The Technical Basics
| HDTV (digital) | NTSC (analog) |
| 1125 total lines | 525 total lines |
| 1080 active lines | 486 active lines |
| 16:9 aspect ratio | 4:3 aspect ratio |
|
1920 x 1080 max. resolution |
720 x 486 max. resolution |
| 5.1 channel surround | 2 channel stereo |
|
30 MHz bandwidth MPEG-2 encoding |
6 MHz bandwidth |
Incompatible!
(and, the lowest television technical standard in the industrialized world!)
History
1987 FCC is asked to act on HDTV.
FCC looks at two options:
1) HDTV must be receiver compatible (HDTV on an analog set and vice versa).
2) HDTV must be simulcast while analog is phased out.
FCC has chosen option 2 (1990), though option 1 is playing a role.
Why?
Strategic reason:
to boost electronic manufacturing in the U.S.
(much lost to the Japanese)
Budgetary reason:
auctioning analog spectrum could be worth $30-40 billiion to the federal government.
A problem:
FCC refused to set a digital transmission standard.
(though would prefer an American one)
18 different standards today.
Of these 18 standards, 6 are HDTV (5 progressive scan, 1 interlaced).
Progressive scan - picture refreshes every sixtieth of a second.
Interlace scan - half of the picture refreshes every sixtieth of a second.
720p, 1080i, 1080p
Of the 12 DTV, 8 are 16:9, 4 are 4:3
The Phase-In (or Phase-Out!)
Industry phase-in:
1997 phase in begins (by market and daypart) must be complete by 2006.
Nov. 1, 1998, 42 stations began broadcasting digital signals.
Commercial stations by May 1, 2002, all stations by May 1, 2003.
Public television stations have until May 1, 2003.
By April 2004, all stations must simulcast at least 75% of their programming.
By April 2005, all stations must simulcast 100% of their programming.
Have stations met the current deadlines?
As of August 2004 1292 (out of 1721) TV stations are in compliance in full or in part.
In the Twin Cities (all are on the air now in full or in part):
| Station | NTSC Channel | DTV Channel |
| WCCO | 4 | 32 |
| KMSP | 9 | 26 |
| KARE | 11 | 35 |
| KMWB | 23 | 22 |
| WFTC | 29 | 21 |
| KSTC | 45 | 44 |
| KSTP | 5 | 50 |
| KTCI | 17 | 16 |
| KTCA | 2 | 34 |
Consumer phase-in:
85% threshhold (triggers the phase-out of analog)
85% of viewers are projected to be switched over to digital by 2006
Will this projection be met?
| Year | Households with digital TV |
| 2000 | 700,000 |
| 2001 | 1,400,000 |
| 2002 | 3,600,000 |
| 2003 | 7,100,000 |
| 2004 | 12,100,000 (est.) |
(today about 10% of American households have a digital TV)
(there are roughly 110 million TV households in the United States)
Projected Sales:
| Year | Projected Sales |
| 2004 | 5,700,000 |
| 2005 | 8,300,000 |
| 2006 | 11,900,000 |
| 2007 | 23,000,000 |
by the start of 2007 (the phase out of analog date):
about 30% of American households are projected to have digital TVs.
The best guess is that half of American households will have a digital TV by 2009.
If the 85% threshold isn't met by Dec. 31, 2006, the FCC has the authority to lengthen the process.
The FCC doesn't want to extend the process and has been working to loosen the rules!
The Impact
Industry Impacts:
DTV or HDTV?
The lack of a standard causing problems.
Enormous costs to make this transition.
Some broadcasters want to use the 2nd channel for DTV. (DTV video)
The cameras and related broadcast equipment are incompatible.
Producers - do you shoot in analog? digital? both? for 4:3 or 16:9? on video or film?
What techniques do you use?
Syndication - what happens to shows shot in analog, 4:3?
Will they still work on DTV, HDTV?
How are broadcasters doing?
As of February 2004, CBS was broadcasting 27 hours/week of digital.
NBC 21 hours, ABC 13 hours, FOX 0 hours.
Cable is mostly lagging behind.
Consumer impacts:
Televisions are incompatible (analog).
A complication: not all digital TVs are created equal!
Integrated HDTV - TV can decode analog or digital signals.
HDTV-ready - Has the monitor capability to display digital, but will need an HDTV tuner to
decode digital signals
(the overwhelming majority of digital sets sold to date are HDTV-ready!)
June 2002, FCC mandated that all new TV sets (36" and bigger) have digital tuners.
Currently, prices are dropping about 10-30% per year.
For about $450, a household can get into the low end of digital TV.
(27" screen, 4:3 aspect ratio, older tube technology, no digital tuner)
If an analog set has AV inputs (component or S-video):
a digital to analog converter (~$120) will allow an analog set to decode digital signals.
Some HDTV ready sets may be incompatible with digital signals in the future!
Digital TVs will need a set-top box (for now):
to manage the data streams coming in and routing them to the TV or to a computer.
Digital antennas! (or DBS) (or cable)
What about VCRs? DVDs? Will they still work? (HD DVD is coming!)
Other Issues
Cable has issues:
Concerns about having to simulcast (though the FCC says they don't have to).
Cable systems need more channel capacity to offer digital channels.
DBS services are already using digital signals and taking market share from cable.
PC industry has issues:
The lack of a digital standard means incompatibility problems for computer monitors.
Hollywood has issues:
Digital signals mean video piracy.
And finally, what is the FCC doing to educate consumers?
A new website was launched this month. Check it out.