back to article HD TV beats depression, claims HD TV company

If you’re feeling a tad depressed then we’d admit that a comedy could help boost your spirits. But a questionable piece of Sky research claims to have concluded that watching HD TV programmes can help improve the viewer’s psychological well being. According to the broadcaster, it’s apparently proven that “watching television …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    Run Fatboy, Run

    I'm willing to believe that Run, Fat Boy, Run will lift your mood, reduce stress and even boost your immune system but I draw the line at believing it will make you laugh!

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Unhappy

    Junk science

    Scarily, scientific research proves that most victims of a Rupert Murdoch company will believe junk science like this.

    [The scientific research being that if it didn't work, he wouldn't have built a media empire on this and other dubious journalism]

  3. Code Monkey

    For a bigger boost

    ...try turning the damned thing off and do something else. Anything else!

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    pass the bucket

    I get depressed every time I talk to Sky's Customer Service department.....its like hitting our head off a brick wall with all the fun bits taken out.

  5. The Avangelist
    Heart

    My samsung

    I got to say when I got my Series 6 just before xmas I was smiling. Extra space where I had a huge CRT. I could actually read the text from my PS3. All was well.

    But I am reasonably sure it hasn't cured any depression.

  6. Pinkerton
    Happy

    Viz

    This reminds me of the Viz spoof poster:

    They're Happy Because They Eat Lard.

    (Issued by the Lard Information Council)

  7. Anonymous John
    Unhappy

    HD TV beats depression, claims HD TV company

    Not when you realise that you can now buy a 37 inch one for less than you paid for a 32 inch one a year ago, it doesn't.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    England 51 All Out. Windies win by an innings

    I can't imagine that watching that "intense sport" would be good for anybody, unless you are from Ja-maia-ca.

    I'm soooo glad I don't have Sky, low def, high def, tone deaf or otherwise.

  9. Horridbloke
    Unhappy

    But I thought...

    ... that having 200 channels of complete shit was supposed to cure depression?

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    Making dudbious scientific claims leads to free advertising, claims software engineer

    ... enough said.

  11. Gert
    Happy

    sure ...

    Sure, HD TV does cure depression ... just not mine, but of those who sell it ...

  12. Andy Bright

    Finally

    A cure for depression Tom Cruise can believe in.. I'm sure he'll be calling Brook Shields right away to let her know, stop the pills and watch more Top Gun.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I'm a believer

    I got a bluray drive for my home theater computer, and I've been happier ever since! :)

    Seriously, the science probably actually says something somewhat more complicated - like, there's a correlation between larger field-of-view viewing of better colors, and some kind of endorphin response.

    Then the press translates that into, "HDTV cures depression!" without reading the paper or asking the scientists, and everyone bitches about the scientists being assholes.

  14. Daniel B.
    Thumb Down

    "Comedy" programs

    Given the quality of TV programs of late, I think the mere act of watching TV will depress me anyway, HD or not. TV is the opiate for the masses, and this "study" just shows that off. HD doesn't add anything.

    If anything, buying an HD TV right now will only *increase* my depression when my next credit card statement comes. Really, there are more important things to spend on than HDTV.

  15. Nick Ryan Silver badge
    Coat

    Depression

    *REAL* research has shown that while watching TV your brain is less active than when staring at a blank wall and exercise (for example, a walk) is very good for depression.

    Somehow or other these points have missed Sky's marketing department...

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I think I'll stick to the obsessive masturbation

    what with it being proven to release endorphins and, more importantly, free, whilst being infinitely less wanky than any marketing garbage disguised as psuedoscience

  17. Christian Berger

    Yes, but only colour

    I mean who buys colour TV sets? They are typically overpriced, large, have a low resolution and consume a lot more power than monochrome ones.

  18. LaeMi Qian
    Pirate

    And here's me thinking...

    ...I put my old SD TV on the curbside for bulk-waste-collection day because there was not enough on worth watching to justify the space it was taking up in my living room!

    After sitting through an hour of utter crap just to keep myself up for a Dr. Who rerun, I realised I was better off renting the DVD for $2 weekly and watching it at my choice of time on my (admittedly 27" HD) PC screen.

  19. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    I could see how Sky HD TV would cure depression

    for Mr Murdoch, his family and shareholders, after all they'll be on the receiving end of more cash.

  20. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    Will work for food and fresh lappy batteries

    Keep buying technojunk, my job is at stake you bastards!

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @Pinkerton

    which reminds me of a full-page advertising poster in the 'The Young Ones' book -

    Headline: BUTTER IS THE SPUNK OF THE DEVIL

    (and at the bottom of the page): issued by the margarine promotion council

  22. Andy Worth

    Re:I think I'll stick to the obsessive masturbation

    Damn, you beat me to it.........It's a damn sight cheaper than a HD-TV and has been proved over thousands of years to be a great aid to cheering up.

  23. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    HD does make you happy....

    ...think about it.

    Eastenders in Hi Def.

    The gobal economic crisis, in HiDef

    Documentury about the War in Gaza / Iraq / Afganistan in HiDef

    Police with cameras in cars and helicopters being watched CCTV! Series 4 - In HiDef

    yet another shit reality show, with "celebs" - In Hidef.

    How the F**k is that supposed to cure depression!

    Give me a good snowball fight anyday

  24. Warhelmet

    Bleargh!

    Donna Dawson - oh her. http://www.donnadawson.co.uk - she looks very scary to me.

    To be frank, this sort of shit is patronising and insulting. It trivialises mental illness.

    But the Wii isn't HD.

  25. David Paul Morgan
    Happy

    Dubious Research, but...

    I havev to say that, having waited 20 years for HD (remember the promise of HD-MAC from BSB?) I am absolutely bowled over by the quality of the programmes on BBC-HD. It's like having a window on the world. The Elephants documentary was stunning, as was the one abnout the southern oceans. Even the dramas have a vibrancy about them. When you go back to standard, it's like a veil has been put over your eyes, and on home shopping or UK Gold, having cataracts!

    I have the Panasonic Freesat with virgin V+ box and the amount of cfloor space liberated seems to have made my lounge feel bigger. I love it! Bought a PS3 to go with it and that's stunning too.

    "We are watching Fox" to quote the simpsons!

  26. Robert Grant

    "and everyone bitches about the scientists being assholes"

    It's a living!

  27. Lottie

    Better cure

    Spend the money on something decent.

    Seriously, in the closing down sales, for the price of an HDTV, Sky HD subscription and telly licence, you could buy so damn much. All the DVDs of Simpsons and Futurama that would be repeated ad nausium anyway for example.

    That ought to elevate the mood.

  28. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    You are not a special and unique snowflake,...

    you are made of the same decaying organic matter as everything else.

    Anyone who believes the results of this study, there is a new place for you - Twat Club!

  29. DutchOven
    Alert

    The Cure(tm) and How it Works

    Volunteers who have depression all register for a test that may imporve their mood.

    Sky bring them an HD TV set.

    The control subjects do not get one.

    Three weeks later the control subjects have had no change in mood.

    The subjects who recieved an HD TV are all gleefully happy - they've got a free HD TV ffs!

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