[opendtv] A-VSB in Las Vegas
- From: Mark Schubin <tvmark@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: Open DTV Forum <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 11 Jan 2007 08:43:39 -0500
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/11/technology/11show.html
Honest, It Works
An immutable law of technology is that no demonstration of a new
technology, especially when witnessed by the news media, will go smoothly.
Samsung Electronics was reminded of that during a demonstration of a new
system of sending television to portable video devices. Samsung planned
to display its A-VSB technology — it stands for Advanced Vestigial
Sideband — in a minibus moving through the streets of Las Vegas. The
audience would be held captive.
In the back of the minibus were two television screens. One was tuned
into the normal local broadcast, which the company knew would come in
and out as the signal was blocked by tall hotels. The other was
receiving a special A-VSB signal from a local TV station, KVMY, owned by
Sinclair Broadcasting.
Samsung wanted to show how this signal, carried on a small portion of
the radio spectrum used by a broadcaster, could provide a reliable
picture to a moving target.
But right at the outset, the regular signal was lost.
Something was wrong, but John M. Godfrey, Samsung’s vice president for
government and public affairs, shifted the subject to the kinds of new
electronic devices this technology would spawn, like hand-held TVs that
people could take to picnics or the ballpark.
Such devices would need only an inexpensive chip to receive the signal.
A prototype was passed around. But the picture it was displaying was
different from the one on the van’s TV that was also receiving the A-VSB
signal.
Then the A-VSB picture on the bigger TV on the wall of the van froze.
“Folks, it was working perfectly this afternoon,” Mr. Godfrey said as
the cameras rolled. “Remember, this is only a prototype.”
Suddenly, just as the ride was coming to an end, the hand-held TV and
the wall TV had a picture — the same picture, as they were supposed to.
The problem had been “power interruption” back at the station, said a
public relations executive along for the ride.
Mr. Godfrey proudly posed with the prototype, now working. When giving a
demonstration, he advised, it helps not to pull out the plug. DAMON DARLIN
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways:
- Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at FreeLists.org
- By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word
unsubscribe in the subject line.
Other related posts:
- » [opendtv] A-VSB in Las Vegas