[opendtv] Re: News: DIRECTV Sued Over HDTV Picture Quality

  • From: "Albert Manfredi" <bert22306@xxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Sat, 23 Sep 2006 16:26:44 -0400

Frank Eory wrote:

Bingo! I suspect that nobody will be willing to make them. The TAM
may be as high as 10's of millions of units, or it may not even be as
high as 1 million units. The ATSC STB market will also be extremely
short-lived, with sales peaking in the first year after NTSC shut-off
and declining rapidly each year afterward.

I agree with this, especially because by this coming March 1st, all TV sets and all recording devices must have built-in ATSC. A couple of years of sales, *unless* the stand-alone STBs have some sort of extra appeal. Such as better performance than the built-in receivers, or perhaps an Internet connection for interactivity of VOD for stuff on the Web. The sort of thing the marketers make a big deal about in the UK and in Italy, for example, as if having Internet access is in any way related to the modulation standard or to DVB-T.

No one knows exactly how American consumers will respond to
the reality that a secondary TV set in the bedroom or kitchen
will no longer be able to receive free OTA signals after NTSC
shut-off.

We have seen many reports of the LG 5th gen-based ASTC receivers for PCs doing quite well with indoor antennas, even for reception from 50 miles away or more or reception in congested RF environments. If 3rd gen STBs such as mine are less than bulletproof at indoor reception, this is not the case for newer receivers. Which means, if the "reality" you mention is reality, it will be only due to deliberate sabotage of DTT by whatever dark forces in the US.

As to price, the price card is becoming less and less credible. The biggest difference in receiver cost and price, between DVB-T and ATSC, has come down to SD vs HD. The evidence is crystal clear that price and reception performance are NOT correlated. Performance is better in newer sets, and price is also lower. If DVB-T can sell SD STBs for $50 or less, there's no technically valid reason why ATSC SD STBs cannot be sold for the same price. I don't know how much longer we can harp on the cost.

Bert

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