How to make conventional TV shows look better in a high-definition
world.
By Joel Brinkley
764 Words
5395 Characters
* 12/15/97
The New York Times
Page 13, Column 4
c. 1997 New York Times Company
...
* Faroudja Laboratories, a small Silicon Valley company, is the best-
known manufacturer of line-doublers. A few short months ago,
* high-definition television seemed ready to put Faroudja out of business.
Who would want to spend thousands of dollars on a line-doubler after
true HDTV sets went on sale?
Now, however, broadcasters, cable and satellite operators, even
* television set manufacturers, all are talking to Faroudja. In fact HDTV
now holds the promise to make the company and its main competitor, a
British company named Snell & Wilcox, major powerhouses in the
broadcast-television industry.
* ''It's really amazing,'' said Michael Moone, Faroudja's president.
''Lots of people thought HDTV would be our enemy. But it turns out, it's
a major ally.'' In fact, anticipating tremendous growth from this new
* business, Faroudja went public last month to raise capital for
expansion.
* Last summer a few broadcasters were talking about using Faroudja
line-doubling in place of HDTV so they could offer ''fake''
high-definition broadcasts. But now the thinking has changed. ABC, CBS
and NBC, among others, are all talking about using line-doubling to
supplement their HDTV shows.
''Since not all of our programming will be in high-definition, at
least not at first,'' said Charles Jablonski, a senior NBC executive,
''we need something to fill the gap. So we plan to use some
* up-conversion equipment from Faroudja or Snell & Wilcox.''
...
Television manufacturers are interested, too. Several say they worry
that buyers of the expensive new HDTV sets will be upset that many shows
will look little better than today's programming. As a result, Mr. Moone
* said Faroudja has also held discussions with several set manufacturers.
...
* Using their own proprietary technologies, both Faroudja and Snell &
Wilcox also further manipulate the line-doubled picture, to enrich it.
* For the moment Faroudja and Snell & Wilcox appear to have this new
business largely to themselves, and each has its own advantages.
* Faroudja is well known, particularly in the United States. The company's
line-doublers are the undisputed standard in the home theater world.
* ''We'll use Faroudja because there's a level of comfort with them, a
warm feeling,'' said George J. Csahanin, director of engineering at
KXAS-TV, the NBC affiliate in Dallas. Like many others, the station
intends to line-double its standard-definition programming.
* But Faroudja has sold little professional broadcast equipment before
now. Snell & Wilcox, on the other hand, ''has been a manufacturer of
broadcast equipment since 1973,'' said Adolfo Rodriguez, director of
marketing for the company. ''And we see this a real opportunity.''
I0607 * End of document. |
