[opendtv] Re: Food for thought
- From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2007 17:21:04 -0500
Craig Birkmaier wrote:
> The other reality is that hardly anyone has purchased an ATSC STB,
> and hardly any of the homes that have new sets with integrated
> receivers use them.
I'd love to see some real stats on this. Possibly, in markets like
Gainesville, Craig's right. The real question is, why is the Gainesville
market so skewed to subscription TV.
> I think Bert is confusing issues here. The great appeal of
> analog cable is that it allows viewers to access the extended
> basic tier of content on every set in the home. But a very
> high percentage of cable homes now have digital cable and
> virtually all of these subscribers use STBs, at least on their
> primary set.
My point was not what you addressed. It was simply to say that a lot of
people, even cable subscribers, would be annoyed by signal changes,
because a lot of people do NOT want to be forced down the STB route.
Take the example of a cable subscriber still using analog tier, just so
he can avoid the cable STB. When he switches to digital cable, finally,
because he can use a cable-ready TV, he would be just as annoyed at a
codec switch as he was annoyed at the cable company forcing an STB down
his throat before. I'm talking about people you prefer to ignore, that's
all.
> I think you are wrong about this Bert. Not only the BBC, but
> virtually ALL European broadcasters see the advantage in
> moving to H.264.
Obviously, anyone starting out with a compulsory simulcast today, for
HDTV, would use H.264. But the reality from the BBC experience was that
to get the good HDTV with H.264 takes the same bit rate as from H.262.
Possibly, due in part to the I-frame frequency issue.
The comment is factual, from the BBC report I pointed out recently, so
there's no need to launch into H.264 ads.
In my view, the correct time for US OTA broadcasters to switch to a new
codec will be when HDTV from the new codec and SDTV from H.262 take up
NO MORE THAN what H.262 needs for HDTV now. At that point, John Shutt
can simulcast the HD and SD with no more spectrum than he needs today
for HD, and convince viewers to ugrade to the new codec. But H.264 is
not up to this, quite.
Bert
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