robmx
01-30-2003, 12:37 PM
New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/30/technology/circuits/30POGUE-EMAIL.html?ex=1044594000&en=170aeec98695668f&ei=5040&partner=MOREOVER)
My response to this article Bob Miller BM:
My review
DP: In a nutshell, what’s HD all about?
GM: HDTV is the greatest advance in television since color (snipped)
BM: I disagree, The greatest advance in television since color happens to be the greatest advance in television since it’s inception and it is NOT HDTV. HDTV is a RESOLUTION, one of many that is possible because of our ability to transmit our video signals digitally. Digital television is a great and wonderful development but IMHO it is not the “greatest advance” in television since color either.
COFDM is the greatest advance in television since color and in fact since the birth of television. Almost from day one television had a major problem with reception. It was not easy to receive and multipath signals, both static and dynamic, generated by buildings, moving objects (planes, people in your living room, trees waving in the wind, traffic) and mountains caused interference that made it difficult to receive, more difficult to receive and impossible to receive. It was also impossible to receive simply because of the distance from the transmitter though in the same market (Salt Lake City).
This reception problem gave birth to the cable industry. Now 87% of viewers depend on cable or satellite for their primary TV reception.
COFDM changes all that. COFDM allows for the ease of reception of TV signals non- line of sight and in the presence of multipath both static and dynamic. It allows for inexpensive receivers such as the Pioneer DBRT210GB being sold at Dixon’s in the UK for 39.97 Pounds or $65.80. These COFDM receivers can work with digital or analog TV sets like the 300 million in use today in the US or the 25 million analog sets sold just this last year.
These are plug and play receivers that do not require expensive 30 ft. rooftop antennas like what is recommended to receive DTV in the US with 8-VSB modulation.
Over 100 manufacturers in Taiwan, Korea, China, Germany, the UK and many other countries make these receivers. Most of these manufacturers shun the US and our 8-VSB modulation. Only a few HDTV TV manufacturers have bothered to make 8-VSB receivers and most of those are also satellite receivers. Only one manufacturer makes a stand alone 8-VSB receiver that would work with an analog TV set.
Virtually NO retailers are advertising 8-VSB receivers of any kind in the US. Very few 8-VSB receivers have been sold since they first went on sale in 1998. Maybe 500,000 of which 48% are also satellite receivers. Who knows how many people bought them who have not bothered to hook them up to an antenna or who live where there is no terrestrial broadcast to even pick up? How many are sitting on dealer’s shelves gathering dust? How many are in TV stations in multiple since most DTV stations buy multiple receivers to test for reception? How many in early adopter homes in multiples. Many early adopters have bought more than one, some as many as twelve (and brag about it). They buy new models trying to find one that works.
In fact receiver sales are so bad that the FCC has decided that we must be forced to buy receivers. The FCC has mandated that all TV sets have DTV receivers included.
Why do receivers cost as little as $65.80 in the UK and start at $400 to $1000 in the US? Why are receivers selling at a rate of 35,000 per week in the UK while sales of DTV receivers are stagnate in the US? Why did Congressman Billy Tauzin ignore Pace Inc. when they said that they would deliver $200 HDTV receivers in the US (summer 2000) if COFDM were allowed as a modulation in the US? Why did he ignore Viacel Corp. in the same hearings when they said they could supply HDTV receivers free in the US based on the 1996 Telcom Act that allowed for subscription services? Viacel was offering to start a combination free TV and subscription OTA DTV service.
Sales of 35,000 per week come to 140,000 per month and 1,680,000 per year. The US is six times bigger than the UK so that figure could have been 10,080,000 per year in the US. Since Pace and others would have been selling COFDM receivers since around Christmas of 2000 that would be two plus years or maybe 20 million receivers in the US all FREELY purchased or given away. Of course if they were given away the number could have even been higher.
COFDM is the greatest advance in television history. It has the capability of putting cable and satellite out of business. Using current modern compression like VP5 from On2 or MPEG 4 (Version H.26L) a single 6 MHz channel can deliver 10 plus programs instead of the one that analog or the 4-5 that digital MPEG2 does. With digital and COFDM Modulation coverage can be sculpted and many more than the 30 channels now on the air in a market like New York are possible. That means that at least 300 free OTA DTV programs could be received with a simple six-inch antenna and a COFDM receiver. (Even in the Subways)
COFDM is not allowed in the US.
Until now that is!
DP: I was surprised to read recently that 55% of Americans have never even heard of high-definition TV.
