HDTV CHALLENGES DEBATED AT DENVER DBS SUMMIT
06/16/98
COMMUNICATIONS DAILY
(Copyright 1998 by Warren Publishing, Inc.)
DENVER -- Discussions of HDTV rollout took center stage in first days of Denver DBS Summit here, with operators, programmers and broadcasters debating merits of various standards. Bringing technology to marketplace was said to be hampered by consumer confusion and unwieldy govt. standards. Advanced TV Systems Committee (ATSC) came under attack for promulgating 18 DTV standards. Encore Media Group Chmn.-CEO John Sie said govt. mandate of 16x9 aspect ratio could be "colossal mistake."
Different takes on public's response to HDTV cropped up on several panels. Sie said confusion about HDTV generally is blamed on consumer press, but he said industry deserves portion of criticism. Confusion revolves around content, transmission, reception devices. Jim Goodmon, pres., Capitol Bcstg./Local to Local, said "viewers want HDTV, they just don't know it yet." Public reaction to HDTV has been "lukewarm at best," General Instrument Satellite Systems Pres. Jeff Wolking said.
Otherwise dull panel on technical hurdles to DBS HDTV rollout took interesting turn when DiviCom Mkt. Dir. Robin Wilson criticized ATSC for implementing "way too many standards" that he said few people want to use. He said 14 of 18 standards are "irrelevant" because they address square pixel problems that never existed. Bandwidth issues are mired in techno-political concerns because broadcasters are more interested in securing digital spectrum than in making money immediately, Wilson said. Broadcasters may feel that their hold on spectrum is "tenuous" and don't want to anger regulators, he said. Broadcasters may fill up channel with 1080i because they're afraid to suggest possible mixing of HDTV and standard-definition TV, he said, but DBS operators are motivated to make profits immediately and probably will mix formats. Wilson said 1080i is bandwidth hog and actually is 1,125 lines in disguise based on Japanese analog system created in 1960s. He said 720p would allow operators to fit 3 channels on transponder, terming 480p extended-definition TV, not HDTV, that looks almost as good and makes sense for DBS operators.
There's no way that 480p is as good as 1080i unless viewer doesn't have good display unit, Goodmon said. He said 480p has 300,000 pixels, 780p has 1 million, 1080i 2 million. "This is a gigantic improvement," he said. In response to question whether consumers, rather than engineers, could tell difference, Goodmon conceded that question was valid but said "better is better." Capitol plans to offer DBS operators wholesale spot beam capacity via Ka-band to enable them to provide local signals. Goodmon said there's lot of synergy between DBS and broadcasters, noting that broadcast ratings are lower in DBS homes than in cable homes, and HDTV signal carried on satellite will allow broadcasters to stem viewer erosion. He said company will adapt 16x9 instead of 4x3 in move to wide-screen format and Dolby sound.
There's much to be done to mainstream HDTV technology, but "hard stuff" has been done, said Gary Travers, vp-broadcast operations, Primestar. There clearly is no consensus on formats, he said but that doesn't matter because there will be single chipset in future capable of handling all formats. Loral Space & Communications Pres. Greg Clark said he doesn't think anyone "has a clue" as to how HDTV will be rolled out. It's confusing because it isn't free market situation, and govt. has imposed many different rules, he said. He predicted that in 10 years industry would be surprised to see how quickly rollout occurred.
EchoStar is being very pragmatic about programming, Senior Vp Mark Jackson said. He said HBO will provide some programming in 1080i and is charging full-speed ahead with content and hardware. More channels alone won't draw viewers, he said, because appeal of digital is ability to vary resolution.
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