[opendtv] Re: A full explanation of the PSIP time issue.
- From: "johnwillkie" <johnwillkie@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 23 May 2007 18:17:28 -0700
I'd differ as to who can do it right.
I've only heard one minor nit about DTV Innovations, and that sounded like a
customer problem.
Were Triveni Digital a successful company, or had to exist in the real
world, their systems would be as reliable as the DVD-RW drives that their
corporate parent makes. Triveni's problem is that it's engineering isn't
real-world: it works in the lab, for at least a few minutes, but they seem
to lose track of the output device over time. So, they blame the DVB-ASI
vendor. Unfortunately, the same exact problem exists in Triveni Digital
units that lack DVB-ASI output.
The only bad thing I've ever heard about Thales Pearl unit (Amber?) is that
it's hard to integrate with virus protection. One use who also has a
"Triveni Experience" (he won't let them into the station) told me after two
years of use that it has about 1/3 the problems of a Triveni unit.
There are three companies other than mine who have varying degrees of
reliability wrt PSIP. If there are any other companies with dynamic PSIP
systems in the U.S. market, I don't know of them.
Unlike DTV innovations, I don't have outside investors to hew to. (At this
point). Unlike Triveni (digital signage?) and Thomson (everything including
digital signage), I only do PSIP. I'd sure as hell better do it well!
Also, unlike them, I don't charge more if you want to add satellite PSIP
(A/81), nor will I charge more for providing PSIP for data broadcasting when
I make that available.
I will do everything but travel to the customer's station to make their
system work. And, if the weather is right, this weather wuss might even do
the trip ...
At this point, I won't say that my units are more reliable than those of
others, since the unit hasn't run for more than 2 weeks before we stopped it
for one reason or another. However the basic "bit-spitter" code hasn't
changed much in more than 3 years, and I've resolutely fixed all known
issues quite some time back.
John Willkie
P.S. I also try to pay attention to looming needs and even attempt to
anticipate them. A few years back, I first showed a working interface that
permitted manually changing EPG listings (like for amber alerts or other
program preemptions.) Now, people are asking for it, because to not have
the EPG match the video during a breaking news or emergency coverage can
bring about fines greater than $10,000 per instance.
P.P.S. I will be distributing for evaluation purposes, a production
prototype of my fairly-priced singleton PSIP Generator (EtherGuide Emissary)
to prospects starting in the next few weeks. The only difference between
this unit and the final unit will be the physical configuration and possibly
the form factor of the motherboard. If you or your station would like to
try out the unit -- without custom software to link to non-PMCP traffic or
automation systems -- drop me a note off-list.
jwillkie@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
-----Mensaje original-----
De: opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] En
nombre de John Shutt
Enviado el: Wednesday, May 23, 2007 3:53 PM
Para: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Asunto: [opendtv] Re: A full explanation of the PSIP time issue.
Bert,
Believe me, it's the PSIP software.
Television stations have been running the correct time for station
automation and even the mundane things like hitting the network at the top
of the hour for decades now. We all have master clock systems that are
locked to GPS or more likely nowadays are IP based and locked to USNO. We
all have clock displays in Master Control and Studio Control and a dozen
other places that all are fed the same timecode from the Master Clock.
Stations provide this same timecode into their PSIP generators, and garbage
is spit back out. We have been back and forth with our PSIP software
vendor, and since we didn't pay the $10,000 maintenance fee, we are stuck
with what whatever bugs we now have.
We are pursuing another source of PSIP software, but they are turning out to
be just as big a bunch of flakes, who still after several back and forths,
including a personal site visit, still can't take a simple Protrack log and
spit out a proper EPG, or take in our station clock and spit out the correct
system time for receivers.
I can't for the life of me understand why PSIP is so hard to implement in
software, but apparently nobody can do it properly, with the possible
exception of John Willkie. We haven't demoed his PSIP software because it
was out of our budget. If the Yahoos we are dealing with now don't get
their act together, we may either go back to our former vendor and eat the
outrageous annual maintenance fee, or go knocking at John's door.
John seems very willing to work with his customers.
John
----- Original Message -----
From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
> But I think that Ron's and my experiences go way beyond these minutiae.
> The errors are egregious and commonplace, which says to me that either
> the software is beyond poor, or that stations don't much care.
>
> I tend to believe the latter, because this software is just not so
> complicated.
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