grow grander. Suddenly, your TV isn't just a viewing box. You'll be able to click to some simple additional info related to TV shows using just your remote, or to move seamlessly to a channel's Web site. It's a new entertainment experience.
Television is an essentially passive experience.
People want to disconnect from daily life. Demonstrations on HDTV screens at Sarnoff's Princeton, N.J., labs include nature shows in which you can see every feather on a bird, every drop of water on a tree in the rain, with none of analog's annoying scan lines. Watching a B.B. King blues concert, you can practically smell the sweat and touch the sequins on his jacket. Football demos make you feel like you're in the stadium. It's much more robust viewing.