Bert wrote: >I suppose this is as believable as the theory that cable >and DBS are conspiring to kill off OTA, by paying off CE >vendors and retailers. The weekly results of major DTV set advertisements in my area follows: BEST BUY 13 Cable Ready* sets 9 Monitors Labeling of set features is very inconstant and clearly confusing. NO mention of OTA reception capabilities but major space is given to rebates for Cable and DBS service contracts with DTV set purchase. CIRCUIT CITY 9 Cable Ready* sets 15 Monitors 1 set with ATSC Tuner 2 sets with HD Tuner (?) Labeling of set features is very inconstant and confusing. Half Page advertisement for DBS service offering free HDTV receiver or $200 discount on HD DVR with purchase of HDTV set. SEARS They had an equal mix of Monitors and Cable Ready* sets. (I misplaced the actual numbers) Sears clearly and consistently labeled each set as to its input and tuner capabilities and included clear explanations of differences between Monitor and Receiver sets. They did not advertise availability of Cable or DBS systems nor did they offer such rebates. *= include ATSC receivers, but not mentioned Conclusion: from this albeit limited sample, one might conclude that the retailers failure to mention OTA or at least the marginalization of OTA thru use of confusing descriptions, is part of a pact with program suppliers to marginalize OTA services. This likely has little to do with the consumer equipment manufacturers given the Sears example. -----Original Message----- From: opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Manfredi, Albert E Sent: Monday, January 23, 2006 7:44 AM To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [opendtv] Re: STB hunting Cliff wrote: > Bert, it ain't gonna happen. Somebody out there doesn't > want it to. Can't you read the tea leaves? Somewhere in > the layers of Humongous Govt. someone wants to completely > eliminate all U.S. OTA TV so they can auction off the > bandwidth for more profitable uses. I suppose this is as believable as the theory that cable and DBS are conspiring to kill off OTA, by paying off CE vendors and retailers. It makes a good story, but the facts don't completely line up, Cliff. The FCC receiver mandate still holds, has been set at March 2007 for all TV sets and recording devices, and these built in receivers are reportedly of good quality. So that would certainly contradict any notion the government is secretly trying to kill off OTA. They could have said "let the market decide," which is what they do when truly not interested (e.g. analog stereo AM radio). *That's* the kiss of death. > Why else have none of the manufacturers spent much effort > developing and *marketing* OTA STBs like they are in the > rest of the world? I think there are more credible reasons. For example, since broadcasters are spending no effort to make their digital tier particularly attractive, e.g. by offering some added programs that would encourage people to buy into DTT, the vendors are waiting for the analog cutoff date to make STBs. After all, they do have to build in receivers into 100 percent of their TV sets anyway, well before any analog cutoff date, so what's the rush? Imagine what would happen if broadcasters made it so people would rush to stores to get DTT reception. You know, offer something interesting over their new subchannels. There are so many possibilities. > Why is DTV mostly advertised as available over satellite > and cable? Why don't any of the sales people at the > consumer electronics stores know you can receive DTV OTA? Because they're stupid? The guy I talked to at Circuit City seemed to know. So while this is the impression one gets, it's not necessarily 100 percent true. Retail clerks in all industries have a special way of being clueless. > And why [aside from trying to save it's inventor/patent > owner Zenith, the last U.S. consumer electronics mfgr. at > the time] was 8VSB chosen over what the rest of the world > is using, COFDM, Or Ibiquity over DAB/DRM, or NTSC over PAL, or MediaFlo over DVB-H, or 115 V 60 Hz over 220 V 50 Hz, or English measuring standards over the metric system, or CDMA over GSM, or ..... The US likes to do its own thing. This one is not a big deal. A simple change of *one* component, the demod, makes a DVB-T box into an ATSC box. Big whoop. Besides which, it's not all bad. I've already reported that I seem to get solid reception whenever the SNR stays above 15.1 dB or so. This is very, very repeatable. Compare that with COFDM. Not all bad. 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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.