[opendtv] Re: News: No Motive for HDTV Rollouts
- From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 27 Jun 2004 19:25:46 -0400
Craig Birkmaier wrote:
> At 3:49 PM -0400 6/24/04, Manfredi, Albert E wrote:
> >It's the cost of doing business. Exactly. The question should not
> >be "how can I make money from HDTV," but rather, as time moves on,
> >"how can I stay in business without HDTV?"
>
> What business do you want to stay in?
>
> I will predict once again, as I have many times in the past, that
> HDTV will continue to be a premium niche market for a decade or more
> to come, and that it will NEVER completely replace other video
> resolutions.
Perhaps, Craig, your admitted disinterest in matters relating to
audiophilia (is that a real word?) is what makes it difficult for
you to see the parallels here. Parallels which audiophiles have
experienced since the late 1940s.
HDTV, like full frequency sound recordings (hifi, which essentially
means recordings or radio transmissions which are capable of
reproducing all frequencies humans can hear), is a continuum.
TV stations will transmit whatever is provided as source
material, up to and including 1080i or 720p. It doesn't
mean every program has to be recorded optimally, and it
doesn't mean every receiver must necessarily reproduce the
program in the maximum possible quality of the original.
It simply means that TV stations will go hifi for picture
as they have been for sound for decades now, and that
any receiver out there will be capable of reproducing the
signal (a) to whetever level it can or (b) to the level of
the original source material, whichever is lowest.
Just as FM radios do. Just as LPs and CDs do. I have CDs
of ancient recorings that don't sound so great, for example.
But the medium is not the weak point in the chain. The
content is always king.
The only difference here is that a TV station can decide
to decrease the quality level in order to transmit other
program streams. That was a flexibility FM radio was not
able to use. Although LP records could, to cram more music
into a single disk! Decreasing the dynamic range of an LP
recording results in closer spacing between grooves.
So it doesn't MATTER which specific shows will be recorded
to what specific quality level. What matters is that
every TV station or TV network that cares to stay in
business will have to move beyond the limits of NTSC or
even SDTV. The transmitters will be full HDTV, and the
source material will be whatever it is.
> And AM radio has experienced a rebirth...based on content,
> not fidelity.
In the search for space for loud-mouth talk shows, sure,
extra spectrum is available in the AM band. Content is always
king.
But, for example, as soon as WTOP (all news) went to FM simulcast,
how many people who could receive the FM stuck with the AM?
Certainly not me.
HDTV is the cost of doing business. It translates to revenues in
the sense that networks or stations that don't go to HDTV will
over time LOSE revenue.
Bert
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways:
- Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at
FreeLists.org
- By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word
unsubscribe in the subject line.
Other related posts:
