[opendtv] Re: News: DIRECTV Sued Over HDTV Picture Quality
- From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2006 17:57:59 -0400
Dale Kelly wrote:
> Bert wrote:
>> Why would manufacturers build STBs that could sell for $50?
>> They couldn't make any money selling them for that. And, if
>> they are that cheap, how much worse will they work than the
>> one's I have paid between $200 and $500 for today?
Hey Dale, does that sound like moi? That was Cliff's Q.
> The promise of a $50 converter box was the CEA quid-pro-quo
> to congress for it's setting a supposedly hard date for the
> analog shut down, which is where the CEA's profits lie.
My answer is actually simpler. The $50 SWAG for a bare bones SD-only
output STB is probably a decent number. A manufacturer seeing a market
in the 10s of millions, I'd say almost for sure more than 30 million,
would probably go for that. Euro manufacturers have done so for far
smaller markets.
By the way, check out the more recent comments pointed out by Bob
Miller.
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/otiahome/dtv/comments/dtvcomments_092906.html
Much silly stuff, but also some good stuff, from Charles Rhodes, Funai,
LG, C.B. Patel. The guys in the trenches want performance minima to be
established and they don't throw up their arms in despair.
So, if they don't, who are we to? After all, if these boxes were so
impossible to build, and to work well, don't you think the manufacturers
would be the first to show total lack of interest?
As I see it, with the voucher program, these vendors see a more or less
sure source of revenue. But if they were overly pessimistic about the
performance, they would shy away from making any statements or boxes.
My list of features, even if for more than $50:
1. A/74 performance minima, with included Charles Rhodes considerations
on IM3 image rejection.
2. HD outputs.
3. A real timer.
4. Smart-antenna compatible.
BTW, I noticed a fun (to me) quirk in the behavior of my Accurian. If I
use the "wrong antenna" on one of the channels, specifically Fox 5, some
days it will sit dark for some time, showing inadequate signal strength.
Then suddenly, it locks in, shows plenty of signal, and stays solid.
Just the sort of bad behavior that can be improved with more clever
design. This is a training problem. I suspect they are using only blind
equalization.
Bert
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