Election Night 2008 brought about an unprecedented amount of HD coverage, and while we're all in absolute agreement that CNN's "holographic" interviews were the comedy for the evening, we're interested on your take on how networks as a whole did with their high-def presentation. Was CBS' polished graphics set enough to overcome those embarrassing audio gaffes? Did ABC / FOX have the edge? Where did you find yourself tuned to most of the night? Drop your vote (hey, there's a concept!) below.

Sure, not every station's pulled out the Star Wars / Iron Man-style holograms for the 2008 election, but they're all trying to put shiny new HD studios to full use and get as many eyeballs as possible until things are decided. NBC & ABC immediately jumped out front at 7 p.m. with data pouring in on the widescreen edges of their HD feeds, with CNN waiting until states were decided to begin updating their lists. ABC's chosen to lean on its touchscreen display and forgo side graphics altogether, while despite Fox's claim as "America's Election HQ", with totally bare shoulders and boring sets, we're pointing our flatscreens elsewhere. PBS, despite airing the clearest, most high quality video available of three old guys at a table, has no slick touchscreens or HD graphics packages to speak of. Think about that as you check out the rest of the screens after the break, and during the next donation drive. Big Bird deserves better.

If you've been keeping your eyes fixed on CNN as this election unfolds, then by now you've seen Wolf Blitzer doing a "hologram" interview with Jessica Yellin. Not only does this technology seem completely creepy, but it's without a doubt one of the most useless and unnecessary pieces of phantasmagoric TV ever enacted. Enjoy some video and two more pics of the weirdness after the break.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

As the news networks spend oodles of cash in order to one-up the other with whiz-bang visuals and mind-melting charts, CNN is looking to blow just about everyone else away. As election night officially kicks off in just a few hours, the network's Wolf Blitzer will be conducting interviews with faraway strategists not via the traditional two-pane window, but by hologram. Believe it or not, professionals in Chicago and Phoenix will be beamed live to CNN's New York studios in order to give viewers a look at Wolf and a ghostly counterpart. Granted, this is far from the first holographic / 3D interview we've seen, but it is rather impressive given the scenario. In related news, we're also told that FOX News will be touting a "giant wall with touch-screen technology [that] will provide electoral map results," which hopefully translates in geek speak to "Surface."

[Via Hack-A-Day]

Deciding which channel to catch the Vice Presidential Debate on tonight? Wall Street Journal's The Numbers Guy points out that CNN's HD feed includes live analyst scorecards on the side of the screen (not included in the SD broadcast). Of course, with somewhat loose interpretations of how or when to score the debates, and a lack of explanation to viewers on what the scores the executive producer admitted there's room for improvement, but it may be worth checking out tonight and during future debates. Flip between six different VP debate HD feeds, or catch Magic's Biggest Secrets on My Network TV? Decision '08 indeed.

Even though this week's Democratic debate was unfortunately-SD on ABC, we can expect more reasons to pay attention to the potential candidates in the days to come. CNN's Election Express has already deployed an HD news truck to cover the campaign trail, but CBS is close behind. The Eye plans to hit the conventions in HD, but it will take a while to move the newscast beyond upconverted standard definition video. NBC and ABC will also have the conventions in HD, but while NBC says its field equipment is HD ready, ABC doesn't plan to move beyond 4x3 newsgathering until the end of the year. Check out the rest of the details on TV Technology, we can't tell you who to vote for, but we wouldn't make a decision based on anything said in 480i.

Canadians, rejoice! Effectively immediately, Rogers cable customers in Ontario can tune into CNN HD on channel 545. 'Course, only certain shows such as American Morning, Lou Dobbs Tonight, Anderson Cooper 360 and In The Money are actually shot in high-definition, but hey, you'll take what you can get, eh? Sadly, there's no word on if / when the station will bleed out to other locales and carriers in Canada, but if you manage to spot it on your lineup (and you're not already situated in Ontario), be sure to drop us a line in comments.

Although Cox inked a deal to snag CNN HD (and TBS HD, mind you) some three months back, it seems as if customers in New Orleans, Louisiana are just now getting a taste. According to a tipster, Cox has just recently threw CNN and Golf / Versus into the high-definition lineup, but stations such as History Channel HD, Science HD and NHL Network HD are still sorely missing. Anyone else enjoying the (admittedly late) newcomers in the area?

[Thanks, Jose R.]

