Digital TV in Canada. Thanks Marty.......................................
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Digital TV coming soon to a screen near you
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Digital TV coming soon to a screen near you
High-definition, wide-screen TVs and access to U.S. signals are set to
arrive later this year
By CHRISTOPHER GULY
For The Financial Post
ÿOTTAWA - While 1997 saw the widespread introduction of digital video
through the increasingly popular DVD (digital video disk) player, 1998 will
witness the beginning of a movement toward digital television.
ÿAlready, Calgary-based Shaw Communications Inc. has made digital TV
available for its cable customers in Calgary and Toronto, and recently
announced plans to purchase as many as 400,000 digital set-top boxes from
Chicago-based General Instrument Corp. for subscribers over the next four
years.
ÿIn late November, to help pave the way for digital TV, federal Industry
Minister John Manley said Canada would adopt a standard giving the green
light to television broadcasters to begin replacing the existing analogue
(NTSC) service with DTV. But it will take two full years before people
living in major cities such as Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver will begin
seeing digital television broadcasts.
ÿPart of the reason for the delay is to allow the U.S. to be first off the
mark when it rolls out DTV to U.S. households in major markets later this
year, says Michael McEwen, who served as chairman of Canada's Task Force on
the Implementation of Digital Television, which recommended adoption of a
DTV standard.
ÿ"We've strategically placed ourselves behind the Americans, so we can
learn from their mistakes, but we don't want to get too far behind them,"
says McEwan, a media consultant who recently served as senior adviser to
CBC president Perrin Beatty.
ÿBut in real terms, there won't be much lag time before most Canadians see
DTV. Anyone receiving a U.S. analogue TV signal will be able to receive the
digital version once it becomes available south of the border.
ÿIn fact, the Canadian digital TV standard follows the ATSC A/53 Digital
Television Standard adopted by the Advanced Television Standards Committee
of the U.S.
ÿThe Europeans have their own standard, known as Digital Video
Broadcasting/Television. Unlike the differences between NSTC and Europe's
PAL standards for analogue broadcasts, where you can't watch a PAL video on
a North American VCR or use your Canadian TV set to, say, watch programs in
Britain, the European standard is expected to be more compatible with the
North American DVT standard.
ÿHowever, even if Canadians have standards and signals, no one will be able
to watch digital television without the right appliance. The new picture
format offered by DTV not only provides high-resolution, but it also
features wide-screen presentation.
ÿIn fact, one of the directives made by the Canadian task force calls for
all digital pictures transmitted to fit the 16:9 aspect ratio (the ratio of
the width of the screen to its height) for wide-screen display as opposed
to the 4:3 aspect ratio found on standard TV sets.
ÿAs they unveil their TVs this year, manufacturers will be saying the
cinematic experience offered by DTV is best suited to wide-screen,
high-definition television sets.
ÿAt the recent 1998 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas,
such industry giants as Panasonic Consumer Electronics, Sony Electronics
Inc., Zenith Electronics Corp. and Mitsubishi Electric of America unveiled
their HDTVs, which will start appearing on retail shelves in time for
Christmas.
ÿAs with any introductory consumer product, however, don't look for any
deals. Units will be selling for up to $5,000 in Canada.
ÿFor now, an HDTV will be more of a luxury than a necessity; you will have
to view digital television using a set-top box.
ÿAs newer technology comes along, it may be possible to upgrade your
viewing experience simply by purchasing software, instead of a new TV. The
national DTV task force has recommended that the broadcasting industry
consider developing software programs similar to those used in upgrading
computers.
ÿDigital television will provide clearer and crisper pictures. Its debut
will also be something of a prophecy fulfilment for futurists: the arrival
of the long-awaited 500-channel universe. The technology allows
broadcasting signals to be compressed; digital television can squeeze six
channels on one analogue channel.
ÿThat's good news for TV viewers, who, on average, spend more than 23 hours
a week in front of the set. And it's good news for Canada's television
broadcast industry, which already generates some $5 billion annually and is
almost guaranteed to increase that with the larger playing field DTV will
provide. |
