[opendtv] Re: New Thread: What becomes of Legacy Analog Equipment

  • From: "Stephen W. Long" <longsw@xxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2007 20:46:08 -0500

John,

We appear to have very different experiences using NTSC VCRs.  For one, I
only had cable TV for a short time then moved over to satellite, as the
local cable company (then) had terrible, noisy analog picture quality.  I
only used my VCRs to record over the air pictures, which were quite good for
some channels.  My wife recorded her favorite network TV shows for years
this way, so my entire experience was using VCRs for over the air recording.
We never did the rental tape thing.  I guess I did not even consider use of
VCRs with cable, again, my cable company (then) did not have basic cable
that was compatible with TV sets - you had to have their set top box to even
get basic service.  Back then, no IR remotes to change the cable box, so you
either recorded over the air, or could only record a single channel via the
video out from the set top box.  So, this sort of experience drove my
observations below.

Maybe what I was also trying to point out was that the "sudden" non-ability
to record over the air shows via VCR will surprise many folks.  There will
also be many folks surprised that their analog TV sets quit working in Feb.
2009.  My very first job in television was as the night/weekend switchboard
operator at my hometown NBC affiliate station - WWBT.  If the transmitter
went down, or a show was preempted for some reason, my nights at the
switchboard were hell - hundreds of very angry people shouting over the
phone about taking away their television.  I can only imagine the phone
calls at TV stations across the nation the morning after the cut over.  I
can also imagine the number of phone calls/messages to Congress - why did
the government take away my TV service?  I learned a lot during my
switchboard operator stint - some people take TV very, very seriously - just
be at a local TV station when a soap opera gets knocked off the air then you
will know the meaning of anger from strangers.

I think the analog shut down will be a very, very ugly couple of
days/weeks/months across the nation.

BTW, I have purchased three new ATSC TV sets in the past several months.
ATSC reception still sucks at my house - picture freezes and drop outs occur
at random.  I can watch the on-screen signal meter and the signal fades from
weak to strong, in random patterns.  I have tried the outdoor antenna and
indoor rabbit ears.  Same results - dynamic multipath is not corrected by
miracle chips in the TV sets..  It does not seem to matter which
manufacturer, all three function just as poorly.  I have to view via
satellite to enjoy watching TV.  8VSB still sucks.  We could have done
better.

Stephen Long



-----Original Message-----
From: opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of John Shutt
Sent: Monday, November 26, 2007 12:44 PM
To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [opendtv] Re: New Thread: What becomes of Legacy Analog
Equipment



----- Original Message -----
From: "Stephen W. Long" <longsw@xxxxxxxxxxx>

> I am specifically thinking about all of the NTSC VCRs out there.  I must
> have 10 VCRs around my house and basement, in all different versions and
> capabilities, slowly acquired over the years.  None of the tuners will
> work
> post transition.

There has never been an more inaccurate statement.  Those tuners will work
exactly as well the day after the transition as they did the day before the
transition.  And I would wager that more than 75% of America's VCRs (my gut
says closer to 90%) of them are either A) connected to cable, B) connected
to an STB, or C) connected to no antenna at all and are either gathering
dust or are used for playback only.

> The coupon set top box converters will not really work -
> no way to have the channel change based on time, as any VCR will do.

Another mistatement.  There are VCRs that are forced to be connected to STBs
today.  They are connected to cable and DBS STBs, where this problem has
been battled for years.  The two ways that are used for mulitple channel
recording are A) the STB will do timed channel switching, or B) the VCR has
an IR 'mouse' to remotely control the STB and change channels.

Timed channel changing was not mentioned as either a required feature nor as
a disqualifying feature for coupon eligible ATSC STBs, so they may be
available in the near future.  However, I would imagine that the timed
channel change feature will not be incorporated into the first generation of
Coupon STBs.

The IR 'mouse' channel changing scheme usually requires one to program the
VCR by selecting from a group of preprogrammed codes, so I imagine that
legacy VCRs will not control Coupon STBs.  That leaves no channel changing
capability.

However I would imagine that most cable homes where STBs are required for
tiered programming, the reality is also that there are no channel changing
going on there, either.  You want to record 60 minutes, you tune the STB to
the appropriate channel ahead of time.

> I use
> DVRs nowadays, so not really an issue for me, but for my parents - the VCR
> is the only way to record a show.  They have cable, but only in the living
> room - the bedroom TV uses rabbit ears.

Then they do not record programming from Discovery, TLC, the History
Channel, or movies from AMC, TCM, HBO, or Showtime.  If indeed they
regularly record from rabbit ears exclusively, that puts them in the 25% who
will have to use a coupon eligible STB, extend the cable drop into their
bedroom, or transition to a newer technology such as an ATSC DVR with hard
drive.  The hard drive ATSC DVR is probably the best way to time shift
programming, and far superior to a VCR.

As the transition is in February of 2009, that gives you the perfect gift
giving opportunity for the 2008 Christmas season.

> So what is the impact of 100 million (or so) obsolete VCRs after the
> transition?  It may fill the landfills across the land.

The average consumer VCR has an expected lifetime of what, 5 years?  The
only impact I see is lower demand in the replacement VCR market as people
naturally transition to DVRs with DVD burners.  Again, I predict that the
vast majority of VCRs post cutoff will function exactly as they did
pre-cutoff:  Connect to analog tier cable.

> Are there ATSC VCRs for sale?  I have never seen one, but I will start
> looking this shopping season.

I doubt you will find any.  However, why would you want to replace an NTSC
VCR with an ATSC VCR?  Have you ever seen the video quality of a 6 hour SLP
VHS tape displayed on a 32" 720p LCD monitor?  a DVR with hundreds of hours
of hard drive storage is the way to go for time shifting, and DVDs are the
way to go for movie viewing.

Or do you also lament the inability to go to Blockbuster and rent new
release movies on VHS?

John




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