We could certainly get used to hearing all these HD expansion stories, but the ones most excited about Comcast's latest additions are housed all around our nation's capital. According to tipster Casey, customers in and around Baltimore, Maryland and Northern Virginia are just now receiving six new high-definition channels: Discovery Channel HD, CNN HD, TLC HD, USA HD, Animal Planet HD, and yes, Sci-Fi HD, too. Interestingly, it's said that subscribers in Washington, D.C. have yet to see the newcomers, but feel free to toss a comment in below if that status changes.

[Thanks, Casey B.]

The deal was done some time ago, but apparently, Cox is still getting around to doling out a few new HD additions to various markets. According to tipster Kevin, the cable provider has just now activated CNN HD, TBS HD, Discovery HD and TLC HD in Kansas, but Science Channel HD and Animal Planet HD were sadly missing from the bunch. Anyone else in the surrounding area also notice the newcomers?

[Thanks, Kevin]

It is the season to give, you know, and while we've heard that Comcast will be on the receiving end of things when it hikes rates in 2008, at least users across the nation are receiving a boost in their HD lineup before having the family over this holiday season. Up next on Comcast's list is St. Paul / Minneapolis, Minnesota (and western Wisconsin), which is receiving 11 new channels to complement the 22 already available. Among the newcomers are CNN HD, Animal Planet HD, Discovery HD, Food HD, Sci-Fi HD, TLC HD, Universal HD, USA HD, TBS HD, History HD and FSN North HD. Reportedly, customers in the area are already able to view USA, Sci-Fi, Universal and Food, and the rest of the gang is slated to go live on or before December 17th.

[Thanks, Ed]

Hot on the heels of Charter's decision to add The Weather Channel HD, Cablevision is claiming that its users will be able to check out CNN in high-definition. Reportedly, CNN HD will be the operator's 42nd HD "service" available to customers, and it's being made available to everyone gratis on iO TV channel 725. John Trierweiler, Cablevision's senior vice president of product management, boasted that the firm's HD lineup has "nearly doubled in size over the last year," but unfortunately, he didn't throw out any wild claims for the future for us to hold 'em to.

CNN HD launched today, but there's no one to notice, since the only carriage agreement in place is with DirecTV and since their newest bird DirecTV 10 won't be operational till later this month, they aren't ready for them. HD news is the latest rage, and CNN HD will be the first national 24 hour news channel presented in HD. And like other HD news, it will be a mix of SD and HD. Our favorite quote is, "We're not going to stretch our video." when asked how they would deal with 4:3 shots from their library clips and the newsgathering. The worst news is that they haven't upgraded their studio in Atlanta yet, so shows like The Situation Room with anchor Wolf Blitzernot won't be in HD. They are working to make it all HD by upgrading studios and the newsgathering cameras, but as we've learned, these things take time. The other thing that takes time are carriage agreements, which they say are also in progress. We've stopped trying to make sense of these negotiations, especially when you consider that Time Warner Cable and CNN HD are owned by the same company, yet CNN HD will debut on DirecTV.

[Via DBSTalk]

We sure hope this means that the HD programming race is heating up and it's not just vapor ware. After all 2006 was a slow year for new HD channels. DirecTV has been boasting for some time about the number of HD channels they would have and today they have announced specific channels. The interesting part is that almost none only a few of the channels they announced today are currently offering HD programming. The channels announced today include.

• A&E
• National Geographic
• Bravo
• NFL Network
• Cartoon Network
• SciFi Channel
• CNN
• Speed
• Food Network
• TBS
• FX
• The History Channel
• HGTV
• The Weather Channel
• MTV
• USA Network

Currently DirecTV only carries 9 national HD channels and even with this list and as many premium channels we can think of there would still only be 30 HD channels. Throw in 20 or so for regional sports channels and is still only 50% of their claim. As much as we want to believe them, we have our reservations.

Most All of us have gotten furstarted over the lack of high definition programming. But here I am watching CNN on a nice 42-inch plasma and the signal is not in HD. Why hasn't one cable news station switched over to high definition yet? It seems that the target demographic of these sets are also the sameones that watch cable news stations. Plus, the format of the programs would allow more information to be displayed on the screen, but here lies the problem.

Ever watch ESPN's SportsCenter in high-def? Course you have. The picture is beautiful but there is nothing extra that the HDTV format gives you. When they display stats on the screen you can see that they extend right to the spot that a 4:3 TV ends. ESPN can't give you more info just because you have a HDTV. They would be alienating the non-HD owners.

This has to be the same reason that cable stations have not gone high-def yet. They can give you a great picture but nothing more. Moreover, these stations rely on a lot of cameras that are not in the studio to give you most of their programming so there would be a good amoount of non-HD content on the station.

Still, a guy can dream can't he?