[opendtv] Re: CEA White Paper
- From: "Tony Neece" <tonyneece@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 22 Oct 2005 02:28:14 -0700
Lets please cut to the chase.
As far as mandates go, lets not forget the Broadcasters have been mandated
to spend millions upon millions, starting over 7 years ago, to support the
digital transition.
Thus I have little patience with the whining over the tuner mandate.
Now, about the debate over whether a ATSC tuner is needed in a TV set.
Perhaps not, except that as of now there are a great many cable subscribers
on only ANALOG service.
Those folk can today get a far superior picture from their local stations
with an ATSC tuner, in many cases with an indoor antenna. Even in those
households that do have digital cable in place, many of their second sets
are not so connected and depend on OTA reception. The point I am making is
there are more that 13% of the eyeballs out there watching analog TV. A lot
more.
What has really stalled the digital transition? Seven years into this
transition there is still no such thing as an affordable STB for OTA digital
reception. The $90 Accurian from Radio Shack is an anomaly, a close-out
price. Remember they originally were priced at $249, then went on sale at
$179. Not an attractive price for the masses (nor for I). When they were
dropped to $90 they flew off the shelves. Not one RS store in California
has one in stock. Now that pretty well establishes the price point
necessary for DTV to become really accepted by John Q, Joe Sixpak and all
the little old ladies in Pasadena and Peoria.
I used to watch HTDV programs via a Panasonic IRD down converted to a 19
inch garden variety TV, for continuity checking. I was blown away at the
splendid detail and color; the texture and snap. Crystal wine glasses
looked like crystal. You could really tell who had lovely skin complexion.
Even with SD pix, digital transmission is so superior as to be worth
reasonable effort and expense to the average consumer. $200 for an IRD (if
you can find one at that price) plus the cost of an antenna is beyond
reasonable for all but the most avid couch potato.
If the tuner mandate gets the manufacturing volume up and price down for
ATSC tuner and decoder chips, and that quickly results in STBs at prices
that the retailers can sell, it will have indeed been worthwhile.
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