Mike, my brother, Joseph, now an associate of mine at DTI Consulting, I'm pleased to say, was a part of the Philips HDTV development team in Westchester NY during the Eighties, prior to the HDTV co-op being brokered into place.
His work centered on cable tv audio algorithms, and a part of the phase locked loop problems associated with all modes of HDTV transmission. I can always recall his stating that the primary problem (at that time) was getting the audio portion elevated to the level where it was good enough to be paired with the video. In fact, the audio was a distraction, "it didn't belong there," in its earlier iterations.
When they partnered with Sarnoff, a demo was put in place in Radio City in Rock Center which was open for viewing (by appointment, of course), home of NBC. Like you say, the clarity was so high and the moving images so vivid that, in this particular demo, folks would swear that they could actually reach out and touch the beads of sweat on BB King's forehead.
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