[opendtv] Re: Growing uncomfortable with Samsung
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2005 10:54:52 -0500
At 3:52 PM -0500 1/21/05, Manfredi, Albert E wrote:
>That's why, just one example, limiting the
>number of MPEG modes that receivers must be
>capable of decoding is *not* a terrible idea.
>We might quible about what the set of options
>should be, but in general, limiting options is
>how you limit excuses for systems to crash.
This is absurd.
MPEG could care less about formats. If it is implemented in a
conformant manner, you can expect the decoder to handle ANYTHING you
give it, up to the performance limits for the level(s) and profile(s)
that the decoder supports.
The MPEG standard sets the maximum number of lines and the maximum
pixel clock for a given LEVEL - that ALL. Any format that fits within
these limits is perfectly valid and a conformant decoder must decode
the bitstream and present the decoded raster to the scaling engine
that resamples the source to match the local display requirements.
Any sub line length for a format with a given number of lines (e.g.
480) is valid - 352 x 480 is a commonly used format for NTSC sources.
The problem with limiting the options, as is the case with the
infamous Table 3, is that it may encourage NON-CONFORMANT
implementations of the MPEG decoder. This is why we have learned
recently that some broadcasters are delivering non-table 3 formats
that work fine on some receivers and not on others. Receivers that
use conformant MPEG-2 decoders will work with any conformant MPEG-2
bitstream, which automatically covers ALL subsets such as Table 3.
Conformace to the MPEG-2 standard would have been the best approach,
but MPEG did not put any teeth into conformance.
I am less concerned about the potential for any device to crash than
I am about the ability of vendors to update their products after they
have been installed. I get update to OSX and Apple applications on a
regular basis. I haven't a clue how to upgrade the software in my new
Samsung.
Regards
Craig
>
>So unlike you, I don't celebrate CE systems
>crashing, because I don't think that being
>"pretend PCs" is such a great thing.
Celebrate?
You really are warped...
Regards
Craig
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