Subject: A Guide To Standard And High Definition Digital Video Measurements.

From: Tektronix

 

Many people have asked about signal measurement in the world of DTV. This should help. There’s a new publication from Tektronix titled "A Guide to Standard and High Definition Digital Video Measurements" which makes for interesting reading. It is available from you local Tektronix rep. There are some 800 numbers for direct access: USA 800+426-2200, CANADA 800+661-5625. You can also reach them at: www.tektronix.com for other publications.

 

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Subject: Major increase in DTV product sales

From: Consumer Electronics Association

 

May factory-to-dealer sales of digital television (DTV) products topped the 84,000 unit mark, a 193 percent increase from May 2000 figures. Sales of DTV sets and monitors in May totaled 84,208 units, or dollar sales of more than $148 million, according to figures released today by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). CEA predicts continued strong gains in 2001.

 

Consumer dollar investment in DTV is projected to reach nearly $5 billion by the end of this year. CEA projects sales of DTV sets and displays to continue their rapid growth in the coming years, with unit sales of 1.1 million this year, 2.1 million in 2002, 4 million in 2003, 5.4 million in 2004, 8 million in 2005 and 10.5 million in 2006. For more info visit their Url: http://www.ce.org

Comment: Craig Birkmaier, Pcube Labs

 

(Ed Note: Birkmaier is a well known and respected television engineer and writer/observer, contributing to several trade journals on a regular basis. He expresses concerns viewed by many in the industry.)

 +++++

Get used to announcements like this. Sales of Digital TV Monitors are beginning to take off.

 

I wish, however, that the CEA would make a clear a distinction in their press releases between Digital TV Monitors and DTV receivers. A visit to any major retailer will demonstrate that the CE industry is clearly differentiating "Digital TV" from DTV. The latter has been used to describe the broadcaster's terrestrial broadcast standard. Digital TV is the term that the CE industry is using to promote products - mostly monitors - that offer enhanced or high definition but do not include ATSC receivers.

 

As one would expect, this press release provides NO insight about the sales of DTV receivers...

 

It is also interesting to note the projections regarding sales of "DTV sets and displays" at the end of the release. If we assume 0.9 million units at the end of 2000, and add these projections there will be 31 million installed "DTV sets and displays" by the end of 2006. That's less than 1/3 of U.S. homes, far short of the 85% penetration required to turn off NTSC. Of course there is no correlation between these stats as they say nothing about how many homes will be able to receive DTV broadcasts.

 

If all of these displays are larger than 30 inch (a questionable assumption), this would represent SIGNIFICANT growth of the Home Theater market segment, which has been hovering around 20% of U.S. homes.

 

Is this not the major goal of the CE industry with respect to the digital transition?

 

Selling affordable DTV receivers at low margins does little to help the bottom line of CE manufacturers. Selling top of the line Home Theater Systems improves profit margins. Selling DBS receivers that drive after the sale revenues to the bottom line improves profit margins. Selling DVD players that drive after the hardware sale software revenues to bottom line of CE retailers improves profit margins.

 

Selling DTV receivers does nothing for profits and may add downstream risks should the ATSC standard fail or be changed.

 

Regards – Craig    

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Subject: Carriage of digital must carry signals PROCEEDING: Channel Capacity Survey Responses Placed in Docket From: The Federal Communications Commission

Subject: Court Rules Against Sat Must-Carry Fight

From: SkyREPORT

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia issued an order in satellite TV's constitutional challenge of must-carry rules, finding that the mandates do not violate the First and Fifth Amendment rights of satellite carriers. In its decision, the court said must-carry provisions contained in the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act (SHVIA) do not violate satellite carriers' First Amendment rights since neither the provisions' language nor their purpose is content-based, and the provisions are within the authority granted to the government under the Copyright Clause. With respect to Fifth Amendment claims, the court found that SHVIA does not effect a taking of satellite carriers' property because the carriers may choose to accept or decline a free copyright license to retransmit the local programs of any given market. Satellite interests are still looking at the court decision.

