St. Tammany News

Imagine roaming the harsh wastelands of the Sahara with details so crisp you can count the grains of sand littered across the hiding scorpion's exoskeleton. Or standing next to your favorite football star and seeing the white in his knuckles as he prepares to deliver a bruising blow. And doing it all from the confines of your living room recliner.

Charter Communications is prepared to make your television dreams come true with their premier launch of 44 high definition channels exclusively in this region. According to Jim Laurent, director of Government Reltions for Charter's Louisiana system, it was only fitting to have the launch in Louisiana.

"Charter had a choice of where they wanted to do this premier launch. They looked at all the systems across the U.S. and felt that this was the best comeback story of them all, like the phoenix rising from the ashes. We are kind of the flagship area," he said.

Laurent credits the success of the program to the hard work of the behind-the-scene workers.

He also said the timing is prime for an upgrade.

"Everybody wants more high definition now. Most of the TVs produced today are HD compatible, so we're trying to keep up with the times," he said. Some of the channels included in the HD package are the ESPNs, FOX Sports, Golf Channel, Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, Learning Channel, TNT, A&E, History Channel and The Weather Channel.

High definition is simply a new television format. Non-HD TV sets can hold approximately 500 pixels (dots of light that create the picture) across and 500 down, but an HDTV can hold as many as 1920 pixels across and 1080 down providing a clearer, higher-quality image.

However, the TV is only one component of watching your favorite programs in high definition. Buyers must also have an HDTV receiver, which decodes the HD information and delivers it into the HDTV, and an HD provider, which is where Charter comes in.

"All you need to have is a Charter high definition box and the subscription to any of our HD packages," he said.

Packages begin at $65. Laurent added that if customers are already subscribed to the high definition package, the channels will be added at no extra cost.

In relation to satellite providers, Laurent said Charter is the better buy.

"It's a better bargain than going satellite because of the better customer support. It's more user-friendly, you have a greater variety of off-air local broadcast channels and there are local offices where you can actually talk to real people and express any concerns. Satellite people do not have local offices," he said.