[opendtv] Re: Bob, where are the tunerless monitors?

  • From: "Bob Miller" <robmxa@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Sat, 14 Jul 2007 15:00:02 -0400

On 7/12/07, Albert Manfredi <bert22306@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
John Shutt wrote:

>It will be interesting to see how many people come to the dance
>with STB coupons in their hands, only to find nobody to dance
>with.

If ATSC TVs are going to be as cheap as the prices today suggest, you'd
really need a coupon to make buying the STB worthwhile. Still, those 70+M TV
sets that need OTA reception, as the estimates suggest, will make some STB
manufacturers a decent income on US taxpayer dollars. That can't be lost to
them. And it wouldn't hurt if broadcasters would remind people continuously
that they will need to get the STB or new TV, by the way, John. That would
create the market for the cheapo boxes that go on sale this coming January.

Or instead, we can continue making pessimistic predictions, even though each
of them has turned out to be dead wrong.

The fact that virtually no one is using OTA is still true after almost
TEN years. That is even worse that I would have predicted in 2000 when
we talked of five years before 8-VSB  was "fixed" good enough to be
useful.

Five years was the "pessimistic prediction" that has been more than
borne out and is now HISTORY. It can't be changed. It is now a fact
that 8-VSB was a disaster for years as predicted. If it were to be
"fixed" and virtually perfect tomorrow nothing will change the fact
that it was the wrong choice and in my opinion IS still by far the
wrong choice.

I will make the prediction again that if we stick to 8-VSB OTA will be
marginalized to extinction on channels 2-51. The good modulations that
will be used on channels above 51 will drive out the bad modulation
below 51. Would not have said that in 2000 but I had no idea how bad
8-VSB was then.

Bob Miller


Neil Pickford wrote:

>Lots of them in Australia.
>LCD mainly with both Computer & Television Application.

Must be the high cost of them DVB-T receivers, eh? :)

In principle, in a country where 75 percent of the population watches OTA
TV, you'd think that simple economy of scale would dictate a built-in
digital receiver. Or maybe the CE manufacturers are happy to make a bigger
profit by selling two boxes instead of one.

Either way, my bet is that consumers will revolt and demand the single TV
once your analog shutoff date comes near. I don't think the
home-network-with-monitors-and-central-media-server will be any more
ubiquitous in Australia than it has turned out to be here.

Bert

_________________________________________________________________
http://liveearth.msn.com



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