[opendtv] Re: So Soon? Next-Gen Broadcast TV In Works | TVNewsCheck.com
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 29 Apr 2011 09:58:47 -0400
At 5:39 PM -0500 4/28/11, Manfredi, Albert E wrote:
It's revisionism to say that OTA HDTV didn't force along both the
development and the wide adoption of HDTV. It was all about OTA
compatibility and the ATSC, from 1983 and for almost the next two
decades. It wasn't until 2002 that satellite started carrying HDTV,
and 2003 for cable. OTA had been transmitting HDTV since November
1998. If it hadn't been for the HDTV transmissions OTA, and the
developments by the ATSC, these other distribution nets would have
dragged their feet much longer.
Yes broadcasters did play a role as I stated - but it was based in
large part on futures.
Just because there were some HD broadcasts, did not mean many people
were watching. If you will recall, the FCC did not require stations
outside of the top 30 markets to build and operate their DTV channels
until 2002, 2003 for public broadcasters.
And in the early years, almost ALL of the HD content was network
shows captured on film. The HD production infrastructure was mostly
non-existant until the mid 2000's. ESPN HD launched in 2003, and was
a major driving force behind the adoption of HD displays.
As a matter of fact, I remember very well how much complaining there
was about HDTV, by the MVPDs, in the late 1990s.
People saw HDTV in stores, and they went for it. (Except Craig.) And
the MVPDs could not help but play catch-up.
Talk about revisionist history.
Yes people saw HD in stores; most of this was loops playing off a
DVD. Some stores had an HD DISK server to play MPEG transport
streams. Hardly any stores used off the air signals as they were
difficult to receive and rarely offered HD content.
And I was an early adopter of HD, although I correctly chose to buy a
4:3 display since there was very little widescreen content other than
DVD movies.
As for playing catch up, perhaps Bert can explain why only 18% of
current broadcasters are running ads in HD today?
LCD TVs naturally helped the situation a lot, in the 2000s, when
their prices dropped so steadily. There was no *technically*
necessary premium for producing wide screens in LCDs, and it was a
no brainer that they could accommodate much larger screens with far
less bulk and weight than CRTs.
What sold HDTV was live sports. And what forced the MVPDs to carry
HDTV was that their customers bitched loudly, when they had to go to
the trouble of making the initial primitive ATSC receivers work.
More rubbish.
DirecTV was widescreen digital from the start in 1995. HD was added
as it became available. Cable channels move to HD as the production
gear became affordable. This was all as expected.
Regards
Craig
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