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Subject: Industry observations

From: JMW

 

Despite recent stock price setbacks, Pinnacle is seen as a formidable competitor on the street - especially in their server offerings. They have a good story, folks say...

 

Pinnacle switcher is viewed in some quarters as a "beige" compromise - "third way" - version of a master control/production switcher - some "features" from both, but not exactly enough for either.

 

Networks claiming they are not making money, and are scaling regional stations back to minimum manpower (four guys) and doing a lot out of "hubs" - central casting cuts costs, but stations loses their "locality" - which was said to be one of their strengths.

 

Satellite time is business down; used to be tough to get time; now even a short term/late call can get what ever you want for about $100 per hour...Why? Perhaps more widespread fiber availability. 95% of installed fiber is "dark" (unlit, unused). Still no one has the "silver bullet" solution for the last mile.

 

Some say it will be Motorola's fixed point-to-point wireless. Similar to a cell phone network, without the mobile/hand- off capabilities, it operates at 6GHz and each "telepoint" has a half mile range - and all homes in that area get a lot of bandwidth....

 

Leitch once did some MPEG encoders, but successfully withdrew the product and bought almost all of them back...now they use Pinnacle cards. Pinnacle claims to be able to do HD up-conversion in a card; competitors question this. Leitch also apparently having trouble capitalizing on their expensive ($33M) PathOne/TrueVision venture - no one is buying it; lack of action internally to do something with it said to be a major factor. Lots'a blame to go around. But "Blame is useless", as my Sainted Mother always said. To which she added: "I'm glad I'm not living now..."

FWIW. - JMW .

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Subject: Dual Modulation

From: Dan Lee Vogler - CTO, TeVCA Technologies dan@hdtv.net

(Ed Note: Just when we thought this was going away here in the US)

+++++

Yes, if all receivers where dual-mode demodulators and they will be, then terrestrial ATSC broadcast could come in either 8VSB or COFDM, and the market and broadcasters will choose for themselves, just like they are free to choose 1080i over 720p. Free will in a free country I say.

 

Really, we can't give up 8VSB for the investment and momentum it has, but if COFDM has some merits to it, either arguable or proven; then we should embrace it as well, as an optional modulation mode. Please look at the global communications market, the Europeans and Japanese don't do RF technology badly, and their use of COFDM may have something to it. Don't ignore now or the past. Nikola Tesla, a Serbian born in Bosnia, besides inventing AC and beating out Edison's DC, and was the master of RF Propagation theory at age 22 at the University of Prauge first applying calculus to three dimensional fields & waves over 120 years ago. RF theory is preserved & taught much better in Europe, yet almost abandoned in the US universities today.

 

8VSB may have been invented in the USA(Zenith), but COFDM is a strong counter, but not opposing technology. Let's just embrace both, and let the stations and the people decide what's best for them, rather than being closed minded, just because we think we have made a single choice and must stick to it alone. Just make two choices. If this is important to man's evolution of TV, we can't leave behind options before it's too late. It's taken almost 10 years for 1st the big 6 proposals, and then the grand alliance history to get us where we are today; but the rate of technology (silicon) advancement has out paced us. DTV is still in its infancy, it's not too late to just course correct. Cellphones are now dual and triple mode, my HDTV could and should be too!

 

The answer again is simply "Dual-Mode" (8VSB&COFDM) demodulators. The added cost to the STB today is less than $10, and will be less than that through the next generation of multi-mode silicon next year. Broadcom, Oren, OAK, Fujitsu, Panasonic all have triple modes coming. I'll guarantee my Firmware team could ramp up a STB in two weeks to poll all modes or pull the data from ROM and solve this silly issue by being open to all modes and just saying we can DO IT! (both modes)

 

And there is another driving factor, really the final solution won't be just dual mode, but "Multi-Mode", doing 8VSB, COFDM, QSPK (satellite), QAM (digitalcable), TCP/IP and also NTSC (legacyTV) are all needed in any receiver in the next decade. If we are going to be doing all these modes easily, then why leave out COFDM at all.

