opendtv

[opendtv] An Unsteady Future for Broadcast (Craig Birkmaier)

I had to include the graphic with this story, as it illustrates the dire straits that the broadcast networks are in. There have been some recent posts about the networks still dominating ratings; the reality is that their share of the prime time audience is below 30% - and the share is significantly lower for broadcasters in other day parts. Even Oprah is moving to cable. Regards Craig ...

[opendtv] Spectrum Comments Pour into FCC (Manfredi, Albert E)

Spectrum Comments Pour into FCC 11.19.2009. WASHINGTON: A proposal to create a national wireless broadband network is generating tens of thousands of comments at the Federal Communications Commission. Commenters range from lobbies, think tanks, schools, phone companies, citizens, and the likes of the Waukesha County Department of Emergency Preparedness. ...

[opendtv] Re: Company Claims to Have Solved White Space Interference Problem (Manfredi, Albert E)

John Shutt wrote: I agree that the author was not writing engineering specs, nor was the intended audience product designers. It looks like Ofcom is, indeed, using the same definition of white spaces as the FCC's defintion, as you had concluded. Luckily for them, though, they seem are a little more skeptical than our FCC about proper operation of an auto-detection feature. They seem interested in the geolocation mode, which as far as I'm concerned, is the most promising route (unless one doesn't care ...

[opendtv] HD voice comes to Android, but can it really save voice revenues? (Manfredi, Albert E)

At very long last, perhaps telephones will start sounding like human voices. To me, this is very much the same as HDTV. Which is to say, it won't be an extra-cost specialty item. It will become the norm, even if initially it will be premium, and soon enough it won't cost any more than crappy telephone voice costs today. Bert ------------------------------- ...

[opendtv] Re: Overscanning on LCD TVs (dan . grimes)

You could use a Blu-ray player and Joe Kane's Video Essentials (and similar from Stacy Spears, etc.) as and HDMI/YPbPr test generator in the $150 range. --Kilroy A circle wipe from a production switcher will tell you if the aspect is being squished. --John Shutt Both excellent ideas. In fact, I have also used the CG (Chyron PCcodi in ...

[opendtv] Re: Company Claims to Have Solved White Space Interference Problem (Craig Birkmaier)

At 8:21 AM -0500 11/17/09, John Shutt wrote: I said 'more useful,' not 'the only useful' and it is because of antenna size. A 1/4 wave antenna at 450 MHz is around 16.65 cm long, and a 1/4 wave antenna at 700 MHz is around 10.7 cm long. To optimize a low power device, you need to optimize the antenna. So you target a narrower slice of the UHF Television band. If you want to hide the antenna inside of a device, why not choose the ...

[opendtv] News: What the future holds for Wi-Fi (Craig Birkmaier)

What the future holds for Wi-Fi By John Cox Created 2009-11-16 03:00AM The recent formal approval [1] of the IEEE 802.11n wireless standard marks not the end but the start of a wave of Wi-Fi innovation. In the next three to five years, the Wi-Fi experience will be very different ...

[opendtv] Re: Company Claims to Have Solved White Space Interference Problem (John Shutt)

I said 'more useful,' not 'the only useful' and it is because of antenna size. A 1/4 wave antenna at 450 MHz is around 16.65 cm long, and a 1/4 wave antenna at 700 MHz is around 10.7 cm long. To optimize a low power device, you need to optimize the antenna. So you target a narrower slice of the UHF Television band. If you want to hide the antenna inside of a device, why not choose the smallest antenna? ...

[opendtv] Re: Company Claims to Have Solved White Space Interference Problem (Craig Birkmaier)

At 12:53 PM -0500 11/16/09, John Shutt wrote: I agree that the author was not writing engineering specs, nor was the intended audience product designers. Clearly the higher frequencies near the 700 MHz benchmark are more desirable than the lower frequencies, thus the perhaps less than optimally phrased term around 700 MHz. ...

[opendtv] Re: Company Claims to Have Solved White Space Interference Problem (John Shutt)

----- Original Message ----- From: Manfredi, Albert E albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx I'm looking at three examples that suggest confusion: 1. ... the 'white space' frequencies recently vacated by the U.S. DTV ...

