[opendtv] Re: News: No End in Sight to Supply of Cheap TV's
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2005 15:35:50 -0500
>Not necessarily. You might get HDTV on larger sets, but
>you might not on small and cheaper portables. This is
>exactly the same situation as you get with portable
>radios as opposed to fancy home hifi stereo systems.
>I don't think anyone today assumes that a radio with
>an FM band is necessarily an audiophile quality sound
>system, right?
Semantics. The FCC tuner mandate requires that receiver decode all
formats. What they do with them AFTER decoding is wide open as my
previous message suggested.
>
>The point I'm trying to make is that *if* it were true
>that the ATSC front end will add "hundreds" of dollars
>to the price tag of a cheap TV set, *then* the CE
>manufacturers would obviously have been hard at work
>developing decimating receivers.
We've been down this path before. There are MANY costs to build an
ATSC receiver, not the least of which is the roughly $40-50 for the
IP that is required. The difference in cost between a full MPEG-2
MP@HL decode and a decimating decoder is now measured in pennies,
not dollars.
How much does 8 MB of RAM cost these days? Don't bother answering, as
typically, the memory is now integrated in the decoder chip.
>
>While I don't know for sure that they aren't developing
>such cheap decimating receivers, my suspicion is that
>the economics won't make sense. Common front ends,
>built in highly integrated packages, are already
>emerging that will put an end to this "hundreds" of
>dollars stuff.
How much is the LG 5th generation chip? OR the ATI chip for that
matter? The MPEG decoder chip? The Dolby Digital components? Any way
you add it up Bert, we are still talking about at least $100 at COST
for the components and the IP - my guess is that the actual cost is
still closer to $150 - $200. Yes this will come down, but not as far
as you keep claiming.
>
>Before Christmas, I saw a brand new Samsung ATSC STB
>for $199. Surely, built into a cheap TV, the guts of
>this STB will not add up to "hundreds" of extra
>dollars. Yet, it did provide HD outputs.
Yes, there are some deals on some of the previous generation boxes
that are being sold at firesale.
If you want a more accurate picture of street prices, look at this link:
http://www.streetprices.com/Electronics/Consumer/TV/HDTV/Receivers/
Note that many of the lower prices are for closeout units or refurbished units.
>
>> My concern is that people will find them inadequate
>> for HDTV, and thus be reluctant to invest in a
>> mandated HDTV tuner.
>
>What's mandated is a DTT tuner, not HDTV. As the
>price of the front end erodes in the next couple of
>years, consumers will forget all about it.
>
>The hardware is not the price problem. Perhaps the
>royalties are.
At least you are beginning to understand the royalty problem.
It is far to early to make any realistic predictions about consumer
purchasing behavior. When the dust settles from the current buying
season we will once again learn that the vast majority of HD capable
displays sold this year did not include ATSC tuners. And we may soon
learn if the CEA will prevail in extending the deadline to March of
next year for the inclusion of ATSC tuners in displays smaller than
36".
At the moment, the market is being driven by digital STBs that DO NOT
need to include ATSC tuners. Not now or in the future, unless the FCC
changes the rules.
Funny thing about government mandates - they often produce unintended
consequences.
Regards
Craig
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