 

So in conclusion, write your Congressman, write the FCC, the ATSC, the NAB, and your broadcasters and networks. Advocate only the best DTV system for America. The buzz word for this logic and campaign is "DUAL-MODE" DTV modulation, both 8VSB and COFDM. Just as 720p vs 1080i is free choice, then let either superior RF technology rise to the top and survive long term. PS- http://www.oaktech.com/ has the chips today to do it, COFDM and QAM on the model OTI-7000 flatpack !

 

Dan Lee Vogler .

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Subject: HOW TO PARTICIPATE IN THE FCC RULEMAKING PROCESS

From: http://www.fcc.gov/cib/handbook.html 

(Ed Note: There is nothing that should turn your stomach faster than a person who bitches about how the government is run, who didn't bother to express his or her opinion by voting! Nearly the same thing is true of the FCC. You CAN make a difference! Many of the issues that come before the FCC have very few comments. This observation comes from first hand experience. Were it not for the several comments we encouraged others to make, along with our own, the one dissenting comment would have born the weight of "public opinion." As the result of the several letters we inspired others to write, our cause was successful - yours can be too.)

+++++

Each time Congress enacts a law affecting telecommunications, the FCC develops regulations to implement the law. The Commission takes various steps to develop these rules. Typically, these steps offer consumers an opportunity to submit both comments and reply comments to the FCC.

 

Are There Special Terms I Need to Know?

 

Yes. Knowing your "ABCs," or specifically, one's NOIs, NPRMs, and R&Os is key to understanding the Commission's decision-making process. Exactly what do these letters mean? Below is a guide to understanding the "alphabets" of the FCC.

 

Notice of Inquiry (NOI): The Commission releases an NOI for the purpose of gathering information about a broad subject or as a means of generating ideas on a specific issue. NOIs are initiated either by the Commission or an outside request.

 

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM): After reviewing comments from the public, the FCC may issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. An NPRM contains proposed changes to the Commission's rules and seeks public comment on these proposals.

 

Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM): After reviewing your comments and the comments of others to the NPRM, the FCC may also choose to issue an FNPRM regarding specific issues raised in comments. The FNPRM provides an opportunity for you to comment further on a related or specific proposal.

 

Report and Order (R&O): After considering comments to a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (or Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking), the FCC issues a Report and Order. The R&O may develop new rules, amend existing rules or make a decision not to do so. Summaries of the R&O are published in the Federal Register. The Federal Register summary will tell you when a rule change will become effective.

 

Changes after the R&O

 

Petition for Reconsideration: If you are not satisfied with the way an issue is resolved in the R&O, you can file a Petition for Reconsideration within 30 days from the date the R&O appears in the Federal Register.

 

Memorandum Opinion and Order (MO&O): In response to the Petition for Reconsideration, the FCC may issue a Memorandum Opinion and Order (MO&O) or an Order on Reconsideration amending the new rules or stating that the rules will not be changed.

 

Do I Need a Lawyer to File Comments?

 

No. When the Commission proposes new rules, a period of time is established for the public to comment on the proposed rules. Anyone can file comments. You don't need to be an attorney or to hire one. Each of the Commission's documents containing proposed rules clearly details the specific dates, deadlines and locations for filing comments and reply comments.

 

Comments are just that. In your comments, you tell us what you think about the subject topic and why you support or oppose the Commission's proposals.

 

After initial comments are filed, there is an additional period for responding to the first set of comments. During this second phase, you can file reply comments. In your reply comments you can review what others have said in their initial comments, and then support or disagree.

 

Does My Filing Need to Include Specific Information?

 

Yes. The requirements differ, however, depending on whether you file electronically or on paper. Here are some guidelines to help make the paper filing process easier.

 

Docket Number: Rulemaking proceedings at the Commission are assigned docket numbers. Each docket number lists a Bureau, a year and a specific number assigned to that proceeding (e.g., MM #99-001= 1999 Mass Media Proceeding Number 1). If you are submitting a document that pertains to a docketed proceeding, you must put the docket number on your filing.

