Dewey; I have had a similar infatuation with PSIP since early on, when PSIP could only resolve time to a five minute period. It's come a long way in terms of power since then. SERIOUS bandwidth is required to understand how PSIP works, and there are many subtle layers, without considering E-PSIP and E-VSB and E-AC-3. Unfortunately, if the standard was simpler, it would not be powerful, and if it were less powerful, it would not be particularly handy. Part of the problem is that PSIP is not a product and should not be treated as a piece of hardware. It's a service. Once you buy a piece of hardware to do it, you then have to devote resources to integrate it into existing or future station systems, and all of these systems (today) use proprietary interfaces, so the designer is left with having to customize a collection of interfaces. Then, there's data formats. While every station that uses a particular traffic system has the same data field structure, there is no standardized way to use that structure. One station may use the "house number" field to denote the tape/file that is being played to show a program or commercial, another station might put that information into a different field. Each will work well within it's own world, but break down if used elsewhere. Few stations use PSIP, because few stations see DTV as today's money maker. However, it's not a chicken and egg situation. Those stations that do not use dynamic PSIP will NEVER make money in DTV. It appears that the damn has broken, however. Broadcasters are largely over the "rf" issues in the DTV transition, and looking to extend their DTV franchise. I could go into the EPG data cost issue, but I have a return phone call pending that just MIGHT shed good light on that matter. I will be having a pitch/sales meeting within a few days with a somewhat small station group that last year didn't want to spend a dime on PSIP, and would only have let me put a unit in one of their stations if it was free and fully debugged. This year, we're talking about a purchase in the current cycle. I am not in a position to identify particular entities, since they're all potential customers, but I can say at the network level, Fox has a plan of attack to handle "network metadata" issues, and I am in discussions with at least two of the other national networks about network metadata solutions. Two of the networks seem uninterested at the moment, at least in the aspect of paying for solutions at this point, but I recognize that WILL change. While no one can be happy with the current state of the art in transmitted metadata in the U.S., it appears that we are actually doing MORE than other DTV setups. In most of the world, broadcast EPG systems (DVB-SI) just tell you what's on the current channel, and what's on next. If that. And, DVB-SI is much easier to deal with than PSIP. John Willkie -----Original Message----- From: opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Dewey Weaver Sent: Saturday, May 01, 2004 8:39 AM To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [opendtv] Re: USDTV demos at NAB John - I have loved possibilities of PSIP since day one. No matter how much better the technology becomes, the main challenge is going to be motivating station engineers, who have remained mostly indifferent, to properly implement and maintain PSIP. (those who care know who they are). I don't think that any of the products that leverage PSIP for EPG data reliably work for all channels in a given market anywhere in the USA. Changing this is going to take years, a lot of work and some type of motivation beyond "good doggie". Regards, Dewey -----Original Message----- From: opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of John Willkie Sent: Saturday, May 01, 2004 1:28 AM To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [opendtv] Re: USDTV demos at NAB Dewey; PSIP (and PAT/PMT) needs to be dynamically implemented across the industry if stations are ever to make full use of their slice of spectrum. The ATSC PMCP protocol which is currently in candidate status and should be adopted sometime this summer (I can say no more without violating the ATSC NDA, as I am a member of the ATSC's T3/S1 subcommittee) will go a long way to solving MANY if not most of the station problems with "metadata management." It will enable automation systems to populate tables on PSIP/metadata generators, and enable traffic and automation systems to work with listing services, etc. There is even a movement afoot to expand the realm of PMCP (which is an XML schema) to other devices, like multiplexers and the like. All of this is very good, because it will no only enable handy engineers to craft their own solutions, but will also enable stations to deploy services dynamically even if they have little hard-core metadata experts on staff. John Willkie -----Original Message----- From: opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Dewey Weaver Sent: Wednesday, April 28, 2004 9:33 AM To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [opendtv] Re: USDTV demos at NAB John - facts are that we tuned indoors and some were happy, some were not. No links to our