Digital TV Facts: The Latest

• Will “white space” broadband devices actually protect your digital TV reception? Doug Lung, offering a technical analysis of the claims, remains unconvinced. Even cable TV reception could be threatened, he writes.

• The Center for American Progress wants Congress to (finally) address the public-interest obligations of DTV broadcasters. But FCC Chairman Martin does not want to impose further requirements.

• Consumer Federation of America chief Mark Cooper blasts cable industry’s DTV transition commercials, calling them “awful and disgusting.”

Cable TV subscribers who watch local channels’ HD broadcasts may be short-changed on signal quality, under an FCC action adopted Tuesday. While the ruling “provides cable operators with flexibility,” according to the commission, consumers who have splurged on home theater systems won’t be cheering a decision that can lead to diminished picture quality.

Cable operators will be required to carry local stations’ high-definition telecasts in HD after the shutdown of analog TV broadcasts on February 17, 2009. But the FCC will not require cable systems to pass through the entire HDTV signal as broadcast over the air. Instead, according to an FCC statement, “cable operators must carry broadcast signals so that the picture quality is at least as good as the quality of any other programming carried on the system.” In other words, cable companies can downgrade quality on local stations, but they aren’t allowed to make the locals look worse than the cable networks they carry.

The decision can be seen as a compromise between demands from broadcasters, who want cable companies to provide “all content bits” to their subscribers, and cable companies, who face capacity constraints on their systems because of the huge amounts of data that must be transmitted to provide HD programming.

Some cable companies will probably provide the full HD signal if system capacity is sufficient. But if you have an HDTV and want the best picture quality possible from your local stations (and you live in an area with reliable reception), your best bet is to watch over-the-air using an antenna.

• Link: FCC [pdf]

Although a handful of companies have publicly announced plans to market digital TV converter boxes to U.S. consumers, the actual size and competitiveness of that still-emerging segment of the consumer electronics market remains something of a mystery.

Chipmaker Microtune today offered some fresh evidence of activity among digital-to-analog converter manufacturers, indicating that “multiple customer converter box designs” will employ its three-in-one tuner, the MicroTuner MT2131. The company did not specify what brand name or names the DTV converter boxes will carry.

Microtune facilities in Plano, Texas, are being used to help its customers test converter box tuner performance against technical requirements established by the U.S. government. Read the rest of this entry »

• DTV converter boxes will be a “hot topic” at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January. But HDTV will remain the star of the show.

• U.S. consumers are still waiting for a low-priced digital-to-analog converter box. In Britain, meanwhile, a supermarket chain is offering a box for about $20.

• Philips tells the FCC the company’s prototype white-space device (WSD) works even better than initially thought. Big deal, say broadcasters, who remain alarmed about potential WSD interference blanking out digital TV reception.

Television viewers may struggle with reception problems on certain channels after the digital TV transition is completed in 2009, recent comments filed with the FCC by broadcasters suggest. Station owners moving DTV broadcasts from a UHF channel back to a VHF channel previously used for analog TV are concerned about losing audiences after the transition, explains Doug Lung, Telemundo Group vice president of engineering, in his latest column. (VHF channels are numbered 2 through 13; channels 14 and up are UHF.)

VHF stations are asking the FCC to reconsider technical rules affecting how their signals are broadcast, including limits concerning interference with other signals. The current limits would force some stations to operate at reduced power, “affecting their ability to cover their market unless interference limits are relaxed or they are allowed to change to another channel post-transition,” Lung writes.

In the DTV era, the “low VHF” band—channels 2 through 6—is no longer a desirable neighborhood for most broadcasters, given its susceptibility to interference. Read the rest of this entry »

A cable company scheme to make hay from the digital TV transition has entered a new phase. An Ohio cable operator, as you may recall, floated a plan to offer local channels for free via cable TV in lieu of government-discounted DTV converter boxes. Two other small cable companies are now on board, TWICE reports, and a web site has been launched under the banner of the “Save Our Sets Coalition” (SOS).

