PRESS RELEASE --HDTV issues
Pappas Telecasting Companies announced today that it will be joining with
other broadcasters in filings with the FCC and with the relevant committees
of the US Senate and the US House of Representatives to inform them of the
serious failings of one aspect of the DTV transmission system adopted by the
Advanced Television Systems Committee ("ATSC") and subsequently by the FCC
in December 1997.
There are many aspects of the system that was adopted that will prove to be
of significant value, technically viable and beneficial to the American
consumer. However, one part of the system, the modulation method, is
seriously flawed.
Recent side-by-side demonstrations in Baltimore, Maryland compellingly
demonstrate that COFDM, used by the European DVB-T System, is receivable
using simple antennas, whereas the current generation of receivers using the
ATSC modulation method, 8VSB, simply don't work well under typical
conditions encountered in urban areas. Said Pappas Telecasting Sr.
Executive Vice President of Planning and Development, LeBon Abercrombie, "we
won't get the replication of our coverage we were promised using 8VSB,
unless someone can come forward now with a receiver that works in urban
areas." And, said Sr. Vice President and Director of Engineering, Dale P.
Kelly, "the difference was astonishing. COFDM worked without any problem,
and 8VSB hardly worked at all under the tested conditions."
In addition to providing improved digital video programming, many
broadcasters are anxious to develop auxiliary applications for the digital
bitstream afforded by the DTV system. These applications may require
portable or mobile capabilities. Broadcasters should not be foreclosed from
participation in the market for digital data delivery to portable and mobile
devices by an ill-advised choice of modulation schemes.
Recent announcements of "miracle equalizer chips" claim to solve the
problems with 8VSB seen in the Baltimore tests. However, to the best of our
knowledge, these 8VSB receiver chips have yet to be incorporated in any
set-top receivers, or even to be tested under real-life conditions. Common
sense would also tell us that similar improvements are likely to be made in
COFDM technology, so that the performance advantage of COFDM may well be
maintained.
Harry J. Pappas, CEO of Pappas Telecasting Companies, said "the real
stakeholders in this issue are the American consumers. The public we serve
today with free over-the-air broadcasting has come to expect a model of
broadcasting that works. Whether it be AM, FM or UHF TV, today's consumers
know they can receive those stations with a good, clear picture virtually
everywhere with relatively inexpensive indoor and outdoor antenna systems.
Since there is no assurance that there can or will be improvements made in
8VSB type receivers, while the current generation of European system
receivers work just fine, we thought it time to expose this 'dirty little
secret.' There are those who may be interested in forcing American
consumers to pay for everything they get on their Television or computer
screen." Pappas went on to say "we are appalled by the demonstrated bias
and unwillingness to adhere to rigorous scientific and ethical methods by
some persons on whom many of us in this industry have heretofore relied."
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