[opendtv] Re: Overscanning on LCD TVs (Kilroy Hughes)

You could use a Blu-ray player and Joe Kane's Video Essentials (and similar from Stacy Spears, etc.) as and HDMI/YPbPr test generator in the $150 range. Hundreds of specific test patterns have evolved to check for many of the things that go wrong with video, including errors commonly found in decoders when they convert 4:2:0 to 4:4:4, 10-bit to 8-bit rounding bias, requantization, aspect ratio distortion, setup, gamma slope out of black ... as well as all the usual calibration stuff like color primaries, color temp, gamma, gray scale over the entire gamma curve, etc. You can always see errors, but it helps to know which are in encoding, decoder/signal processing, interface, display processing, and ...

[opendtv] Re: Company Claims to Have Solved White Space Interference Problem (Manfredi, Albert E)

John Shutt wrote: The article correctly describes the definition of white spaces when it said [a] year ago, the FCC voted to allow the use of unlicensed wireless devices to operate in white spaces, empty portions of the TV spectrum band. Yes, I agree that one example of the definition COULD be construed as accurate. Methinks you're simply placing too much emphasis on the phrase ...

[opendtv] Re: Company Claims to Have Solved White Space Interference Problem (John Shutt)

The article correctly describes the definition of white spaces when it said [a] year ago, the FCC voted to allow the use of unlicensed wireless devices to operate in white spaces, empty portions of the TV spectrum band. Methinks you're simply placing too much emphasis on the phrase 700 MHz. The upper limit of the now condensed TV band is 698 MHz, and the article also stated We will quickly see a wave of innovation in wireless products and services around 700MHz which could mean that they're targeting channels ...

[opendtv] Company Claims to Have Solved White Space Interference Problem (Manfredi, Albert E)

... that allows radio products to transmit without interference over the 'white space' frequencies recently vacated by the U.S. DTV transition. As far as I can tell in this piece, there is a confusion between the UK meaning of white spaces and the US meaning. Over here, white spaces are NOT those vacated with the digital TV transition. Over here, white spaces refer to TV frequencies in the new, crunched-down TV band, not the 700 MHz band. White spaces are TV channels unused in a given market. So, the problem of detecting non-interfering white spaces is not the ...

[opendtv] News: FLO TV Makes Retail Push (Craig Birkmaier)

FLO TV Makes Retail Push Begins selling new Personal TV at Best Buy, Amazon By Glen Dickson -- Broadcasting Cable, 11/13/2009 7:36:41 PM Mobile television provider FLO TV, which uses UHF spectrum nationwide to deliver a subscription service with major network programming, is officially expanding its distribution beyond wireless carriers ...

[opendtv] Opera conductor monitor (Mark Schubin)

Last request of the day: I'm trying to trace the origin of the use of conductor video monitors in opera houses. These are fed by a camera shooting the conductor and are strategically located so that singers interacting don't have to break character to look towards the conductor's podium. The concept technically originated with NBC Opera Theater in 1949. It ...

[opendtv] Seeking an HD-opera image (Mark Schubin)

On Friday, September 27, 1991, New York City Opera and Sony conducted an experiment. Some HD cameras were used to provide live image magnification of Madama Butterfly to two 10-foot screens on either side of the stage. Unfortunately, neither New York City Opera nor Sony seems to have any pictures of the event. Do any of you? Thanks! TTFN, ...

[opendtv] Asaca AEV-300 (Mark Schubin)

I am seeking any product literature or screen photo for the Asaca AEV-300 Mult-Image Viewer introduced at NAB 1983. Thanks! TTFN, Mark ...

[opendtv] Re: Overscanning on LCD TVs (John Shutt)

A circle wipe from a production switcher will tell you if the aspect is being squished. Make the circle one picture height tall, then measure it with a ruler along the horizontal and vertical axes. ----- Original Message ----- From: dan.grimes@xxxxxxxx (the proper test signal could confirm but I haven't found one in our test signal generator). ...

[opendtv] Re: Overscanning on LCD TVs (dan . grimes)

The thread started on overscan, but evolved to other stuff that is often wrong: setup/black level, sample aspect ratio pixel aspect ratio, cropping, primaries/color temp, matrix, gamut, gamma, progressive encoded as interlace (with 3:2 pulldown), etc.--Kilroy When I originated the thread, I started with one of the many locations that I am having the translation errors. The thread developed into a second problem, and here am going to introduce a third that I am experiencing. ...

[opendtv] Bright Bar on LCD (Barry Brown)

I'm hoping some LCD engineer on this list will be able to answer this question: I have a Mits LT-40134. When the displayed image contains a full screen white background, the set adds a 'brighter than white' vertical bar on the left side of the screen having a width a little bit less than the black pillar for a 4:3 image. Can anyone tell me whether this problem is caused by the LCD panel, which is under warranty, or the video processor, which is not? ...

