[opendtv] Re: Popular screen aspect ratios

  • From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2011 08:51:19 -0500

At 12:16 PM -0500 1/3/11, Albert Manfredi wrote:
What I have been saying all along is what you finally repeated here. How can you continue to sound like you're disagreeing, even after you finally understood? Your original position was that no aspect ratio standards were necessary and that STBs did not ever need to be set manually. Now, apparently, you understand.
I have understood all along. The choice of 4:3 or widescreen is necessary because of legacy analog TVs. For new DTVs it is NOT necessary to specify an output - the information is available to do this automatically.
The decoder DOES NOT need to now the display aspect ratio when outputting 16:9
Huh? The decoder doesn't need to know, because the decoder knows? That's humorous. You don't see that "when outputting 16:9" *means that* the decoder knows it has to output 16:9? You don't see that the 16:9 assumption on your part is only thanks to the CE industry taking matters in its own hands?
What I said is correct. The DISPLAY knows its aspect ratio and how to accommodate various sources that may be presented in a 16:9 container.
The 16:9 assumption is there because the broadcasters and CE industry only wanted ONE NEW FORMAT.
The computer industry assumed that they could support ANY format and designed their devices to do this automatically. 




 No analog here.
Then why go on and on? We have already covered the case of digital interfaces with the display, where the display can signal back to the decoder. If you aren't using analog, then OBVIOUSLY we understand why you might not need to enter aspect ratio information into the STB. So, END OF STORY.
Becase you still seem to believe that it is difficult or impossible to have devices and content that DO NOT CARE about resolution or aspect ratio, when these devices already exist in the millions (more than 10 million iPADs sold this past year).
In the mid-90s, digital interfaces to monitors didn't exist, THEREFORE some sensible agreed to options of aspect ratios had to be known a priori. That was what the FCC and its advisors were clueless about, and what the CE companies agreed to in spite of the FCC. Even for PCs, back then, you had to know what to set the video card to, because DVI didn't exist.
We completely explained how to deal with this and the fact that no formats were needed. The FCC understood this argument well enough to throw out the formats. 

The rest is history.
The TV industry struggled (and still struggles) with the interconnection of devices. The devices are for the most part dumb and inflexible. 

The computer industry solved the problem.

Regards
Craig


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