[opendtv] Re: Demand for free DTV rising in Australia
- From: "Barry Wilkins" <barry.barrywilkins@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 24 Jun 2007 18:14:45 +1200
Bert,
I agree that the course is obviously set for the US and you should make the
most of it. However, the suggested reason for the 8-VSB path choice/COFDM
rejection being a promise to the ill informed of better things just around
the corner has a certain lack of depth to it.
The European assessment of the time rejected 8-VSB for the very reasons that
caused major problems with early US receivers and is still an inherent
weakness of 8-VSB versus COFDM, namely dynamic multipath. This must have
been a flag of warning to the US. Suggestions that the USA had a very
specific population density and Tx site characteristic unrelated to anywhere
else where COFDM was chosen also appears a weak argument.
The Sinclair testing including the NAB2000 demonstration was very telling.
All of this was carried out at a time when they (the FCC) could have and
should have put the brakes on and had a wee rethink.
No alternative standards in development such as ISDB-T used n-VSB
modulation. All were focusing on a form of COFDM. Surely, the writing was on
the wall technically.
So the reasoning to go with 8-VSB did not stack up against the wealth of
evidence against it even at that time. As I note from the comments of Dale,
Bob and John Shutt, there appear to be other factors that have influenced
the decision.
I did find it odd that you did not want to see the "infamous" Bob Millar
mobile COFDM demo. I reflect on this in a comparative way. We here in Kiwi
land are presently trialling DAB. Now I am super interested in seeing if the
right digital standard is chosen for the right reasons. We have already
decided to go with DAB (Eureka 147) as mentioned elsewhere. But if there is
a superior standard out there I want to know all about it and expect that
because there is still time, the decision makers will reconsider any and all
developments. Any comparative demonstrations I would welcome. As it happens,
we are in the happy position to conveniently progress to DAB+ but this has
not been confirmed.
The 8-VSB decision is a bit like NZ going at this stage with DAB using the
old MP2 codec format. There is only one argument in favour of that and it is
simply that there are large quantities of receivers already out there.
Everything else is a negative.
Good luck with your transition and I hope as few as possible of the public
will be inconvenienced and that it brings all the benefits that were
intended.
Regards
Barry
On 6/24/07, Albert Manfredi <bert22306@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Barry Wilkins wrote:
>Historically, the US ATSC 8-VSB rather than COFDM choice will
>be for all time of great technical significance. Why? Because it
>is one of the few recent occasions in the development of
>electronic engineering that I can recall that a decision was
>made to knowingly employ a technically inferior technique
>when it was known that the benefits of the alternative
>choice were overwhelming.
The purported reason for sticking with 8T-VSB, a decision made by the FCC
in
2001, was that improvements were right around the corner, and they liked
the
advanatges of 8-VSB (such as greater range and lower peak-to-average
ratio).
And the NAB was instrumental in convincing them.
So in theory at least, the decision was not made knowing that there were
overwhelming reasons to make a different choice.
But most people on this site seem convinced that all the half-truths and
all
the lies were on the ATSC corner of the ring. Is this true? I'm not in the
broadcast community so what do I know? I haven't dealt with the
personalities involved. Are some more obnoxious than others? Probably so.
Does that color people's perceptions? Almost certainly.
However, I have seen enough to know that there has been a liberal amount
of
obfuscation and half-truths and (perhaps unintentional) lies coming out of
both sides.
As a user of DTT in the US, all I want is for the stalemate to end.
Bert
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