[opendtv] 20060623 Free Friday Fragments (Mark's Monday Memo)

     Here are some very efficient (low-administrative-cost) relief 
organizations (all have four-star ratings from CharityNavigator.org):
<http://www.americares.org/>
<http://www.redcross.org/donate/donate.html>
<http://www.directrelief.org/index.html>
<http://www.hopeww.org/>
<http://www.mercycorps.org/splash/>
     Americans may also call the Red Cross at 800 HELP NOW (800 435-7669).

I haven't gotten around to the ads yet.

- Follow-ups:

     - The "analog hole" - It was debated at the Senate Judiciary Committee 
this week:
<http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6346165.html>
<http://www.twice.com/article/CA6346107.html>
<http://www.ce.org/Press/CurrentNews/press_release_detail.asp?id=11059>
     I still wonder about the value of this sort of content protection in an 
era when an HDTV camcorder that can be aimed at a screen has a list price under 
$800.

     - Unlicensed wireless devices - The Association for Maximum Service 
Television (MSTV) wants a delay in allowing them so as not to cause DTT 
interference:
<http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6346132.html>

     - Multicast must-carry - 
          - It was removed from the agenda of the Federal Communications 
Commission (FCC) meeting on Sunday, reportedly because the vote of the latest 
commissioner was not assured:
<http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6344841.html>
          - The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) made an expected 
statement:
<http://tinyurl.com/rm6ce>
          - So did the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA):
<http://tinyurl.com/rtg36>
          - Religious broadcasters seemed most vocal:
<http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6345489.html>
          - Here's an extensive legal analysis from Red Orbit:
<http://tinyurl.com/ofduv>
          - Senator Jim DeMint wants satellite to be free of multicast 
must-carry, too:
<http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6345782.html>
          - In a related story, some low-power stations want must-carry:
<http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6346147.html>

     - DTT-transition education - Acting assistant secretary of commerce John 
Kneuer told the Media Institute that his National Telecommunications & 
Information Agency (NTIA) isn't going to be able to do much with the $5 million 
allocated for DTT-transition education and will need help.  He said analog 
cutoff would have "more immediate impact" than anything he'd previously 
experienced in his industry career.  He referred to a brief withdrawal of an 
ABC station from Time Warner Cable of New York City a few years ago.  "That was 
one station and one day, but it was pretty much as if the world had come to an 
end":
<http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6346321.html>

     - Comcast's request for waiver of separation of navigation and conditional 
access - The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) opposes it:
<http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6344818.html>
     In a related story, only about 141,000 CableCARDs have been deployed:
<http://www.cabledigitalnews.com/weekly_analysis/062106.html>

     - Ultra-high-definition - Dalsa has created a 10,560 x 10,560 image 
sensor, said to be the first to break 100 million:
<http://www.eet.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=189500300>

     - Next-generation consumer disks - 
          - Blu-ray players are now available:
<http://www.twice.com/article/CA6344299.html>
<http://www.twice.com/article/CA6346379.html>
          - According to a "teardown" analysis by iSuppli, the cost of 
materials, alone, in Toshiba's HD-A1 HD DVD player far exceeds its suggested 
retail price:
<http://www.eet.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=189600999>
          - New York Times "Circuits" columnist David Pogue recommends against 
purchasing either format:
<http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/22/technology/22pogue.html>

     - Cable-Tec Expo - Here's one story suggesting that multichannel HDTV can 
defeat telco TV:
<http://www.eet.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=189600890>

     - May 1 - 
          - Neither the FCC nor the NAB updated their sites this week.
          - Doug Lung's RF Report notes 900 licensed DTT stations in the FCC 
CDBS database as of June 12:
<http://www.tvtechnology.com/dlrf/one.php?id=1309>

- Panasonic is providing HD copies of artworks to display on flat-panel TVs:
<http://www.panasonic.galleryplayer.com/>

- International news:

     - Canada has authorized HDNet to be carried on satellite services:
<http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Notices/2006/pb2006-75.htm>

     - There is yet another report that Brazil has adopted Japan's ISDB-T for 
DTT transmissions:
<http://asia.news.yahoo.com/060622/kyodo/d8idb2f02.html>
     Regardless of what Brazil picks, that country and Argentina reportedly 
want to have a common system in the future:
<http://www.bnamericas.com/story.jsp?sector=2&noticia=357265&idioma=I>
     Chile is reportedly interested in a common standard, too:
<http://www.bnamericas.com/story.jsp?sector=2&noticia=357383&idioma=I>

     - A treaty agreed to at the International Telecommunications Union's 
Regional Radiocommunication Conference calls for analog cut-off by June 17, 
2015 in more than 100 countries in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, 
including Iran (with some countries getting a five-year extension):
<http://www.itu.int/newsroom/press_releases/2006/11.html>

     - HDTV updates:
          - Singapore:
<http://sg.news.yahoo.com/060617/5/singapore214171.html>
          - France:
<http://tinyurl.com/kzhm4>
          - Spain (the story is from advanced-television.com>:
<http://tinyurl.com/l72zy>

     - DTT updates:
          - Spain reportedly had 1.75 million DTT set-top boxes deployed as of 
May 31 (with more viewers on cable).  This story is from 
advanced-television.com:
<http://tinyurl.com/ozrnl>
          - Poland (this story is from TMCnet):
<http://tinyurl.com/jzne7>
          - Romania (this story is from Hotnews Romania):
<http://tinyurl.com/nqa8e>
          - South Africa (this story is from Business Report):
<http://tinyurl.com/l3pfh>

- I'm not permitted to release the CEA week-22 sales figures until next week.

- Upcoming Dates (DTV and non-DTV):
     - June 27-29, Javits Center, New York, Entertainment Technology Alliance 
<http://www.etaexpo.com/>.
     - September 27-29, Hotel Washington, Washington, D.C., IEEE Broadcast 
Symposium <http://www.ieee.org/organizations/society/bt/sympo.html>.
     - October 3-5, Hotel Fort Des Moines, Des Moines, Iowa, Iowa DTV Symposium 
<http://www.iptv.org/dtv/2005/>.
     - October 4-6, Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles, Jackson Hole Tech 
Symposium <http://www.jhfestival.org/symposium2006/>.
     - October 18-21, Renaissance Hollywood Hotel, SMPTE convention 
<http://www.smpte.org/conferences/148cfp.cfm>.
     - ***January 31-February 2, The Westin at Mission Hills, Rancho Mirage 
(Palm Springs area), California, ***HPA Technology Retreat*** 
<http://www.hpaonline.com>.
     - April 14-19, Las Vegas Convention Center, NAB convention 
<http://www.nabshow.com/>.

* - new or revised listing

TTFN,
Mark

PS  Permission is granted to forward this or any other Monday Memo.  Next 
week's memo might be late.

Have a question about the memo?  Before contacting me, please try the FAQs and 
glossary in the second postscript to the January 5 memo:
<http://www.digitaltelevision.com/mondaymemo/mlist/frm02213.html>


 
 
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