daemon@rutgers.UUCP (03/31/87)
From: Mike (My watch has windows) Meyer <mwm%violet.Berkeley.EDU@BERKELEY.EDU>
The following looks like a nice way for the next generation Amiga to
get both lots of pixels, and stay compatable with TV sets. Maybe going
with NTSC didn't loose so bad after all. Just have to wait and see.
<mike
------- Forwarded Message
From: ames!uwvax!harvard!wanginst!infinet!rhorn@bu-cs.bu.edu (Rob Horn)
To: info-futures@bu-cs.bu.edu
Date: Mon, 30 Mar 87 12:51:24 EST
Subject: HD-NTSC (A HDTV Proposal)
In IEEE Trans. Consumer Elec., Feb 87, there is a Proposal for a
New High Definition NTSC Protocol. This is a variant on the HDTV
theme, and unlike the earlier proposals, this one looks like it
might make it. Assuming that it does, it will have an impact on
display technology. The proposal would use approximately 60Hz
828x1320 displays in a 14x9 landscape format. This makes the
pixels rectangular rather than square. If this proposal is
accepted, displays like this will become very cheap as they
benefit from the efficiencies of consumer manufacturing.
The article is worth reading as an example of data compression,
human factors analysis, and concern for the needs of the current
NTSC TV owners, broadcasters, and film makers. This kind of
upgrade involves many of the same basic tradeoffs that go into
the decision on how to upgrade a CPU architecture when there is a
significant installed base. I think that this proposal might
make it with only minor modifications.
The main reason that I expect it to suceed is that this proposal
is the first that I have seen that is totally upward compatable
from the North American NTSC. This avoids the multi-billion
dollar problem of changing FCC licenses and frequency
allocations. It lets stations upgrade without losing their old
audience. It may even preserve existing VCR technology so that
HD-NTSC movies could use existing VCR's on HD-NTSC receivers.
All of these had presented insurmountable obstacles to the
previous HDTV proposals. The major remaining problems are a
motion smear problem, the requirement for much cleaner analog
electronics, and the fact that NTSC compatability only solves
problems in the Japanese and North American markets.
Rob Horn
UUCP: ...{decvax, seismo!harvard}!wanginst!infinet!rhorn
Snail: Infinet, 40 High St., North Andover, MA
------- End of Forwarded Message