At 9:42 AM -0400 6/9/05, John Golitsis wrote: >The CODEC used for something like broadcast television cannot be a >moving target! Otherwise, we'll all be like Bob Miller...chasing the >"next big thing" and accomplishing absolutely nothing. Legacy thinking John. Like it or not, it IS a moving target... One that will keep moving for decades. But this does not mean that codec evolution cannot be managed, nor that all future upgrades will be as painful as current upgrades. The reality is that video is NOT a moving target. You can argue that we are migrating to High Definition, which needs more bits than Standard Definition, but his is not true. We are migrating to multiple definitions, and most important to the ability to put sharp images on big screens. We know now that 1 Mpixel is adequate to do this. It will take a few years to max out the capabilities of 1 Mpixel formats, but the tools and the computing power needed to do it right will swallow up video, just as they did audio before. There are two ways to deal with codec evolution. 1. Replace the decoders periodically, adding new codes while continuing to support legacy codecs. This is the business model for DBS, and to a lesser extent for cable. 2. Migrate to software decoders that can be upgraded after deployment. This is the PC/Internet model which has been the primary driven in codec evolution over the past decade. Over the next decade, the tremendous gains in MIPs, and in the ability to drive cheap high resolution displays will totally consume the requirements to properly handle high quality video. With sufficient MIPs it will be easy to manage codec evolution via software upgrades. The major shift, yet to take place, will be to reprogrammable hardware, AWAY FROM dedicated codec chips. Broadcast television is no different than ANY OTHER form of digital media. Thinking of it in legacy terms is what is killing it. Regards Craig ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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.