Rebuilding TV, One Producer at a Time
Submitted by doc on Thu, 02/02/2006 - 17:32.
First, go read Terry Heaton's The Ammunition Business. Terry's been whupping the TV industry with a clue stick for years. I don't know how much effect he having, but I also don't know anybody who's better at it.
So, a big Amen for what Terry is saying.
Now, here are a few more points I don't see many (or, any) people talking about. So I'll lay them out here, because the underlying theme is pure DIY. If I'm wrong about anything, correct me. This is mostly new stuff.
First, if LCD screen price/feature trends continue in their same general down/up directions, by the end of this year, we'll see 1080i and 1080p HD flat screens for under $1k at Costco and the big box electronics stores. (For what it's worth, folks at Sony and Sharp told me at CES that they expect resolution improvement to plateau for awhile at 1080p as a maximum resolution.)
Now, where will the best-looking source video for those screens come from?
Cable? Satellite?
They don't have the bandwidth, because they're wedging too many broadcast channels in a pipeline of finite width. Even at 720 "HD" resolution they're full of artifacts. I was at Circuit City the other day, watching some golf on ESPN-HD or some channel like that. A shot following a golf ball through the sky looked like a tiny black donut moving through a field of shimmering rectangles. Any frame looked like a .jpg saved at "lowest".
Direct over-the-air digital transmission (where all the analog TV stations are moving — all stations will be off the 2-13 VHF band and transmitting in HD on the UHF band) is capable of relatively artifact-free tranmission (because the stations don't have the burden of carrying 500 channels), but who bothers with a TV antenna anymore? HD stations look to me like anachronisms at birth. Expensive ones, too.
No, the best-looking source video will be produced by the same people who own the screens. Sony's HD cameras make very pretty pictures, at 1080i. (Can they do 1080p yet? Need to check.)
I already know of people whose main uses for big flat screens in their homes are personal photos and home movies. That's probably what we'll do too, when we move to our next house.
New standards for DVDs are in dispute, and may end up splitting the baby. Meaning, we're stuck with prettified
Watch Apple. Count on them going all-out with video production enablement for amateurs, and -- count on it -- distribution through uploads and downloads from the great .Mac in the sky.
And, of course, others will follow.
Here's the kicker.
Inevitably, some telco is going to discover that symmetrical broadband is the way to compete with cable. Why cant cable go symmetrical? Between DOCSIS, inertia and an inability to imagine any shape other than an asymmetrical one, the cable companies are sitting ducks for anybody coming along with a symmetrical alternative.
The biggest need for symmetrical broadband will be video upload to offsite storage — another good business for the carriers, or anybody, to be in.
Get that, and the ammo market will get huge, fast.
London
When they gonna stop blow everything?
London
When they gonna stop blow everything?
London
Police have carried out a controlled explosion on a vehicle at the hospital treating a suspect in the attack on Scotland's busiest airport. Officers also made a fifth arrest in the airport attack and a foiled car bomb plot in London.
WTF
These comments are like rubbish
Sometimes
Sometimes I can't understand...
I've got it
I've got it!
Bullshit
Sorry but you are discussing bullshit
But other said
But other said that the judgement induces common sense, tertium non datur
As one clever
As one clever person said the judgement transforms tragical hedonism.
Interesting
Interesting opinion. But IMHO it's just an opinion.
My experience
I have great experience in that. So I can understand...
Anyway
Anyway I think that the author is right.
Linguistic
The autor has very good linguistic skills
You seem confused
You seem confused. Anything wrong?
Sorry again
Sorry. Post that you have deleted was mine.
Re:
Don't pay any attention at these stupid people.
No
I'm not agree with you. Sorry.
I wish you were right about
I wish you were right about all over the air TV stations going to UHF when analog transmission ends in 2009, but for some strange and seemingly stupid reason, there will be a few VHF DTV's. Here in Chicago, WBBM-TV the CBS station's DTV is on channel 3, analog is channel 2. They have by far the weakest and of course, difficult to receive channel of all in this market. They have to transmit at a much lower power than the rest, not just because they're on a lower frequency, but to prevent interference with their analog on channel 2. Maybe when channel 2 goes away, the FCC might let them raise their power, but for now they're nearly impossible to receive. As for 1080P, it's my opinion that it probably will never be used for broadcast, cable or satellite, due to the bandwidth requirements. Fortunately, it should be a reality for HD-DVD or Blu-ray. I've seen it in person and for me, it's only noticeable at a range of 5 feet from the screen or closer. Beyond 5 feet, 1080P and 1080i look the same.1080P might be in 2006 what quadraphonic sound was in 1976.
I wish you were right about
I wish you were right about all over the air TV stations going to UHF when analog transmission ends in 2009, but for some strange and seemingly stupid reason, there will be a few VHF DTV's. Here in Chicago, WBBM-TV the CBS station's DTV is on channel 3, analog is channel 2. They have by far the weakest and of course, difficult to receive channel of all in this market. They have to transmit at a much lower power than the rest, not just because they're on a lower frequency, but to prevent interference with their analog on channel 2. Maybe when channel 2 goes away, the FCC might let them raise their power, but for now they're nearly impossible to receive. As for 1080P, it's my opinion that it probably will never be used for broadcast, cable or satellite, due to the bandwidth requirements. Fortunately, it should be a reality for HD-DVD or Blu-ray. I've seen it in person and for me, it's only noticeable at a range of 5 feet from the screen or closer. Beyond 5 feet, 1080P and 1080i look the same.1080P might be in 2006 what quadraphonic sound was in 1976.
Small correction on use of VHF
I wish you were right about all over the air TV stations going to UHF when analog transmission ends in 2009, but for some strange and seemingly stupid reason, there will be a few VHF DTV's. Here in Chicago, WBBM-TV the CBS station's DTV is on channel 3, analog is channel 2. They have by far the weakest and of course, difficult to receive channel of all in this market. They have to transmit at a much lower power than the rest, not just because they're on a lower frequency, but to prevent interference with their analog on channel 2. Maybe when channel 2 goes away, the FCC might let them raise their power, but for now they're nearly impossible to receive. As for 1080P, it's my opinion that it probably will never be used for broadcast, cable or satellite, due to the bandwidth requirements. Fortunately, it should be a reality for HD-DVD or Blu-ray. I've seen it in person and for me, it's only noticeable at a range of 5 feet from the screen or closer. Beyond 5 feet, 1080P and 1080i look the same.1080P might be in 2006 what quadraphonic sound was in 1976.
antennas
I'm a bit of an anachronism when it comes to TV watching. First off, I didn't even own a set for 12 years. And I have *never*, in my entire life, ever had cable, or satellite, or any other TV service except for antenna. Every single piece of television equipment (TV set, VCR, DVD player) I own has been handed down from a relative. Stereos I'll buy, because I like nice sound.
On the other hand, I've had a high-speed internet connection for years, often have two or three computers at home running at once (and just me using them), and often prefer to watch TV (when I can) on my computer. I can't figure out why people have both anymore.
Even if you do bother with the antenna
Even if you do bother with the antenna, local stations are adding sub-channels that effectively slice up the bandwidth they have to offer multiple channels such as NBC's Weather Plus, local weather, a duplicate 4:3 Standard Definition feed, local news replays, etc. This can and often has the effect of degrading the main HD channel robbing us of the crystal clear picture we thought we had bargained for.