[opendtv] Analog switchoff in Rome (Manfredi, Albert E)

Rome TV transmitters went through the partial analog switchoff on 16 June, and the complete switchoff this coming Monday. What makes this evolution interesting (to me): 1. The main RAI multiplex (Mux 1) will be VHF, but only high VHF is used. They call the channels 5-12, they span the frequency range 174-230 MHz, and by the way, all Euro VHF channels are 7 MHz wide, not 8 MHz like the UHF channels. How confusing is that. ...

[opendtv] Re: Overscanning on LCD TVs (Kilroy Hughes)

There are two parts to setup; the encoding of the images and the wire format. DVI assumes no setup in the wire format (1, 1, 1) = 7.5 IRE black, below that is electronically clipped. HDMI video modes do, so 8-bit (16, 16, 16) = 7.5 IRE black and less than that is sub-black, which should be visually clipped not electronically clipped. NTSC analog assumes setup in the content, the wire format includes setup in the US, doesn't include setup in Japan (similar situation with analog wire formats). Whether or not encoded video goes over the DVI wire with setup depends on how it was encoded and the decoder/GPU used. Other graphics, like the desktop and ...

[opendtv] News: DTV Coupon Redemption Ends With Over $1 Billion Worth Unused (Craig Birkmaier)

DTV Coupon Redemption Ends With Over $1 Billion Worth Unused Approximately 30 million coupons unredeemed as program ends By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting Cable, 11/12/2009 11:28:20 AM The government's DTV converter box coupon program has officially ended, with approximately 30 million, or $1.2 billion worth of ...

[opendtv] Re: Overscanning on LCD TVs (Stessen, Jeroen)

Hi, dan.grimes@xxxxxxxx wrote: I was under the impression that HDMI and DVI use the same standard and are electronically equivalent. Of course, just because the signals mate doesn't mean the color space is the same. Duh... no ! DVI is always R'G'B', 4:4:4, 8 bits, 0..255, and sRGB (Rec.709) color primaries, no audio. HDMI can be that, but it can also be Y'CbCr in both Rec.601 (up to 576p) and ...

[opendtv] Re: Overscanning on LCD TVs (Tom Barry)

dan.grimes@xxxxxxxx wrote: Such problem is hard to debug if you don't have an HDMI analyzer at hand. - Jeroen I was under the impression that HDMI and DVI use the same standard and are electronically equivalent. Of course, just because the signals mate doesn't mean the color space is the same. So any suggestions what one might use to analyze or discover the color spaces of an HDMI and DVI-D signal? The same question might be had for ...

[opendtv] Re: Overscanning on LCD TVs (dan . grimes)

Such problem is hard to debug if you don't have an HDMI analyzer at hand. - Jeroen I was under the impression that HDMI and DVI use the same standard and are electronically equivalent. Of course, just because the signals mate doesn't mean the color space is the same. So any suggestions what one might use to analyze or discover the color spaces of an HDMI and DVI-D signal? The same question might be had for HD-SDI. I have a Phabrix analyzer and need to dive into it a little more ...

[opendtv] First Mobile DTV Car Tuner At $499 (Craig Birkmaier)

note: photo on web page. First Mobile DTV Car Tuner At $499 By Amy Gilroy -- TWICE, 11/9/2009 City of Industry, Calif. - The first market-ready Mobile DTV tuner ...

[opendtv] Re: Overscanning on LCD TVs (Stessen, Jeroen)

Hello, Kilroy Hughes wrote: Most displays today are schizophrenic. We prefer to say that they have different profiles for different use cases. :-) If you use computer likely inputs (DVI, VGA, etc.) they'll leave the picture alone if it matches a native display matrix. ...

[opendtv] Re: Overscanning on LCD TVs (Kilroy Hughes)

Most displays today are schizophrenic. If you use computer likely inputs (DVI, VGA, etc.) they'll leave the picture alone if it matches a native display matrix. If you use a TV Input (unfortunately, including HDMI), default settings will usually scale an image like 1280 x 720 up 5% so it can throw away the edges (oh, thank you so much). Scaling (resampling) of course requires filtering, so the resampled picture will lose resolution, gain artifacts, or both. It is possible on analog inputs to find some magic rasters that the TV will leave ...