As I’ve said before, this is an innovative plan. But the air of disingenuousness about it is just getting thicker. Read the rest of this entry »

Four consumer electronics companies are fighting an FCC proposal to allow personal or portable “white space” devices to share digital TV spectrum. DTV reception is threatened by the wireless broadband devices, the manufacturers maintain.

LG, Samsung, Hitachi and Panasonic are registering their opposition with the FCC at the urging of the Association for Maximum Service Television (MSTV), according to TWICE.

The manufacturers’ statement said “digital television will be impaired if unlicensed devices fail to properly detect and protect a DTV station’s channel, or if they operate on a station’s first adjacent channel.”

MSTV lobbies on spectrum issues for television broadcasters.

Companies that market digital TVs and converter boxes are appropriately nervous. If white-space devices hinder television reception, they can expect to be on the receiving end of consumer complaints. Among the rival consumer electronics manufacturers not joining in the protest is Philips (selling television receivers under the Philips and Magnavox brands), which has developed a prototype white-space device.

At cnet, Marguerite Reardon examines the white-space debate. The Washington Post also weighs in with an editorial.

Earlier:
• DTV interference from ‘white space’ prototype
• DTV channels: Time to start over?
• What if broadcasters stopped broadcasting?

• The U.S. government has “grossly underestimated” the number of DTV converter boxes Americans will need, says PBS President Paula Kerger.

• Microsoft defends “white space” broadband prototype devices against charges of interfering with digital TV broadcasts. The company cites defects in a previously tested device…and submits a new one to the FCC.

• DirecTV and Time Warner Cable settle dispute over HDTV quality claims.

• ATSC wants the FCC to update its digital TV standard, following the standards body’s six-part framework.

Proposed “white space” devices, designed to share digital TV spectrum, will be the topic of a technical meeting hosted by the FCC next week. “Interested parties” are invited to visit the FCC Laboratory in Columbia, Md., to observe and discuss test setups and evaluation procedures for white-space devices.

The meeting, announced by the commission’s Office of Engineering and Technology (OET), is scheduled for August 16. Space is limited. For reservations, send e-mail to Patricia.Goff@FCC.gov; include the name of your organization and the number of attendees.

Earlier:
• DTV interference from ‘white space’ prototype
• DTV reception threatened by interference?
• Converter-box performance: Reports raise concerns

Your local station should now know which channel to call home after the transition to digital TV is completed. The FCC announced final DTV channel assignments for more than 1,800 stations yesterday.

After analog TV broadcasts terminate on February 17, 2009, many stations will assume new channel numbers. No worries, though (well, almost; I’ll explain later). Surprisingly, viewers won’t generally need to learn new channel lineups, because stations will retain their customary on-air identities. Channel 11 will still promote itself as channel 11, for instance, even if it has moved to channel 32.

The familiar channel numbers from the analog era can be preserved to a large extent, thanks to “channel virtualization.”
Read the rest of this entry »

Switching to digital TV broadcasts will be a chore for some Americans, including many seniors. Hooking up a DTV converter box, scanning for channels, possibly getting up on the roof to fiddle with an antenna…let’s face it, the set-up will be daunting for some folks.

Age isn’t the issue. At 84, Sumner Redstone is still in charge at CBS, after all. I know of seniors who will make the transition from over-the-air analog TV to digital, no problem. But for anyone who is mobility-impaired or in frail health, the road to DTV is an uphill climb.

Here is how one television station manager approaches the issue:

I’m willing to bet that charitable organizations will help the elderly and homebound locate and install set-top converters.

Uh-oh.

If that’s the solution the TV industry is counting on, I’m afraid we’re in trouble. Read the rest of this entry »

FCC test results suggest digital TV reception would suffer if prototype mobile “white space” devices shared the DTV spectrum. John Eggerton reports in Broadcasting & Cable.

• Link: Broadcasting & Cable

Earlier:
• DTV reception threatened by interference?
• Converter-box performance: Reports raise concerns