These are complex questions that generate even more complex questions. How about just a simplie one: I assume these new sets appearing after March 1, and for very low prices will be, like their predecessors, NTSC 4:3 CRT types. Will they include an aspect ratio button on the remote control so you can watch a 16:9 picture correctly, or zoom it to fill the screen or still produce a normal 4:3 picture? Are these considerations part of the 'tuner mandate' rules or should we all be prepared to be surprised? Richard Hollandsworth wrote: >1. Performance Tests? What Performance Tests??? >Only performance tests I've seen (and I keep looking) are for PROTOTYPES, e.g. >Linx (Micronas), Zenith/LG and recent Samsung tests by CRC. > >2. Side-by-side on-air tests? There has been very little of that going on >recently, even by Mark... And the old side-by-side tests (e.g. US, Brazil, >Australia, et.al.) don't identify equipment by model numbers. > >2. ATI website presss release claims their THEATER chip series meets (some? a >few? a bunch? all???) of the A/74 Receiver Performance Guidelines. But their >Jun05 posting in the FCC's SHVERA docket shows that chip "D" (something >unspecified from ATI) operated error free on only 34 out of 50 Field Ensembles >(data collected from difficult/impossible reception sites). The gist of ATI's >submission is urging manufacturers to test (and the FCC to mandate?) against >both the Lab Ensembles and especially Field Ensembles. However, they noted >that 9 Field Ensembles had sample dropouts requiring "special handling" in >order to somehow be included. And it remains unknown if some of these field >captures are fundamentally hozed to being with.... >3. Although it might have been "expeditious" to REQUIRE manufacturers to >provide an ATSC tuner if they are going to include any sort of tuner, the vast >majority of users (e.g. CATV, SAT, FiOS, etc) will never, ever use this >additional cost feature. It should be OPTIONAL. > >4. I also object to paying an additional, mandated cost for a CableCard >feature in an HDTV that I won't use because an external HD-DVR is a much >better device. It should be OPTIONAL. > >5. About the only good thing I see will be two-way CableCards that can plug >into retail HD-DVR's. > >6. As the price of low-end HDTV continues to come down, the cost of these >OPTIONAL, UNUSED, UNWANTED features will probably become a significant >fraction of the overall cost. > >7. I'll take the lower cost Monitor with lots of standard HDMI and CV >interfaces please. >Then I'll have maximum flexibility to connect X-Box, PlayStn, D-VHS, DVD, >HD-DVD, SAT/OTA HD-STB/DVR, CATV HD-DVR, FiOS HD-STB, HD-Wireless Hub, >HD-IPTV, SHD-IPTV, XHD-IPTV, et. al. over it's 10+ year lifetime. > > >///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// >Cliff Benham <cbenham@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: >Mark Schubin wrote: > > > >>By March 1 of next year, the tuner mandate requires 100% of all >>tuner-equipped TVs 25-inch and up built or imported into the U.S. to have DTT >>reception circuitry. That includes the under-$100 25-inch TVs I find >>advertised periodically. >> >>TTFN, >>Mark >> >> >> >The above information brings out the skeptic and curmudgeon in me. >Given the painfully slow rollout of good DTT set top boxes over the last >?seven? years, I find it difficult to believe that in less than 6 >months, the seemingly impossible will suddenly emerge in full bloom at >Sears, Walmart, and Western Auto stores everywhere in the country. >Some questions: >What will the quality of performance be for this mandated 'built in DTT >reception circuitry?' Will it be something "thrown in at the last >minute that barely works" and is included only to satisfy the legal >requirements so the manufacturers can still sell TVs in the US market? >Are there any real world performance specifications set by the tuner >mandate which this DTT reception circuitry must meet in order to be >approved for US sale? >Are there any published reports on the DTT reception performance of >these new TVs available that could be displayed on the opendtv list? >Is there any 'preview' or testing planned for these new sets to assure >that they really will work in the real world and not only while being >directly connected to a local 8VSB demo loop generator in the back of >the store? >Or, will we suddenly find there are *no* new TVs as described above >being advertised or sold, but instead, lots of 25-inch and up >'monitors' that meet the description, except that they don't include >reception circuitry of *any* kind, just video inputs? > >Regards, >Cliff > > > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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.