[opendtv] Re: Overscanning on LCD TVs (Stessen, Jeroen)

Hello all, It's nice to see that you are still on-line here, Alan Roberts ! I missed the opportunity at IBC to buy your book Circles of confusion. True, overscan was essential in the times of CRT television, to mask all kinds of edge problems, mainly due to a less than stable high-voltage power supply, and imperfect calibration of the scan amplitudes (or drift, or the lack of such), not to mention image jitter due to unstable sources (VHS tape recorders). ...

[opendtv] Re: Overscanning on LCD TVs (Tom Barry)

I also have a Sharp DLP projector connected to my computer using VGA input. And it also seems to adjust to the size of the screen without eating the edges. Though sometimes I have to switch it to another input and back to get it to do this. Maybe some devices just assume VGA is computer and thus does not want overscan. ?? Dunno. I remember with my old 1080i Toshiba RPTV CRT I had to get the service manual and do serious service mode changes to deal with overscan issues ...

[opendtv] Re: Overscanning on LCD TVs (Alan Roberts)

Overscan was inevitable on early crt displays, simply because it was impossible to make stable power supplies. As a result, the broadcasters have had to accommodate overscan and make pictures to a 'safe' size. Now that pixel-based displays are ubiquitous, if not in every home yet, there is no need for overscan at all. Many recent displays allow overscan to be turned off (my Panasonic 42PZ81 does) and so I get pixel-mapped 1920x1080 pictures off-air and via HDMI. the biggest problem is that the display manufacturers still seem to think that ...

[opendtv] Re: Overscanning on LCD TVs (nicholas kocsis)

I make no pretence of being 'expert' in this subject. I do have the same complaint with my Samsung DLP 56 RP display (720p) bought circa 2002-2003. The display loses at least 3 of display at each edge. My sources can be OTA or satellite receiver output with the same overscan attributable to the display monitor itself. Of late the overscan is decidedly annoying on some programming where text overlays are 'chopped'. I did notice that when in a showroom (a year or two after buying) watching side by side the same program on different TV makes. Some did display a normal scan while others had noticeable overscan. ...

[opendtv] Re: The numbers that really matter (Craig Birkmaier)

At 9:38 AM -0600 11/5/09, Manfredi, Albert E wrote: Advertizers put money into the media they think are going to give them the best returns. It's a game of hype and perceptions. If DTT viewership is up compared with previous analog OTA, the advertizers will look again at FOTA ad delivery. The viewership figures are the real key to this, not what advertizers did last year or last quarter. ...

[opendtv] Re: Overscanning on LCD TVs (Tom Barry)

dan.grimes@xxxxxxxx wrote: We have a large amount of consumer grade Sony Bravia televisions in our facility. It appears that all of them overscan the picture, despite setting overscan to normal in the menu. Adjusting overscan to 1 or 2 makes it even worse. The only sources I have been able to confirm are on the HDMI inputs and often using HD-SDI to HDMI converters but I have also seen it with DVI sources. I plan to test with BD as well. So my question is, is overscanning typical with consumer TVs? I thought that it that current LCD TV's used all 1920x1080 pixels. ...

[opendtv] Overscanning on LCD TVs (dan . grimes)

We have a large amount of consumer grade Sony Bravia televisions in our facility. It appears that all of them overscan the picture, despite setting overscan to normal in the menu. Adjusting overscan to 1 or 2 makes it even worse. The only sources I have been able to confirm are on the HDMI inputs and often using HD-SDI to HDMI converters but I have also seen it with DVI sources. I plan to test with BD as well. So my question is, is overscanning typical with consumer TVs? I thought that it that current LCD TV's used all 1920x1080 pixels. ...

[opendtv] Re: Another view on media recovery (Cliff Benham)

dan.grimes@xxxxxxxx wrote: The networks are constricted by the demands of affiliates and limitations of decency (because the use the public air waves). The model is broken. -Don Moore I would hate to think that decency is what is restricting the networks from developing good programming. I would argue that much of the CSI/CIS franchise is worse than most of what is on cable with its very ...

[opendtv] Re: Droid Phone (Tom Barry)

Mark A. Aitken wrote: There will 'soon' be an app for that (ATSC Mobile DTV), but on a different network. It will be part of the Washington/Baltimore Consumer trial that OMVC is coordinating. The device is quite cool! Mark the Mark that will soon have an excuse to get an iPhone (or iTouch!). Hi Mark - I started googling for info on the Washington trial and found the ...

