[opendtv] Re: White paper from CEA
- From: "John Willkie" <JohnWillkie@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 31 Oct 2005 07:16:42 -0000
Another little missed item: it's Nat Ostroff, not Osteroff, and just where
did he say this? (Care to comment, Nat?)
John Willkie
> -----Original Message-----
> From: opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
> On Behalf Of Tony Neece
> Sent: Monday, October 31, 2005 5:43 AM
> To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [opendtv] Re: White paper from CEA
>
> The simple fact is that the broadcasters did at first promote DTT. Then
> along came the controversy over changing to COFDM. That caused =
> everything
> to come to a halt. STB R & D stopped. Sony and others pulled back =
> product
> in the pipeline as well as support for HD broadcast production. It =
> looked
> like VHS vs Beta again. With almost no receivers out there it would have
> been asinine for the broadcasters to heavily promote their Digital =
> service.
>
> The next step came when the dust settled over the modulation standard, =
> and
> even Nat Osteroff, the most ardent supporter of COFDM, agreed that the
> improved equalizers for ATSC reception made COFDM a dead issue.=20
>
> What then happened was that the big retailers told the manufacturers =
> that
> they would be wasting their time to expend R&D on STBs, because the
> retailers had decided it was not in their interest to advertise and sell =
> an
> item that reduced the incentive to buy new TV sets or sign for Cable or =
> DBS.
> It was the retailers that killed the market. I read of one retailer =
> that
> actually told a TV station to STOP advising their viewers to get =
> converters,
> because they weren't selling them and didn't want people coming in =
> looking
> for them!!! =20
>
> Oh but how much more fun it is to blame the big bad broadcasters for the
> sluggish transition, despite that for 7 years now they have been =
> spending
> millions upon millions for new transmitters, new STL's, new terminal and
> studio equipment, even new towers in some cases, and a double or triple
> power bill at the transmitter sites. The broadcasters did this =
> willingly,
> even eagerly in most cases. The station personnel dug in to learn
> completely new technology and measurement technique. No small task =
> that.
>
> It is just too much to expect the broadcaster to carry all the load, =
> when
> even now, DTT receivers are few and far between in the hands of viewers.
> Now, really, does anyone truly think the retailers would be eagerly =
> pushing
> DVB-T STBs if we had somehow gone that route?=20
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] =
> On
> Behalf Of Manfredi, Albert E
> Sent: Sunday, October 30, 2005 4:29 PM
> To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [opendtv] Re: White paper from CEA
>
> Frank wrote:
>
> > Does anyone think there is any real chance that the
> > FCC could be convinced to reverse it's decision on
> > allowing COFDM? How many corporate executives are
> > foolish enough to bet their careers on a business
> > model that assumes such a change of heart will happen
> > at the FCC?
>
> I agree completely. So what's stopping these corporate
> executives from playing in the ATSC market?
>
> > That RFP is a joke.
>
> That RFP is only a joke if the NAB allows to become a
> joke. In my opinion, it's a good way to kick start the
> market, because it should convince the CE guys that
> *broadcasters* are actually interested in DTT now, as
> opposed to before. And by the way, if anything, the
> NAB ought to include recording devices as well as
> bargain basement simple STBs.
>
> > assuming anyone even responded to the RFP
>
> I don't understand this. Are you saying that the NAB
> was just making it all up?
>
> http://www.nab.org/newsroom/pressrel/Releases/100505_Thomson_LG_Converte
> rBox.htm
>
> I thought they selected LG and Thomson.
>
> > Most companies that are actually in the IC business
> > and highly capitalized have given up on that idea for
> > ATSC DTT. Good luck to any newcomers.
>
> But the 5th gen LG chips exist, in quantity production,
> do they not? I don't understand what you're saying here
> either. And it looked like Micronas is also getting
> into the chip market, and perhaps Samsung too.
>
> Leaving aside the conspiracy theory for why these DTT
> products aren't coming to market, the only rational
> explanation I can come up with is that the broadcasters
> have been so uninterested in pushing this transition
> that the CE guys saw no credible market out there. Maybe
> the CE guys are expecting OTA to die. (Or maybe Dale is
> correct, and the CE guys are *ensuring* that OTA will
> die.) I'll accept that poor performance was a good
> reason for broadcasters to be uininterested -- in the
> past!
>
> Now that decent and low cost receivers have been demoed
> and that some of these are being sold (in LG integrated
> sets, anyway), the best way to get DTT going is for the
> broadcasters to get in the thick of the action, JUST
> LIKE their cable and DBS counterparts do.
>
> Bert
>
> =20
> =20
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