GM: In part, (snipped)
DP: Maybe it’s because HDTV is supposedly so confusing and expensive. Are those reports still accurate?
GM: Early adopters certainly found out that receiving an HD signal could be problematic. But those days are quickly coming to an end.
BM: Nothing quick about it. The latest and greatest 8-VSB technology will help (if reports are true) with the static multipath reception problem but not the dynamic. Chip set for developers to start designing receivers will be available by the end of 2004. Who knows when receivers will be on sale or for how much.
(snipped). In most major cities, you can already receive the HD signals over the air with a small rooftop antenna, or get the signal from cable or satellite services.
BM: In most major cities multipath eliminates any chance of decent reception for many. Test done have shown from as many as 30 to 50% of viewers in cities like Washington DC, Cleveland and Baltimore cannot receive a signal even with 30 ft. rooftop antennas. Early adopters go to extremes of cost and time installing antennas with rotors so that they can re-aim their antennas for each channel.
DP: Will the old-style broadcasts really shut off in 2007?
GM: The end of analog broadcasting will affect only the small percentage of viewers who receive their picture over the air, via an antenna.
BM: That small percentage, 13%, as of now are disproportionately the poor many of whom live in cities where poor reception (New York City as little as 20% reception) will be forced to buy cable or no TV. They already can’t afford cable that is why they depend on OTA reception.
The DTV HDTV transition is for rich couch potatoes in the suburbs where 8-VSB can be received and foreign HDTV monitor manufacturers and to the detriment of those who depend on OTA TV today, the poor inner city viewer who will be out of luck for TV of any kind.
GM: By law, analog broadcasting (what most people get now) must end in 2006. At that point, the government will auction off the bandwidth used by analog broadcasting--but only if a specified high percentage of consumers have made the switch to digital television.
BM: Ask broadcasters who see the current situation as one of a holding action. HOLD onto all their free spectrum as long as possible. They don’t expect an end to NTSC analog TV any time in the foreseeable future. As to the auctioning off of TV spectrum, the FCC has already begun that with Auction #44 last August of channels 54, 55 and 59. They are having another, Auction #49, in April.
GM: Of course, it took color TV over 20 years to reach a majority of American homes. The lawmakers who wrote the digital transition bill were being far too optimistic in thinking such a seismic technological shift could be accomplished in a mere 8 years!
Many observers think that a later year, like 2009, is a reasonable year for analog broadcasting to end.
BM: Will not happen even in 2009. If COFDM had been adopted in 2000 by now we would be talking about turning off analog early because of how successful the transition was becoming with over 10,000,000 COFDM receivers sold the FCC could be talking about turning off analog on some channels this year. Broadcasters would be going along with it.
(Snip)
DP: Who exactly is holding up the transition?
GM: No one
BM: 8-VSB is holding up the digital transition. It is a poorly designed modulation system. It was designed by a political committee where accountants, marketers and lawyers made shortsighted decisions. Our corrupt political process has now been employed to see that those back room deals are now forced down consumer’s throats at all cost. The latest being the FCC mandate.
If you want to measure the amount of corruption involved all you have to do is subtract the IP cost of COFDM from the IP cost of 8-VSB. COFDM cost 60 cents, 8-VSB costs from $6 to $15 (per receiver device). COFDM was specifically not allowed in the US giving an IP monopoly to Zenith (owned by LG Ind. of S. Korea). Corruption involved? From $5.40 to $14.40.
The world standard DTV modulation is COFDM. Over 60 countries have adopted it. The only two countries that have adopted 8-VSB are Canada and S. Korea. Canada because of the long populated border with the US and the broadcast problems that imposes and Korea because of the IP rights owned by LG Industries.
Canada will delay real 8-VSB broadcasting for perhaps ever. Only 5% of Canadians rely on OTA TV. S. Korean broadcaster are still fighting and hoping to get the modulation changed in S. Korea to COFDM. No Canadian broadcaster has any love for 8-VSB.
Two countries that at first, and under major pressure from Washington, adopted 8-VSB, decided later to do their own testing under pressure from their broadcasters (almost a broadcaster riot in Taiwan). Both countries, Taiwan and Australia, then, based on the test, CHANGED their modulation to COFDM.
Rant over.
There is much more.
COFDM will begin broadcasting in New York soon to mobile, portable and fixed receivers such as laptops, portable TV sets, PDA’s and HDTV monitors. This will be on spectrum bought at auction and not subject to the FCC rules for broadcasters. If you are interested give me a call.
