[opendtv] Re: Some results - 1080p @ 60 is Next?

  • From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Thu, 17 May 2007 13:26:29 -0400

Craig Birkmaier wrote:

> Do you really think anyone is going to use these bits to
> improve delivered image quality?

And later on:

> The interest in HDTV is growing world wide. It already IS
> an important application in the U.S., and other countries
> are starting to get on board.

Exactly. In spite of all the previous rhetoric, people do go for image
quality, all else equal. All of the previous overly-positive comments
about how HDTV was a non-starter have been proven wrong. The same could
happen between 1080p and 720p, I'll reserve judgment on that.

> I think you are basically wrong, at least with respect to
> average screen sizes. 720P is more than adequate for 98% of
> all of the consumer displays sold, and can actually deliver
> BETTER image quality to the really big screens in bandwidth
> constrained applications...like DTV.

The point is, Craig, that these simplistic models are fairly easily
disproven. So I don't put a lot of faith in them.

Here's a quantitative example. My 26" widescreen set has a picture
height of 12.8". So since I sit at roughly 10' from the set, you would
tell me that I won't be able to tell the difference between an NTSC
program and HDTV.

(Assume 330 pixel res for NTSC. That says that the angle between
"pixels" at 10 picture height viewing distance is 1.04 arcminutes, which
you say is much better than most people can see.)

But that's so obviously wrong. I can distinguish between HDTV and SDTV,
at the 10' viewing distance, but it's not all that dramatic. But it is
really, really easy to see that NTSC images are soft compared to either
of the DTT modes. Even those NTSC programs that have been upconverted by
the broadcaster and transmitted as SDTV, such as BBC News from PBS.
Whether I watch NTSC upconverted by a broadcaster, or tuned in at my set
as NTSC, the difference between that and SDTV or HDTV is not even
subtle. And I have a really hard time getting interested in anything on
an analog TV set anymore. It looks awful always.

> There was never much question about delivering HDTV

You and many others used to question the "need." We were told often and
in no uncertain terms that 480p is all anyone would need for TV
programs. There was no money to be made in HDTV.

All I'm saying is, some folk are fixin' to repeat that mistake with the
new 720p vs 1080p debate. There's no reason to get stuck on inflexible
positions in these arguments dealing with sensory perception.

Bert
 
 
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