Why You Need A Digital HDTV BEFORE February 2009

[doctorhardware]

If you have comcast, they will get you any way they can.

[dr_ml422]

I believe you doc. my friends in Florida were getting killed w/comcast. Believe me Time Warner can't be too far behind if not worse.

[RFBurns]

@RFBURNS

I have noticed that Comcast in their transistion from analog to digital for February 2009 are always changing their channel numbers. The same channel is broadcast at 480 analog, 720 and 1080i digital, and over the air at 1080i. Four station numbers for the same channel.

Next week the same channel with have different numbers associated with the digital tuner. This requires me to re-search for all the channels approximately every two weeks so I can be sure to pick up all the channel changes from analog to digital.



And I did notice that Fox broadcast of the (big game) was at 720p and looked as good (on 40in screen) as the other main stream broadcasts NBC, ABC at 1080i.
Is 1080p broadcasts going to be a standard by February 2009?....As of today, any broadcast, the best I can pull is 1080i.

Well, it would be nice if all the networks would operate with a standard, ie 1080i or p. However, that is not the case. Broadcasters, including satellite delivery tv, will vary from channel to channel. It will range from 720p thru 1080i or p. Fortunately the minimum resolutions will be 720p by Feb 2009.

I addressed this issue way back in 1997 at the NAB convention in Vegas. Back then, the discussions were regarding multiple formats with a minimum standard. It did not make any sense then, nor does it now.

At the very least, a 720p HD format can be upscaled nicely to 1080 on a medium to large screen. However it doesnt look very good on 70" or larger, as artifacts become noticable, especially in high action scenes. But there are some very good recievers out there now with high speed processors in the upscalers, so there will be less anomalies than on a reciever of just 2 years ago. By the time analog moves into the history books forever, recievers should be able to upscale seemlessly and look very crisp.

So far, there is no ruling or even discussion regarding a "standard for all" in the digital broadcasting world. Currently there are 18 different formats on the transmit side. The headache is mostly on the broadcaster, having to install converters and re-encoders.

For example, the company I currently work for, Wyomedia Corp, owns 5 tv stations that cover the entire state of Wyoming. We carry FOX, ABC, CBS, CW, and FOX2, which is basically the same as the first, but it serves the lower DMA of Wyoming.

Fox network has choosen 720p as their standard trasmission format through the network satellite feeds. If one were to have a waiver and gets Fox off of the dish, you would see their format at 720p. But this is not the case for ABC, which has choosen 1080i. CBS has also choosen a different format, 1080p. CW will run at 720p.

Here is the headache....we have to install 8VSB encoders that can scale up, or down depending on what is being fed into it. Since we have 5 stations to deal with, the expense for these agile encoders has run well into the $500k range. This doesnt include the expense of the new digital transmitters and antenna systems.

Our studio cameras and switchers must also be replaced, near $2M in costs. We have to decide what format will best fit the conversion factor and mesh nicely with network as well.

If we choose 1080i for our newscasts, we would have to bump that down to 720p to match the splicers (digital switchers) so that they will not induce bit rate errors in the 8VSB data that modulates the transmitters. During the superbowl, we noticed that when the splicer went to a local break from the Fox network, a bunch of pixilization and what I call data farts appeard on the screen, and also caused the embedded AC3 audio to glitch and go out of sync, which required a reboot of the encoders. Fortunately there is a quick boot mode which only takes about 5 seconds, but that is not a viable way to operate a broadcast facility.

Basically its one big nightmare and I just wish they had listened to me back in 97 about standardizing the HDTV format.

So much for ATSC...which stands for Advanced Television Standards Committe......SAY WHAT!!!!!????

[dr_ml422]

hi guys. how can you guys tell the resolution signal that's coming in? is there something on your tvs whether hi-def or not that shows you whether you're getting 780p, 1080p, or 1080i? what will i be getting on my sony 20in. wega trinitron flat screen tube? i have 2 of them, and like i mentioned i guess when they fully convert i'll have to either pay more 4 the digital box, or just hook up the cable str8 into my set.

[ed klein]

@ DR ML422

how can you guys tell the resolution signal that's coming in?

On my Samsung HDTV the resolution is located on the remote "info button" also for a brief second or two when you switch channels the signal information 480, 720, 1080 i or p comes up at left top of the screen.

[dr_ml422]

thnx ed. i knew there was some way of knowing this. my remote has a display button which probably is the same as your info one. it only tells me the channel, time, and 4 some channels what's being shown. if i had a digital cable box would the resolution show up on my set, even though it's digital ready, and not a true digital set?

[gonwk]

OK folks,

It is time for a Big Dumb Q ... how the heck can I tell if my 36" Panasonic regular TV which I bought from Sears 7+ years ago will cut the mustard in Feb 2009 or I have to get one of those ATSC's or whatever else!?!?

Also, MrSmith ... what do you mean if You OWN your own HARDWARE? What specific hardware!?!?

For what is worth ... Comcast has done Pissed me off one too many times ... I am switching from Comcast Telephone to someone else since they are forcing into a $45 minimum plan for a lousy home phone service.
And, I already had cut my Cable TV to Bare Minimum "BASIC" basic. And I am even thinking of canceling that and going with Dish service.

Not to change gear on you guys ... but if I have to change TV ... what you guys suggest Plasma or LCD!?!?

Thanks,

G!

[doctorhardware]

It all depends how bright the room is if it is on the dark side go with LCD. If the room is on the bright side then go with plasma. My Hitachi is HDTV ready, but doesn't have the hd tuner, have to buy the external tuner to receive off air hd signals. Mine is also about 7 yrs old also. I have also dumpped Comcast. Still get sales calls for there phone service and how reliable it is and it is a better deal than AT&T.

[NightTran]

LCD and I dont have cable plus no block buster nor netflix and I still enjoy my life vesus the movies

to you Gonwk

[ed klein]

Just my viewpoint, but when I was shopping for a HDTV I was looking for these items, if I could not find these options I was not going to buy a HDTV.

1. 1080p capable (for future 1080p broadcasts)
2. minimum 3 HDMI inputs (for all my hi def hardware connections)
3. analog, digital and over the air tuners (so I can receive all current stations)
4. 1080p over component connection (maybe for some hi def connection)

[admin]

Just my viewpoint, but when I was shopping for a HDTV I was looking for these items, if I could not find these options I was not going to buy a HDTV.

1. 1080p capable (for future 1080p broadcasts)
2. minimum 3 HDMI inputs (for all my hi def hardware connections)
3. analog, digital and over the air tuners (so I can receive all current stations)
4. 1080p over component connection (maybe for some hi def connection)

Good post. I would probably add the following as well mainly for Blu-ray/HD DVD playback, but might become relevant for HDTV broadcast as well:

* Can accept 1080p/24 input
* Can display at 120 Hz

[videomaker]

I feel bad for poor people that will be tv less.

[dr_ml422]

welcome. they'll still have a TV, just no signal. unless they get the coupons. anyhow don't worry about them unless they live next door, and your cable is near their window. then anything's possible.

[MilesAhead]

Ed, did you find one that had all the required features? I'm just curious the model and how much you laid out for it.

[ed klein]

@MilesAhead

Yes, I found 3 Samsung models with all the options previous mentioned that I was looking for.

Samsung LN-T4071F (40in screen) $1750. at Best Buy
LN-T4671F (46in screen)
LN-T5271F (52in screen)


No complaints so far, take a look at the high-end Sharp HDTV models at their web-site, one of the Sharp models had 1080P over one of the component connections.