[opendtv] Re: Another view on media recovery (dan . grimes)

The networks are constricted by the demands of affiliates and limitations of decency (because the use the public air waves). The model is broken. -Don Moore I would hate to think that decency is what is restricting the networks from developing good programming. I would argue that much of the CSI/CIS franchise is worse than most of what is on cable with its very graphic violence and morbid scenery. Personally, I would also argue that a civilized society, one that is progressive rather than decadent, would take decency into account in all it does, including television ...

[opendtv] Re: Droid Phone (Mark A. Aitken)

There will 'soon' be an app for that (ATSC Mobile DTV), but on a different network. It will be part of the Washington/Baltimore Consumer trial that OMVC is coordinating. The device is quite cool! Mark the Mark that will soon have an excuse to get an iPhone (or iTouch!). On 11/5/2009 7:50 AM, Craig Birkmaier wrote: ...

[opendtv] Re: Parenthetically (Manfredi, Albert E)

Craig Birkmaier wrote: For all the silly talk about how difficult ATSC is, my wife and I agree that getting radio and TV over the Internet is far more temperamental. And by the way, unlike digital radio or TV, the problems with online streaming are not as easily fixed on a permanent basis. Why? Because the sources are forever messing around with their feeds, changing their servers, changing their players, changing ...

[opendtv] Re: Commentary: Be Wary Of FCC's Cash-For-Spectrum Plan (Tom Barry)

Craig Birkmaier wrote: ... Let's just say the the media conglomerates are not likely to keep propping up the local stations when they can go direct and keep all of the subscriber fees and local ad avails. Regards Craig P.S. I agree with Tom that the best continuing use of spectrum for TV ...

[opendtv] Re: The numbers that really matter (Manfredi, Albert E)

Craig Birkmaier wrote: Bert is optimstic about improved ratings for the broadcast networks. Here are the numbers that really matter for one representative broadcaster. Cart, horse. ...

[opendtv] Re: Basic basic service (Manfredi, Albert E)

Craig Birkmaier wrote: In many of the discussions about reclaiming the broadcast spectrum the idea that cable would provide a lifeline service is mentioned; there are also suggestions that some of the money from auctions be used to pay for this service for those who are disenfranchised. But the real questions is what happens if the Networks go direct with the MVPDs. Do they still show up on the lifeline service, or does this tier become a second class citizen, populated with local ...

[opendtv] Re: The numbers that really matter (Tom Barry)

Things have generally sucked in the economy for the last year. But I am also optimistic about increased advertising revenues going forward from here. I don't think it will be hard for 2010 year over year numbers to show improvement since the bar is set fairly low right now and things are starting to improve. - Tom Craig Birkmaier wrote: ...

[opendtv] Re: Basic basic service (Tom Barry)

Craig Birkmaier wrote: ... In many of the discussions about reclaiming the broadcast spectrum the idea that cable would provide a lifeline service is mentioned; there are also suggestions that some of the money from auctions be used to pay for this service for those who are disenfranchised. But the real questions is what happens if the Networks go direct with the MVPDs. Do they still show up on the lifeline service, or does this tier become a second class citizen, populated with local broadcasters ...

[opendtv] Re: Commentary: Be Wary Of FCC's Cash-For-Spectrum Plan (Craig Birkmaier)

At 5:44 PM -0600 11/3/09, Manfredi, Albert E wrote: 3. They talk about transition. What transition? After a broadcaster has given up his 6 MHz channel, why would anyone expect that broadcaster entity to survive? You don't need a broadcaster for the cable content, any more than you need a broadcaster for, say, the AE channel or ESPN. People on MVPDs want certain content, and aside from the occasional local news and weather, after OTA broadcasters give up their OTA spectrum, they can be history. Don't need no OTA-deprived broadcaster for my NCIS fix, thank you very ...

[opendtv] Re: Droid Phone (Craig Birkmaier)

At 12:16 PM -0800 11/4/09, dan.grimes@xxxxxxxx wrote: Saw an add yesterday that states iDon't and Droid Does, referring to the to-be-released phone from Verizon. I looked at the website (droiddoes.com) but one notable don't do is ATSC M/H. But they claim 10000+ apps so maybe there is an app for that? Dan ...

[opendtv] Re: Parenthetically (Craig Birkmaier)

At 12:51 PM -0600 11/4/09, Manfredi, Albert E wrote: ... , yet another lunch ruined by a fitful streaming media feed from the BBC. If only I had my portable HD Radio receiver with me, I'd tune to WAMU-3 instead. For all the silly talk about how difficult ATSC is, my wife and I agree that getting radio and TV over the Internet is far more temperamental. ...