[opendtv] untruthfulness in DTV
- From: "Stephen W. Long" <longsw@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2006 06:36:53 -0500
I evidently lost the beginning of this mail trail, but here in the middle I
would point out the following:
Many untruthful things have been said by 8VSB and ATSC proponents. In one
ATSC board meeting they discussed how bad things were going - the
modulation system just did not work, and they KNEW IT. It was easier to
kill any effective competition than it was to fix a broken system.
To partially quote a lawyer from the team of lawyers that threatened my
personal financial future if I continued to publicly question the technical
capabilities of 8VSB - "oh, it works great, it works 75% of the time."
75%. Is there any digital communication system in the world for which we
only tolerate 75% successful communication delivery?
It's really simple folks, and all the graphs and talk about 1.5 or 2 or 3db
difference in systems is a smoke screen. If you have echos, etc. in analog
transmission, the picture usually stays locked, the sound continues, and
our brains will erase the ghost and continue to watch the show. In the 75%
8VSB ATSC system, when it "fades" because of echo, you lose the sound or
the picture, then because of the long GOPs of MPEG-2 it can take many
seconds to make it all stable again. This is a TERRIBLE viewing experience.
I would assert that the inside people that knew all along that ATSC would
only work 75% of the time are the untruthful ones.
When the digital cut over is completed, and the analog stations shut down,
fewer people will be able to receive and WATCH free OTA TV than analog.
People will vote with their feet, returning set-top boxes where the signals
freeze right in the middle of the touchdown. People will switch to cable
and satellite and free OTA will go bankrupt.
Any way, why do I care about this - I am not a broadcaster or a
manufacturer or a retailer or a program provider or anything - I am the guy
that is called when terrible things happen. Forget the entertainment part
of OTA television for a moment (who cares except that's what pays for it
all). I CARE about emergency transmissions to people hiding in their
basements. This has always been my only dog in the fight. The DVB
implementation of COFDM was designed such that all receivers would
automatically detect a change in the guard intervals and similar parameters
of the signal. A broadcaster could transmit a routine high data rate
signal on normal days, and with the flip of a switch punch through with a
very, very rugged signal at lower data rates. In this mode, COFDM
receivers in people's homes could receive images and audio and even IP
traffic - first responders could actually receive bits while they drive to
the horror, something that will NEVER happen with 8VSB.
It is time for me to depart this list. In a couple of years, when the
entire ATSC house of cards collapses, someone will have to come in and
clean up the mess and come up with a digital television system for our
nation that works 99.99% of the time, not 75% of the time. I hope we can
build such a revised system before we REALLY have to NEED it. The nation
had three days warning about Katrina, what do we do when we have 3 seconds
warning? Too late then, way too late to get robust communications into
each American home.
I'll see some of you at NAB, until then, be well.
Stephen Long, signing off.
At 07:06 PM 3/23/2006 +0000, wrote:
>Your premise -- and viewpoint -- are skewed. Could you list all the exampl=
>es of untruthfulness in DTV?
>
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