[opendtv] Re: News: No End in Sight to Supply of Cheap TV's
- From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "OpenDTV (E-mail)" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2005 12:42:13 -0500
Craig Birkmaier wrote:
> You choose to ignore that the AVERAGE price
> for an ATSC receiver is closer to $300.
You have to look more closely at what you're
averaging. Averaging the price of STBs that do
more than a built-in receiver would have to do
is obviously invalid.
> I STRONGLY suspect that the unit that was
> $199 at Circuit City was an open box or demo
> unit.
And you'd be wrong. They were plainly marked,
on the shelf, many available.
> What you fail to understand is that the vast
> majority of Americans have moved on. They
> have NO INTEREST in a limited free-to-air
> service.
What you fail to understand is that OTA users
have no reason to change anything, until either
NTSC is shut off *or* the broadcasters offer
something more compelling as a DTT service.
We're talking about OTA users, Craig, not cable
subscribers. Just like in Berlin.
You also fail to appreciate that in Berlin, OTA
users didn't go out and buy STBs until the
analog service was being shut down. In two
phases. That's when folks took interest, in
two phases.
And you fail to appreciate that when DTT started,
even folks with cable or DBS took interest.
> Not possible. In Berlin there was still a huge
> audience for analog TV,
Get your facts straight. It was 9 percent of the
households that used analog OTA. Over here, in
excess of 15 percent. So the effect here should
be greater than there, if anything.
> When they switched to a DTT service with more
> channels than cable
Do you have any evidence to support this? Did
they have only 24 channels on cable systems in
Berlin?
> And others will opt for the FREE TIERS that
> are likely to be offered by cable and DBS
You've mentioned this time and time again,
and I've responded time and time again. Do you
really think that free tiers would be available
if free OTA TV service were discontinued? Dream
on. These free tiers, where they exist, are
only offered to get people off OTA service and
hooked.
> I am not concerned about this. What I am
> saying is that these displays are too small
> for HDTV, and should be optimized for EDTV.
If a cheaper display is too small for HDTV, a
manufacturer wanting to market a cheap LCD
product will use a standard HD ATSC front end
(because these only cost "pennies" more than
SD-only ATSC decimating units, by your
reckoning) and mate this to a VGA type of
screen. *If* this saves money.
There's no reason to believe the CE
manufacturers would do anything different.
Market forces do work, Craig. I really
don't see any reason for "concern."
BUT!
If the manufacturer thinks he can build an
HD display for the same amount as an ED
display, at a given size, then go for it!
He has **NOTHING TO LOSE** doing so. I
suspect that we're fast approaching this
point, for largish displays.
> But even with these approaches there is
> a paradox. If the program is being shot
> and optimized for HDTV it may not work at
> any resolution on a small display.
That's overstated. People have been watching
movies on all sorts of cheap TVs now for
decades. It works just fine. People have
been watching all manner of TV, including
HDTV, without sitting in any ideal position
with respect to the screen. Again, no
problem. This is simply not a compelling
issue.
> It is NOT just the ATSC front end Bert,
> although I have heard estimates of upwards of
> $25 for the stuff that is exclusive to ATSC.
> You need to send money to MPEG-LA for MPEG-2
> and a little more if you want to use H.264.
Well, then, think about it. If the royalties to
be paid are also royalties that apply to digital
cable necessities, the digital cable subscriber
would have to pay these regardless. If he needs
a separate STB, that's how he'd pay. If the cable
front end is integrated with the TV or recorder,
it would amount to the same thing. You save on
the cable STB, you pay somewhat more for the TV
or recording device (one-time fee).
> But NONE will be able to receive ATSC on
> portable or mobile receivers).
Are you willing to put money on that?
Bert
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
Other related posts:
