[opendtv] Re: Canada's Minimalist Approach to the DTV Transition
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2011 06:48:32 -0400
At 5:41 PM -0500 4/3/11, Manfredi, Albert E wrote:
Craig Birkmaier wrote:
> The reality in Canada is that the public is WELL prepared for the
transition.
Not according to the article. Most Canadians are totally unaware of
any such transition, and according to the article, a good 30 percent
of them still use OTA for at least a secondary set in the house.
Although less than 10 percent use OTA as their only method.
The stats are similar to the U.S.
The broadcasters want to count all of those old analog CRTS, but in
reality, most are not being used at all. We have two that have not
been turned on in more than a year.
When push comes to shove, I doubt many Canadians will buy STBs for
these sets, as even at $30, they still cost far more than the TVs are
worth - maybe $5 at a garage sale.
What is more important is that there has been plenty of time for
Canadians to buy new wide screen, flat panel TVs that include ATSC
tuners, and they have had just about the same access to HD
programming, mostly via cable, as we have had in the U.S.
> If it were left to me I would have ended the transition in 2002 with NO
receiver mandates or government cheese.
If it were up to you, we would have no OTA TV at all, and everyone
would be as tethered and as dependent as you are, on a single
gatekeeper. I guess misery loves company? This is like asking me
what we should do about the NBA and NFL. Complete lack of interest
makes just as unqualified to comment on those two organizations.
You are completely WRONG about this Bert. I believe there is a good
role for TV broadcasting. But that role is as a wireless service, to
deliver TV to unthethered devices. Unfortunatley the ATSC standard
was designed for fixed receivers, and works best (if at all) with an
outdoor antenna. And YES, I know you have an antenna in your
fireplace.
Even the afterthought MHP standard is severely compromised with
respect to mobile service, which is a major reason that there are now
discussions about starting over with a standard that is at least
somewhat compatible with "4G" wireless.
> The fact that we are now looking at another transition to deal with an
appropriate standard for the wireless television broadcast medium speaks
for itself;
Yes, but you misconstrue the reason. The real reason is that we have
to appease utterly clueless lawmakers, who think there is a magic
bullet that will save on spectrum. In fact, there isn't, but if they
can be appeased, maybe that's reason enough.
NO BERT. The real reason is that this is the best use of spectrum
assigned to broadcast TV. There is almost no demand for the broadcast
service for fixed receivers, as there are many better alternatives,
including the MVPDs and the Internet. The few remaining homes that
want to use the broadcast service for fixed receivers will still be
able to receive broadcasts that are optimized for mobile devices; the
only difference is that it will be much easier and more reliable.
In any event, even the Europeans are going through a second
transition, both to introduce HD and to switch to DVB-T2. So I guess
that means that your preferences back in the late 1990s or early
2000s would have been no better, eh? In fact, we would have had far
less HD programming (OTA) than we do now, and we would still have
had to deal with a second transition!
I think the Europeans got the best of it. They got a good widescreen
digital service ( almost indistinguishable from early HDTV) that was
reliable and easy to receive. And with a little effort, mobile
receivers worked as well,NAB in 2000. What the Europeans are going
through now is not much different than what has happened with
wireless broadband. It is essentially an equipment upgrade that
improves throughput and improves reception for wireless devices.
Here is the U.S. we are now looking at what we should have done in
the first place - i.e. moving to a more distributed transmission
infrastructure. The good news is that we may be able to disassemble
those big sticks, rather than waiting for them to fall down...
Regards
Craig
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