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You Can Think Your Way to High Definition, Finds Study

by Terrence O'Brien on October 9, 2009 at 08:25 AM

Think Your Way to HDTV
This probably isn't too shocking, but a recent study has shown that if you want a better picture from your TV all you have to do is think it's better.

According to a Dutch study published in the journal Computers in Entertainment, the mere suggestion that the quality of an image on television was better was enough to make participants perceive it as such. The researchers showed the same video clip to two different groups of 30 people. The first group was told they would be watching a standard definition DVD quality clip, while the second was told that they would be watching a high definition video. The illusion was backed up with some environmental trickery -- an extra thick cable ran into the TV and the room was filled with posters touting the wonders of high-definition.

The group told to expect a higher quality image reported clearer, crisper, and more detailed images than those experienced with standard-definition TV -- which of course wasn't the case.

Sadly no matter how hard we try, we still can't convince ourselves that 27-inch Coby tube TV sitting on milk crates in our "living room" looks anything like this 103-inch Bang and Olufsen. [From: New Scientist]

Tags: funny, hdtv, research, study, top

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