[opendtv] Re: CEA White Paper
- From: "Tony Neece" <tonyneece@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 25 Oct 2005 01:43:14 -0700
Well, I have to count myself fortunate. I live in the San Fernando =
Valley,
just north of the Santa Monica Mountains. I get every digital station =
in
the city solid as a rock. I even took a look at my antenna feed with a
Tektronix 492 spectrum analyzer and every station's signal was flat =
across
the channel. I am line of sight to Mt. Wilson, with no big buildings or
other structures nearby. =20
I subscribe to DirecTV's HD service, so I can also get 4 local stations =
off
the bird. However, there are some programs in HD on 3 other stations I
particularly like, so I really do make use of an off-air ATSC receiver. =
(1
commercial & two PBS stations)
Your comment, Craig, that the broadcasters are trying to protect their =
NTSC
service is overly cynical and plain wrong. Most but the smallest market
broadcasters have truly embraced digital. In addition to the mandated
transmitters and antennas, they have upgraded their studio plants with
millions of dollars worth of digital and HD equipment. They have taken =
on
the wrath of whole communities in battles over antenna tower =
construction to
try to duplicate their service areas. You can hardly expect =
broadcasters to
be very gleeful about it all when 7 years into it the public still has =
no
economical way of benefiting from all that.
Broadcasters would like nothing better than to get rid of their NTSC
equipment and the attendant power costs. How is it fair to blame the
broadcasters if they have no real audience for their digital =
transmissions?
The average Joe just can't afford it. All the while the retailers have =
been
pushing zillions of analog only TVs out the door, pushing cable and
satellite sign-ups, and downplaying Digital reception. I have had =
retail
salesmen tell me there was no such thing as an over the air digital
receiver, even after the tuner mandate was on the books! Surely you
wouldn't suspect the evil broadcasters have brought the retailers into =
their
NTSC conspiracy! (I'm teasing you with that last line, sorry)
-----Original Message-----
From: opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] =
On
Behalf Of Craig Birkmaier
Sent: Monday, October 24, 2005 11:24 PM
To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [opendtv] Re: CEA White Paper
At 10:40 PM -0400 10/24/05, Mark Schubin wrote:
>Here's a simple explanation, quite forgiveable by me.
>
>In the testing of DTT receivers here, I would often get some channels
>but not others. A recent posting on another list discusses getting six
>out of nine channels in a particular city, and that was with a
>5th-generation LG integrated set.
>
>So, if I'm station A in a market, and I promote DTT, and my viewers buy
>receivers and discover they can't get me, at best I've ticked off my
>viewers. At worst, I've sent them to the competition.
I have little sympathy for this argument Mark. By 2000 broadcasters=20
knew that reception was a big problem. Rather than trying to deal=20
with it they allowed their leadership to conduct some of the most=20
irresponsible tests in the history of TV broadcasting.
The only "simple explanation" is that they are trying to protect the=20
NTSC service, and could care less whether the DTV service actually=20
works.
Regards
Craig
P.S. The reception issue is the Joker in the hole for broadcasters.=20
You can forget about the April 2007 deadline. When the testing=20
reports come out on the affordable receivers that the government may=20
help subsidized, and they show that many people will not be able to=20
use them reliably, another deadline will vaporize.
=20
=20
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