Re: reason for Psycho Bob Miller's postings to an HDTV newsgroup

frank@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
An interesting UK discussion....


http://forum.digitalspy.co.uk/board/printthread.php?t=440812

Tells it all.

The receivers that Mark says don't exist do.

Mark tried to change to subject to reception in the UK.

No argument there. I have said over the years that the UK has an ancient form of COFDM that no one else is using, that no one should use. They jumped the gun in their excitement over even this preliminary 2K version of COFDM.

I have pointed out that in the UK digital transmitters have an average ERP (Effective Radiated Power) of 3 kW per transmitter and only 1/10th the number of analog transmitters also transmitting. They will not have decent power levels, still far below ours, until the their transition is over.

And YET think of this.

They DON'T have HD, only a test ongoing now. HD is supposed to be "what people want digital TV for" according to Mark Crispin, the one who changed the subject that I am now addressing. Why did he change the subject? I think it was because he did not want to comment on the fact that there exist a lot of mobile or portable DTV receivers that receive regular DTV broadcast. He says there are none, I say they exist in quantity and in a number of countries.

The UK has only FLEA power for transmission. Digital TV is supposed to need massive MEGAWATTS of power, like in MILLIONS of Watts of power. In the UK the highest powered transmitter is 20,000 Watts, there are 20 of those while there are.

They don't have much HD programming since they don't have HD but of course they do have HD. Mark usually divorces the discussion of the problem we have in the US with our 8-VSB OTA modulation and only talks of HD. HD received from any source. I am only talking about an OTA problem.

The amount of HD programming is supposed to be important according to Mark but in the UK, while many are signing up for HD via satellite, they
do have that HD source, far far more are signing up for OTA Freeview.

http://www.sky.com/portal/site/skycom/products/packages/hd

Looks like they have a decent amount of HD there now. It will do well but it is not the only thing that people want from DTV. More people seem to want FREE OTA SD, more programming.

So in the UK they have the choice of HD and some are buying it.

They have a poor, low powered COFDM modulation for FREEVIEW and people are going nuts for it.

And they have an incredible choice of low cost receivers INCLUDING mobile portable ones that the system was not even designed for. Which will not work due to LOW signal strength in many areas. In the UK they can't even broadcast near the coast, about 25% of their land area, since they would interfere with analog stations on the continent.

And yet consumers have bought 13 plus million OTA DTV receivers in spite of all these problems. In spite of all the reasons Mark says it won't work. And no one is being denied HD either. They have that option to and they will have it OTA after the transition to IMO.

All his arguments about how everyone overseas is doing it wrong work against his argument that we are doing it right. All you have to do is look at the evidence.

In the US where Mark says we are doing it right, NADA.

No mobile receivers being offered, nobody selling OTA DTV receivers seriously, nobody advertising them. Nobody doing anything much OTA HD or otherwise and the transition deadline coming. And that with, what, 100% coverage, high power, more HD content than anywhere else in the world. You name it we got it except nothing is happening OTA.

Its the modulation stupid! (and now the codec stupid!)

Major trainwreck IMO.

Bob Miller
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: reason for Psycho Bob Millers postings to an HDTV newsgroup
    ... | They have all of 86 transmitter sites in the UK with the average power ... | This discussion started when Mark suggested that there were no DTV ... And how many people are using mobile TV receivers? ... | Remember that Mark suggest that "most" people want HD from their OTA DTV ...
    (alt.tv.tech.hdtv)
  • Re: 1080P Standard?
    ... |> | current cars obsolete. ... |> | Allowing MPEG4 AVC would make all current receivers obsolete totally. ... | to handle a switch to MPEG4. ... | future of the OTA spectrum, 2-51, to be irrelevant. ...
    (alt.tv.tech.hdtv)
  • Re: 1080P Standard?
    ... |> | Allowing MPEG4 AVC would make all current receivers obsolete totally. ... When the possibility of JUST allowing COFDM as a modulation in the US was proposed all hell broke loose about the sacred 8-VSB receivers that had already been sold by then, ... If you don't add A-VSB | to 8-VSB you restrict broadcaster such that many of them consider the | future of the OTA spectrum, 2-51, to be irrelevant. ...
    (alt.tv.tech.hdtv)
  • Re: Whats Really Holding HD Back? 3
    ... Some of the regions where OTA will do well might not be a surprise ... satellite can become an option, assuming your not addicted to The ... Bob, Common sense, Elmo, you ... multipath resistant receivers and "not worrying about constant dropouts" ...
    (alt.tv.tech.hdtv)
  • Re: 5th Generation DTV Chips
    ... The players who could get excited by OTA may just not see it being all that worthwhile even with a decent receiver. ... I was very busy in the late nineties meeting with Senior Network, PBS and ATSC personalities. ... Rabbit ears are only used for secondary receivers in the UK, most houses having Loft or External Antenna. ... Analog TV Phaseout) ...
    (alt.tv.tech.hdtv)
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