[opendtv] Re: News: DTV Boxes Could Cost $1 Billion

  • From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Tue, 27 Jul 2004 10:04:03 -0400

Eory Frank wrote:

> The biggest problems I see with reception 'guarantees' are
> (1) VHF to UHF transition, which will require some OTA
> viewers to install new antennas, (2) DTV ERP and (3)
> comparisons of DTV to NTSC where NTSC is worse than Grade 3.

One point on VHF to UHF transition is that indoor reception
might actually improve.

I did an informal test in an internal conference room (no
windows) with the TV set used for watching cassette tapes.
Reinforced concrete building, some 7 miles from the
transmitters as the crow flies. VHF of local channels is
essentially unwatchable. UHF ain't half bad. In urban
settings, if ATSC stays UHF, it might be an advantage.
Out in the boonies is another matter.

On the Grade 3 point, I think we have already long seen
cases in which ATSC reception was achieved when analog
was worse than Grade 3. Only it wasn't consistent enough.
One example was way back in the Hong Kong tests of 2000.
Another might be Cliff's reception of Baltimore stations
(but not necessarily of Philadelphia stations). I think
possibly now we're getting to where this phenomenon is
more consistent and repeatable.

Your point about someone who would accept a really bad NTSC
picture just to receive the content is undeniable. The goal
is to move that digital cliff ever further in the direction
of really poor analog reception, in more and more reception
venues. Lynx and LG seem to have made a large stride in
that direction.

Bert
 
 
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