[opendtv] Re: Barriers eroding to LCD TV adoption

  • From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Fri, 6 Aug 2004 18:02:15 -0400

Cliff Benham wrote:

> I think Bob meant that UHF OTA stations weren't as successful
> until they got cable carriage...

Maybe he did mean that, but I would still disagree. Cable didn't
begin as an urban phenomenon until about 1981 or so, with
gradual availability after that in the further suburbs. UHF
stations were very well entrenched by then, and there were
plenty of them. And tuners had gotten completely integrated
into TV sets by then too, and worked at least as well as VHF
tuners.

Seems to me that the UHF mandate turned out to be a great
idea, and it's not clear that UHF would have worked out
except for the govt mandate. It's the mechanism that breaks
the chicken/egg impasse.

And, for the Libertarians among us, since the govt manages
the spectrum, it is logical that they be the ones to decide
how it should be used in broad terms, and consequently
establish some baseline technical requirements on the
receivers and transmitters.

Just as the IETF and IANA do for the Internet, or the IEEE
does for the various LANs and MANs. Some entity has to do
this, to have a successful system.

About the business models that can work with 8-VSB, I agree
that a *necessary* condition is that reception be solid. But
this is not sufficient. Whether USDTV or other such subscription
services can succeed here depends on more than just good
reception, IMO. But clearly without that, nothing can work.

So now we'll see if the OTA DTT transition will turn out to
be successful, or whether it will be irrelevant. At this point,
I think it's only up to the broadcasters. That wasn't the case
before, especially for those of little faith.

Bert
 
 
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