William Smith wrote: > IMHO The modulation standard is strangling the business > model. > > LG claims to have the secret to 8-VSB (they should they > own it) but refuses to make the solution available (except > to be waved around in Congressional Hearings). Actually, LG does build their good stuff into integrated TV sets, but only goes that far. So this is only useful to those who, so far, have been buying relatively expensive and large sets. It's of no use to those who already have TVs, even good ones. And it doesn't provide those all-important PVRs and DVDRs, either. So the good stuff is being kept in the closet. But it's real, and that's another one of my peeves. It's not cold fusion. I see this pretense that it doesn't exist as just another excuse for broadcasters to go blaming someone else for their own lack of involvement. Furthermore, there are other companies that provide good chipsets: Micronas, STMicroelectronics, ATI, and Samsung (that last one might not yet be at full production, who knows?). It is up to *broadcasters* and their NAB to inform themselves of these details, test them out, scream and shout if CE manufacturers aren't providing the goods, or if they see funny business is going on. Is someone getting paid off for keeping this stuff off the market? Or is it just bean counters that see "no demand"? If yes to either of these, then what makes you think a modulation change would change that? > LG committed to building the magic $50 decoders If Congress > would set a hard date.. The date has been set .. Where are > the units? Anyone else who grandstanded like that would be > held in contempt of Congress. I agree with you there, 100 percent. Where are they? And who should answer that question? Bureaucrats? In whose interest is it to get that stuff out there so DTT works well? > Fixed, mobile and portable are the future... fixed only is > dead.. Fixed exists and is used a lot. Far from "dead." Market saturation does not translate to "dead." Lack of media hype does not mean "dead." The media can only hype up what is brand new, and best of all, what they don't really understand. Portable sets, e.g. plug-in type portables, can be supported by good ATSC receivers as well as any DVB-T receiver. The power draw is an issue regarless of ATSC or DVB-T. Again, PC lap-top type of solutions (rechargeable ~2 hour battery) can certainly work in this type of device for the time being, until power reduction solutions make it to the CMOS market. As of today, in all countries with DTT, handheld TV, or rather the promise of that market, is going to be fed from specialized streams, over dedicated frequencies. That can be accomplished here as it can anywhere. As to vehicular mobility, again, that can be pushed here too. It can work, and more importantly, that's the only single scenario where a good ATSC solution has to be demoed. > Stations do not want to promote a system that doesn't support > reliable reception.. The first impression Joe Six Pack has of > DTV reception will be the one that sticks with him...not the > one after he fights the antenna for an hour... Absolutely. Which is why it is up to broadcasters, and no one else, to figure out where the logjam is. Pretending that the logjam is a modulation standard is a sure recipe for failure, IMO. Bert ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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.