Best Buy hired a firm to take a survey of the state of the American public’s knowledge of HDTV, and sad results are in. You don’t know what the hell is going on with your television.

Half of HDTV owners who responded to Best Buy’s survey “admit they are either not watching HD programming, or they aren’t sure if they are. Of these respondents, 35% didn’t realize they needed to subscribe to HD programming to watch HDTV.” Ok, this is sad. Just… sad.

The survey also suggested that ignorance about how to set up the HDTV was a source of embarrassment:

While 41% of HDTV owners admit to knowing little to nothing at all about HD, they would not want to admit that to friends and family; Half (52%) of HDTV owners agree it would be difficult to admit their HDTV wasn’t set up right after showing off to friends and family.

The unsurprising news is that this survey is essentially a sales pitch for Best Buy’s overpriced cables and installation packages—both of which you can skip, along with the extended warranty… if you know what you’re doing.

Obviously, many people don’t, so do us a favor. Tell a friend everything you know about HDTV.

Best Buy HD Done Right Survey Results (PDF) (Press Release)
(Photo:epicharmus)

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