[opendtv] Re: Demand for free DTV rising in Australia

Barry,
5th gen set top boxes exist on paper, but no on US shelves. If you wish to demo a 5th generation chip, you must purchase an integrated display.
We did purchase several Sharp Aqua's LCD monitors with ATSC tuners, and I did play around with them before installing them in classrooms. I have no idea what generation the chipset is, or if it was simply the cheapest chipset that Sharp could use to meet the FCC Tuner mandate.
In any case the performance using a Silver Sensor was better than the "second generation" Samsung in my office. I could not get any more channels, but the placement of the antenna was not as critical. It was not, however anything close to what was described in Baltimore in 1999 for DVB-T.
Besides, as I have tried to explain to Bert several times over the years, even if all of ATSC's reception problems were solved, I'd still be advocating for DVB-T simply because of the huge knob on the side of the transmitter it gives the broadcaster. At one end of the knob's scale is "robustness" and at the other end of the scale is "bitrate." each broadcaster is free to turn that knob to the spot that best suits his market, his business model, his power level, and his present conditions. Imagine a broadcaster that must use a standby antenna and transmitter while the main unit is being serviced. Turn the knob towards "robustness" and you won't lose coverage area due to the lower power. Your tradeoff is to reduce the bitrate on your multiplexed channels, or temporarily drop one channel of the multiplex.
Then there is the ability to use DVB-T in a mobile environment without any special modifications. Bob Miller's video proved that. Then there is HM-COFDM that allowed a very robust stream buried within the normal bitstream, with much less bit loss than AVSB or MPH. Then there is DVB-H which is essentially just a time division multiplex of the data so handsets can turn on and off their receivers at known intervals to save power. Combine DVB-H with HM-COFDM and every broadcaster could be transmitting directly to mobile receivers.
And finally, and I have pointed out over and over again, DVB-T product is widely available worldwide. Portable 7" LCD DVB-T receivers/DVD players are available, the USB thumbdrive style of DVB-T receiver was available two years before the first ATSC type was available, and even so you have a better chance of using the DVB-T version on a bus or in a car than you do the ATSC type.
ATSC is inferior to DVB-T as a system. 8-VSB is inferior to COFDM as a modulation method in dynamic multipath. Putting an inferior service with an inferior modulation method is the worst of both worlds. 

John
----- Original Message ----- From: "Barry Wilkins" <barry.barrywilkins@xxxxxxxxx> 



Quite right Bert,
I haven't asked John why he has not tried more than a second generation ATSC 
receiver so here goes.

John - why haven't you?

And to the others who have, has it made a significant difference?
Can you now cruise along with perfecto reception of ATSC in a built up area?
Does the latest ATSC receiver still work until you shut it in a transmitter 
cabinet? (Joke)
Yes, I understand there has been improvement. Time will tell and not much of 
that left.

Regards
Barry





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