ms6b+@andrew.cmu.edu (Marvin Sirbu) (03/22/90)
FCC Chairman Alfred Sikes is quoted on today's newswires as saying he favors the "simulcast" approach to HDTV rather than the "enhancement signal" approach. (i.e. instead of providing backwards compatibility with NTSC receivers by transmitting a 6 MHz NTSC signal, plus a 6 MHz enhancement signal which when added to the NTSC signal produces HDTV, simulcast means supporting existing receivers by simply broadcast programming in both NTSC and HDTV formats using 6 MHz for each.) He is also quoted as saying he expects the FCC to decide on a final HDTV over-the-air broadcasting standard in the second quarter of 1993. (The FCC is only choosing an over the air broadcasting standard--not a production standard or a standard for VCRs or for fiber optic telephone lines or any other HDTV distribution system.) Simulcasting is favored by Zenith/ATT.
poirier@dg-rtp.dg.com (Charles Poirier) (04/07/90)
In article <255@zds-ux.UUCP> gerry@zds-ux.UUCP (Gerry Gleason) writes: <In article <1990Mar30.163516.25631@tc.fluke.COM> strong@tc.fluke.COM (Norm Strong) writes: <> [ ... it will fit in 6Mhz with digital compression ] <> [ ...too much digital memory and computation be economical ] < < ...it will be economical by the time it can be built in volume. < <That's why there is so much interest in how to do it now, that's the point <we are at on the development curve, and it's very important that the standards <arrived at have enough flexibility to handle all the capability we will want <in the next 50 years at least. < <Gerry Gleason I agree; furthermore, if I were designing the standards, I'd want to be sure that we don't get locked in to the limitations of broadcast technology. I don't think broadcast video will be at all important after the world gets well connected to optical fiber. The time frame for fiberization, I'd estimate at maybe ten years. Cheers, Charles Poirier