video/pictures but several publications printed photos including Electronic News, TechTV and Broadcasting and Cable. Regarding new hardware revs - we're parked until our contract and acquisition litigation with National Semiconductor is resolved. I don't anticipate many new renditions of PC HDTV boards coming thanks the Broadcast Flag and say buy one while they are still available. Its going to be a nice legacy product to own should BF survive the legal battles and be implemented. There is always fresh software should you ever decide to buy accessDTV. Regarding your promo for next year, do you think that PSIP can ever be reliably implemented across the industry. Dewey -----Original Message----- From: opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of John Willkie Sent: Wednesday, April 28, 2004 11:57 AM To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [opendtv] Re: USDTV demos at NAB Yep, the article is all true. 2001 was the year that DTV took off. :-) Do you have a web link to the video clip and pictures? That might help the "truth surface," since the bell-ringer is not a technical item, and largely contains rationalizations on why you needed to use coax to funnel in the signal. Wasn't the problem at the time with 8-VSB reception that it didn't work well in an "RF soup" environment? So, you offer faint praise: in an "RF soup" environment, accessDTV needs industrial-strength help in picking out 8-VSB signals. I had an interesting conversation with a software vendor selling PSIP and other solutions to silicon vendors. The conversation wasn't about modulation: it was about the new silicon solutions to PSIP issues, and the first implementations of Directed Channel Change in consumer items will are expected to be shown at next year's CES. I may even have a directed channel change trick or two up my sleeve, which might be shown a few weeks later. Time to come out with version 2.0, Dewey. If you can. John Willkie -----Original Message----- From: opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Dewey Weaver Sent: Wednesday, April 28, 2004 7:35 AM To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [opendtv] Re: USDTV demos at NAB Mark - Your pattern of responding with an insult is typical and tired but expected when the truth surfaces. We still have video of your team tracing our cables and unplugging the antenna coax in disbelief of what you were seeing at CES 2001. We know about your dissing my company weeks later at the DTV DC conference with Jim Goodmon of Capitol Broadcasting and Matt Miller of NxtWave claiming that the CES demo, for which we won an award, was faked. They admonished you but that never works with the shameless. The best part of this episode at CES 2001 was Art Ross walking up for his meeting with us while your ex-Navy Seal or Special forces enforcer (I cannot remember his name for some reason) ranted about us needing to cancel our CBS meeting and meet with Sinclair instead. In addition to Nat and the enforcer, you were there as well. This may ring a bell - http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m0EKF/3_47/69278171/p1/article.jhtml. I also have pictures if you want to press this further. Len saw our technology in Raleigh at a launch party and we somehow got through the screening when one of his venture companies, HowStuffWorks.com, produced an effective and positive review on our product, accessDTV. It's still selling product for us from their website so you want to do something about that. http://www.howstuffworks.com/accessdtv.htm Any more insults Mark? Dewey -----Original Message----- From: opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Mark Aitken Sent: Wednesday, April 28, 2004 9:26 AM To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [opendtv] Re: USDTV demos at NAB Just to state "for the record"... Sinclair has never been "anti-ATSC". As a follow-on question...just who exactly were the members of this 'team'? Also, why would it be to anyones dismay? Mark P.S. I once knew a company whose Law Firm was Dewey, Cheatem & Howe. Any relation? P.P.S. I know that some New England families have been represented by Dewey, Dunkum & When. Ring a bell? Dewey Weaver wrote: >For my two cents worth - when accessDTV demo'd from Treasure Island, NAB >2000, the Hilton Suites NAB and CES 2001 and Embassy Suites from 2002 CES, >we were able to tune with a Silver Sensor or RS double bowtie (even when we >put the antenna in the personal effects safe at the Hilton in 2001 -in other >words, the cable was the antenna as well). We also tuned from the show >floor at CES 2001 much to the dismay of the anti-ATSC team deployed at the >time by Sinclair. > >Dewey > -- Regards, Mark A. Aitken Director, Advanced Technology *********************************** Sinclair Broadcast Group 10706 Beaver Dam Road Hunt Valley, MD 21030 Business TEL: (410) 568-1535 Business MOBILE: (443) 677-4425 Business FAX: (410) 568-1580 E-mail: maitken@xxxxxxxxxx Text PAGE: page.maitken@xxxxxxxxxx www.newscentral.tv www.sbgi.net =================================== "War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. 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