 

Copies:

 

Generally, you must file only one (1) original plus four (4) copies of comments, reply comments or petitions. If you want all the Commissioners to receive copies, file one (1) original plus nine (9) copies. The original is always to be UNSTAPLED, while the copies should be STAPLED. In addition, use the following guidelines for other types of proceedings: Ex Parte Presentations - Original and One (1) copy [An Ex Parte Presentation is any presentation (e.g., in person, by phone, fax, letter or e-mail) made to decision-making personnel by one party to a proceeding when other parties to that proceeding are not present or have not yet been served. There are ex parte rules that govern the manner in which you may communicate with the Commission concerning the issues in its proceedings. For more information click on: http://www.fcc.gov/cib/handbook.html#exparte ]

 

Informal Comments - Original and One (1) copy

Pleadings, Briefs, Petitions, etc. - Original and Four (4) copies

Table of Allotments - Original and Four (4) copies

 

Other:

 

Before Administrative Law Judges - Original and Six (6) copies

Before Full Commission - Original and Fourteen (14) copies

Depositions - Original and Three (3) copies

Interrogatories - Original and Three (3) copies

Notices of Appearance - Original and Two (2) copies

 

Type Size: All filings must be in 12 point type, or legibly written.

 

Contact Name: You must include a contact name, address and telephone number on your document.

 

Signatures: You need to place an original signature above your typed or clearly printed name.

 

Personal Hand Delivered Filings: You, or the person making the delivery, should remove the filing package from its box or envelope before submission. The Commission will either sign for receipt of the filing or provide a stamped receipt copy, BUT NOT BOTH. Hand-delivered documents are accepted Monday through Friday, except legal holidays, during the hours of 8:00 AM and 7:00 PM. You can direct questions to the Office of the Secretary by phone at 202-418-0300 (voice), 202-418-2970 (TTY) or through their web site, www.fcc.gov/osec.

 

Filings Sent by Mail: You can mail in your filing. If you want the FCC to acknowledge receipt of your package, include an extra copy of the first page of your filing and enclose a postage stamped, self-addressed envelope. The Commission will then stamp the page and return it you.

 

Mail:

Secretary

Federal Communications Commission

445 12th Street, SW

Room TW-204B

Washington, D.C. 20554

 

Hand Delivered:

Secretary

Federal Communications Commission

445 12th Street, SW

Designated Counter at TW-325

Washington, D.C. 20554

 

Notations: If your document contains information you wish withheld from public inspection, you must write "Confidential, Not for Public Inspection" on the upper right hand corner of each page. The documents should then be placed in an envelope also marked "Confidential, Not for Public Inspection."

 

You can also file documents with the FCC for all docketed and rulemaking proceedings through our Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) on the Internet at www.fcc.gov/e-file/ecfs,  with the exception of Hearing Cases and Table of Allotments. However, you must first obtain the instructions for doing so by sending an e-mail to ecfs@fcc.gov  with the following words noted in the body of the message: "get form jsmith@domain.com."  ECFS accepts documents 24 hours a day with a midnight filing deadline. The official receipt for electronic filings will reflect Monday through Friday dates, except legal holidays. .

Full edition this time, so we’ll be brief. Keep an eye on the growth of streaming media, web casting and the Internet, in general. With bi-directional satellite delivery of the Internet, such as I have, and the new “get more in a given space” technology, as mentioned earlier, by outfits like Broadcom, bigger, better and greater things are in store for these technologies; and we’ve only begun to scratch the surface! There are some very interesting developments in chip designs for studio applications. My NDA won’t permit me to say any more. The only problems are with gun-shy venture capitalists, but then who can blame them after their encounters with the likes of the “dot coms?” There will always be a market for “wider and faster,” and that doesn’t only apply to cars. The guys who come up with the chips that can do more will create the need for their investors to hire large armored cars to make their bank deposits; we’re really talking big ROI! I’ve said it many time before here in Tech-Notes, bandwidth is our future.

That’s it for this time; let’s go to press! ( or press some keys)

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