[rollei_list] Re: OT - Turbines generating electricity
- From: "Richard Knoppow" <dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 20:32:13 -0800
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bernard" <bernard_cousineau@xxxxxxxx>
To: <rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, January 28, 2005 7:14 PM
Subject: [rollei_list] Re: OT - Turbines generating
electricity
>
> This reminds me of something that an NHK executive
> supposedly explained about
> HDTV. Apparently, when NHK first started working on HDTV
> in the late 1970's,
> they set their technological goals so that the new
> technology would be every bit
> as good as motion picture film. Unfortunately, by the time
> they had a product
> that was (literally) "ready for prime time," film
> technology had improved so
> much that HDTV could not stand the comparison.
>
That sounds apocraphal to me. The early NHK-Sony HDTV
system was pretty good. Ran demos of it against 35mm film
with a couple of variations. It did look just about as good
as the film where the original material was film. The live
cameras of the time had a lot of problems which have since
been dealt with but, at the time, it was pretty easy to spot
material from them. Also, Sony did not have a video tape
recorder capable of the bandwidth necessary for the full
1050 line system. Again, this is no problem now.
Motion picture film has not gotten that much better but
HDTV has. Unfortunately, the current digital systems allow a
compromise between bandwidth and attendant picture quality,
and the number of channels which can be carried on a cable
or satellite system. I say unfortunately because the
business heads of the various broadcast/cable companies have
chosen to transmit poor quality video as HD. Much of what
you see is very highly compressed digitally and shows
typical motion artifacts and other artifacts. DirecTV in
particular, has chosen to compress its video to the point
where it looks like EP VHS to me. Since we originate HD at
Fox (720P) I have a pretty good idea of what the format is
capable of when done right. It is all too often done wrong
and that will eventually kill HD for cable or satellite use
if there isn't a great deal of better material made
available.
The competition is not with 35mm motion picture film. It
is with the expectations of viewers who are being asked to
pay a great premium for something they may not be getting.
HD is like color TV: it is something broadcasters are
having shoved down their throats. We make out money from
advertising. Advertising rates are based exclusively on
audience size (demographics are just a complication to
this). At present, transmission in HD does not increase the
audience size but does require a lot of new equipment and
production/transmission techniques, so, at least for the
present, its probably a loser for broadcasters. The profit
is made by the companies who own the patent rights and make
the equipment, especially home receivers. This was exactly
the situation with color television in the USA. RCA held
most of the patents and, at least at first, was making most
of the sets. Everyone else lost money on color.
---
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA
dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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