[opendtv] Re: The wilderness is becoming plain

At 5:49 PM -0400 6/20/06, Manfredi, Albert E wrote:
>John Shutt wrote:
>
>>  There is probably a 1% penetration of battery portable
>>  "watchman" type NTSC receivers, yet there is a large
>>  enough market to continue to sell these miniscule
>>  receivers to the public year after year.  I have
>>  always stated that if our digital signal, without
>>  modification, could be received portably and without
>>  subscription, then there would be a larger market for
>>  the service.
>
>The biggest problem now, be it high quality digital audio or high
>quality digital video, is that high data rate digital electronics draw
>quite a bit of power. While it is possible to provide the juice, via
>lap-top PC sort of ~2 hour rechargeable batteries, that's not exactly
>the equivalent of analog receivers of this type.

Bert is correct that power requirements are a major consideration, 
especially as the size of the receiver decreases. I have little doubt 
that there will be a market for the delivery of video to cellular 
phones, but I have never considered this to be the real target.

There are several devices and venues that can take advantage of 
portability and mobility, and for the most part they are not as 
severely constrained as a tiny cellphone.

IMHO, the largest potential venue is portable computers; these 
devices have relative large, high resolution screens and enough 
battery power to get you from the house to the office. Broadcasting 
IP data, audio and video to portable computers is a no-brainer.

The next largest potential market is built in car theater systems. 
Here, battery power is not an issue, and the screen size can range 
from adequate to near HD. I've seen SUVs equipped with 32" and larger 
LCD or Plasma displays that reside in the cargo area and flip down 
for those all important tail gate parties.

And then we have purpose built portable video systems; the first 
generation of portable DVD players serve as a good example, while the 
Video iPOD serves as a more questionable new entrant. It is important 
to remember that Apple's venture into video via the iTunes music 
store is NOT primarily targeted at the video iPOD; and it is also 
important to keep in mind that the Video iPOD can be connected to any 
NTSC display, producing an image that approaches NTSC quality. The 
real target for iTunes video is the PC that is used to download and 
manage your digital media content. Most of the music videos 
downloaded from Apple, Google, and Yahoo are viewed on large, high 
resolution PC screens. The ability to take your video with you via an 
iPOD or portable computer is the added hook.

All of this suggests that there are many applications for receiving 
FTA DTV broadcasts, when the modulation system is tuned for 
portable/mobile reception.

>Largely for that reason, completely different digital standards are
>being peddled for the small portable. The other reason is robustness of
>the signal, and the way the digital cliff makes that more of a problem
>than in analog.

This varies considerably in different parts of the world. Since the 
ATSC standard is useless for portable/mobile reception, it is 
completely understandable that different standards are emerging for 
this application. In Europe, it is quite feasible to segment the 
available spectrum for different applications using a SINGLE standard 
- you simply tune the modulation characteristics for the desired 
application. The situation in Japan is similar.

And there is the reality that multiple industries are testing the 
water with mobile video. The Cellular industry has been the most 
aggressive, broadcasters the least aggressive. The main reason for 
this - IMHO - is that the telco types have an integrated transaction 
system and customers who have been trained to pay for every service. 
Broadcasters could care less about a tiny niche market that can only 
be monetized with advertising revenues.

>
>I agree that we need a portable-friendly solution for regular digital
>radio and regular DTT signals. Completely agree.

Something Bert and I can agree on !

;-)

It remains to be seen if ATSC will ever become portable friendly.

Regards
Craig
 
 
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