[opendtv] Re: 20060901 Free Friday Fragments (Mark's Monday Memo)

  • From: Bob <bob@xxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Mon, 04 Sep 2006 23:15:54 -0400

Manfredi, Albert E wrote: 

Bob Miller wrote:

I watched an "estimate" put together by a company showing a group
of Legislative Assistants in DC a prototype of a converter box.
Basically the LA's repeated over an over the question "and this
will cost about $50 right? At first the company officials tried
to go over what went into the box, IP cost, power cord, led lights
and various other essentials but in the end they just answered
"right" accompanied by a silent shrug.

Legislative assistants vs. corporate execs. What an image that makes.

The cost had to be $50 because that is what they wanted to hear.
They also didn't want to hear about any problems with reception.
Same scenario at a meeting with Senator Barton. Didn't want to
hear their was any problem. I was shouted down in that
conversation by a Motorola rep who basically chanted that all
problems had been solved.

And, depending how you define "all problems," this turned out to be
true. If "all problems" means that 8-VSB could be received following the
guidelines originally set by the FCC, i.e. about the same coverage as
NTSC, this has come to pass. Certainly with up-to-date receivers, at
least.

In my experience now, indoor and outdoor antenna reception, you can
argue that even 3rd gen boxes do a better job of picking up TV signals
than NTSC receivers. Especially if you take into account the difference
in ERP between analog and digital.

Yes, there is the digital cliff to be dealt with. But for example, I
will gladly watch any interesting show from Balt Channels such as 45 and
54 in digital, whereas their higher power analog counterparts (also UHF)
are viewable perhaps, but you wouldn't want to stay there. Channel 2
analog VHF is very bad, whereas its UHF digital counterpart is
excellent, although without a big margin. These are all almost 50 miles
away.

In certain weird atmospheric conditions, the Balt UHF digital stations
drop off completely, whereas their analog UHF channels, especially, come
in very grainy. And the analog channels have considerably more power.
These are rare conditions, so IMO, one could argue that overall "same
coverage as NTSC" has already been exceeded. In my location.

Bert
Thats really impressive but the general rule still goes more like this report.

http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/retrieve.cgi?native_or_pdf=pdf&id_document=6518424024

"Indeed, even the best performing receivers were able to receive a picture in just 62% of the test performed.

The worst-performing receivers were able to produce a picture in less than 15% of tests.49 Moreover, the worst performing receivers in terms of both signal sensitivity and multipath handling were the low priced set top boxes50 – the very receivers likely to be purchased by many over-the-air consumers in view of the federal subsidy for converter boxes.51 The Commission’s results with respect to set-top boxes were consistent with the survey of set top box receivers that H&E has conducted on behalf of EchoStar.52

The Commission effectively acknowledged this finding but said that “[w]ith the exception of set-top boxes . . . it appears that there is very little relationship between price and the
minimum signal level needed to provide service.”53 This is an important exception, however. It is not appropriate to exclude the very class of receivers that consumers are most likely to buy
from the Commission’s assessment of DTV receiver performance, even if they are “older designs.” EchoStar urges the Commission not to base its conclusion on a sample that excludes
low-priced set top boxes but includes 9 out of 23 (39%) receivers priced above $2000. Such high-end receivers are simply out of reach of many households. The fact remains that the
cheapest DTV receivers on the market today (and the ones likely to be purchased by consumers) are set top boxes that have poor multipath handling and signal sensitivities."

And what kind of receivers do you think those converter boxes that cost $50 will be? From what I have seen they fall into the bottom half of the bottom half.

Bob Miller


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