Bob Miller
212-655-4415 VoIP http://www.vonage.com/rs/viacel/
My response to this article Bob Miller BM:
My review
DP: In a nutshell, what’s HD all about?
GM: HDTV is the greatest advance in television since color (snipped)
BM: I disagree, The greatest advance in television since color happens to be the greatest advance in television since it’s inception and it is NOT HDTV. HDTV is a RESOLUTION, one of many that is possible because of our ability to transmit our video signals digitally. Digital television is a great and wonderful development but IMHO it is not the “greatest advance” in television since color either.
COFDM is the greatest advance in television since color and in fact since the birth of television. Almost from day one television had a major problem with reception. It was not easy to receive and multipath signals, both static and dynamic, generated by buildings, moving objects (planes, people in your living room, trees waving in the wind, traffic) and mountains caused interference that made it difficult to receive, more difficult to receive and impossible to receive. It was also impossible to receive simply because of the distance from the transmitter though in the same market (Salt Lake City).
This reception problem gave birth to the cable industry. Now 87% of viewers depend on cable or satellite for their primary TV reception.
COFDM changes all that. COFDM allows for the ease of reception of TV signals non- line of sight and in the presence of multipath both static and dynamic. It allows for inexpensive receivers such as the Pioneer DBRT210GB being sold at Dixon’s in the UK for 39.97 Pounds or $65.80. These COFDM receivers can work with digital or analog TV sets like the 300 million in use today in the US or the 25 million analog sets sold just this last year.
These are plug and play receivers that do not require expensive 30 ft. rooftop antennas like what is recommended to receive DTV in the US with 8-VSB modulation.
Over 100 manufacturers in Taiwan, Korea, China, Germany, the UK and many other countries make these receivers. Most of these manufacturers shun the US and our 8-VSB modulation. Only a few HDTV TV manufacturers have bothered to make 8-VSB receivers and most of those are also satellite receivers. Only one manufacturer makes a stand alone 8-VSB receiver that would work with an analog TV set.
Virtually NO retailers are advertising 8-VSB receivers of any kind in the US. Very few 8-VSB receivers have been sold since they first went on sale in 1998. Maybe 500,000 of which 48% are also satellite receivers. Who knows how many people bought them who have not bothered to hook them up to an antenna or who live where there is no terrestrial broadcast to even pick up? How many are sitting on dealer’s shelves gathering dust? How many are in TV stations in multiple since most DTV stations buy multiple receivers to test for reception? How many in early adopter homes in multiples. Many early adopters have bought more than one, some as many as twelve (and brag about it). They buy new models trying to find one that works.
In fact receiver sales are so bad that the FCC has decided that we must be forced to buy receivers. The FCC has mandated that all TV sets have DTV receivers included.
Why do receivers cost as little as $65.80 in the UK and start at $400 to $1000 in the US? Why are receivers selling at a rate of 35,000 per week in the UK while sales of DTV receivers are stagnate in the US? Why did Congressman Billy Tauzin ignore Pace Inc. when they said that they would deliver $200 HDTV receivers in the US (summer 2000) if COFDM were allowed as a modulation in the US? Why did he ignore Viacel Corp. in the same hearings when they said they could supply HDTV receivers free in the US based on the 1996 Telcom Act that allowed for subscription services? Viacel was offering to start a combination free TV and subscription OTA DTV service.
Sales of 35,000 per week come to 140,000 per month and 1,680,000 per year. The US is six times bigger than the UK so that figure could have been 10,080,000 per year in the US. Since Pace and others would have been selling COFDM receivers since around Christmas of 2000 that would be two plus years or maybe 20 million receivers in the US all FREELY purchased or given away. Of course if they were given away the number could have even been higher.
COFDM is the greatest advance in television history. It has the capability of putting cable and satellite out of business. Using current modern compression like VP5 from On2 or MPEG 4 (Version H.26L) a single 6 MHz channel can deliver 10 plus programs instead of the one that analog or the 4-5 that digital MPEG2 does. With digital and COFDM Modulation coverage can be sculpted and many more than the 30 channels now on the air in a market like New York are possible. That means that at least 300 free OTA DTV programs could be received with a simple six-inch antenna and a COFDM receiver. (Even in the Subways)
COFDM is not allowed in the US.
Until now that is!
DP: I was surprised to read recently that 55% of Americans have never even heard of high-definition TV.
GM: In part, (snipped)
DP: Maybe it’s because HDTV is supposedly so confusing and expensive. Are those reports still accurate?
