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To: Black-Scholes who wrote (42674)	7/8/1999 5:17:00 PM
From: ftmp	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 50808

When all people of a company are required to attend a company meeting, it usually is layoff!

To: Black-Scholes who wrote (42674)	7/8/1999 6:03:00 PM
From: John Rieman	Respond to of 50808

Sinclair doesn't like 8VSB................... news.digitalbroadcasting.com INDUSTRY NEWS 06/25/1999 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It's Official: Sinclair Begins Side-By-Side Demodulation Tests By: Tom Butts After months of planning and recruiting broadcasters throughout the US, Sinclair Broadcasting (Baltimore) announced that it has begun full power, side-by-side test comparisons of the 8VSB and COFDM terrestrial DTV demodulation standards at its Baltimore facilities. The tests will run through July 11 with results published shortly afterward in both print and on the Internet. The broadcasting company, which currently owns 58 television stations throughout the US, has maintained that 8VSB—the current transmission standard for digital terrestrial television in the US—is flawed and should be replaced by the COFDM transmission standard, which is being adopted by most countries that have chosen the DVB terrestrial DTV standard. In March, Sinclair engineers performed tests in the Philadelphia area using the signals from the four operating digital stations that were transmitting via 8VSB. The results of the tests apparently caused enough concern about the ability of 8VSB to adequately transmit DTV signals to indoor antennas that Sinclair officials—who also determined that the current 8VSB system could not be improved enough to their satisfaction —decided to conduct additional tests that would provide side-by-side comparative tests of 8VSB and COFDM. “Initial results are not only interesting, they are compelling,” says Nat Ostroff, vice president, New Technology for Sinclair. “It is unfortunate that COFDM was not fully developed at the time the 8VSB standard was adopted by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC). We wish to determine if a serious reception problem exists with 8VSB and whether a solution is available to the reception of digital television over-the-air.” The ATSC maintains that 8VSB is more appropriate for the way DTV is transmitted in the US, particularly in regards to HDTV, which is not a priority for European countries that have adopted COFDM. “COFDM is not good for transmitting HDTV,” says Craig Tanner Executive Director for the ATSC. “Some of the payload data rate [the rate at which userable data is delivered] is lost with COFDM. Europeans have much less concern for the lower payload data rate offered by COFDM. HDTV, however, is a first priority in the US” Tanner says it is “inconceivable” that the US would change the modulation standard at this stage in the game. “The ship has launched —there are thousands of receivers in the marketplace and over 60 stations on the air [with digital broadcasts],” Tanner says. “I believe it's too late.”