GM: Early adopters certainly found out that receiving an HD signal could be problematic. But those days are quickly coming to an end.
BM: Nothing quick about it. The latest and greatest 8-VSB technology will help (if reports are true) with the static multipath reception problem but not the dynamic. Chip set for developers to start designing receivers will be available by the end of 2004. Who knows when receivers will be on sale or for how much.
(snipped). In most major cities, you can already receive the HD signals over the air with a small rooftop antenna, or get the signal from cable or satellite services.
BM: In most major cities multipath eliminates any chance of decent reception for many. Test done have shown from as many as 30 to 50% of viewers in cities like Washington DC, Cleveland and Baltimore cannot receive a signal even with 30 ft. rooftop antennas. Early adopters go to extremes of cost and time installing antennas with rotors so that they can re-aim their antennas for each channel.
DP: Will the old-style broadcasts really shut off in 2007?
GM: The end of analog broadcasting will affect only the small percentage of viewers who receive their picture over the air, via an antenna.
BM: That small percentage, 13%, as of now are disproportionately the poor many of whom live in cities where poor reception (New York City as little as 20% reception) will be forced to buy cable or no TV. They already can’t afford cable that is why they depend on OTA reception.
The DTV HDTV transition is for rich couch potatoes in the suburbs where 8-VSB can be received and foreign HDTV monitor manufacturers and to the detriment of those who depend on OTA TV today, the poor inner city viewer who will be out of luck for TV of any kind.
GM: By law, analog broadcasting (what most people get now) must end in 2006. At that point, the government will auction off the bandwidth used by analog broadcasting--but only if a specified high percentage of consumers have made the switch to digital television.
BM: Ask broadcasters who see the current situation as one of a holding action. HOLD onto all their free spectrum as long as possible. They don’t expect an end to NTSC analog TV any time in the foreseeable future. As to the auctioning off of TV spectrum, the FCC has already begun that with Auction #44 last August of channels 54, 55 and 59. They are having another, Auction #49, in April.
GM: Of course, it took color TV over 20 years to reach a majority of American homes. The lawmakers who wrote the digital transition bill were being far too optimistic in thinking such a seismic technological shift could be accomplished in a mere 8 years!
Many observers think that a later year, like 2009, is a reasonable year for analog broadcasting to end.
BM: Will not happen even in 2009. If COFDM had been adopted in 2000 by now we would be talking about turning off analog early because of how successful the transition was becoming with over 10,000,000 COFDM receivers sold the FCC could be talking about turning off analog on some channels this year. Broadcasters would be going along with it.
(Snip)
DP: Who exactly is holding up the transition?
GM: No one
BM: 8-VSB is holding up the digital transition. It is a poorly designed modulation system. It was designed by a political committee where accountants, marketers and lawyers made shortsighted decisions. Our corrupt political process has now been employed to see that those back room deals are now forced down consumer’s throats at all cost. The latest being the FCC mandate.
If you want to measure the amount of corruption involved all you have to do is subtract the IP cost of COFDM from the IP cost of 8-VSB. COFDM cost 60 cents, 8-VSB costs from $6 to $15 (per receiver device). COFDM was specifically not allowed in the US giving an IP monopoly to Zenith (owned by LG Ind. of S. Korea). Corruption involved? From $5.40 to $14.40.
The world standard DTV modulation is COFDM. Over 60 countries have adopted it. The only two countries that have adopted 8-VSB are Canada and S. Korea. Canada because of the long populated border with the US and the broadcast problems that imposes and Korea because of the IP rights owned by LG Industries.
Canada will delay real 8-VSB broadcasting for perhaps ever. Only 5% of Canadians rely on OTA TV. S. Korean broadcaster are still fighting and hoping to get the modulation changed in S. Korea to COFDM. No Canadian broadcaster has any love for 8-VSB.
Two countries that at first, and under major pressure from Washington, adopted 8-VSB, decided later to do their own testing under pressure from their broadcasters (almost a broadcaster riot in Taiwan). Both countries, Taiwan and Australia, then, based on the test, CHANGED their modulation to COFDM.
Rant over.
There is much more.
COFDM will begin broadcasting in New York soon to mobile, portable and fixed receivers such as laptops, portable TV sets, PDA’s and HDTV monitors. This will be on spectrum bought at auction and not subject to the FCC rules for broadcasters. If you are interested give me a call.
Bob Miller
212-655-4415 VoIP http://www.vonage.com/rs/viacel/
