Broadcasters show their HDTV hands:
tvbroadcast.com
Broadcasters Show Their DTV Hand In Vegas
By Michael Grotticelli
las vegas
--After months of keeping their technology plans close to the vest, the country's major terrestrial broadcasters officially showed their digital television (DTV) hands amid the spectacle of the NAB convention.
ABC and Fox confirmed that they will initiate a strategy that includes displaying HDTV programming in the 1280 x 720 progressive scan format at 60 frames per second (fps) during prime time hours while NBC and PBS echoed CBS' previously announced plan and will distribute 1920 x 1080-line interlaced signals at 60 fps.
By selecting different versions of the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC)'s display formats, each network had specific reasons for gambling that their strategy will win consumer confidence and prevail as the ultimate standard. Among them, 1080i offers more "headroom" for downconversion, says CBS, while 720p provides a better picture after transmission and a smoother convergence with computers, according to ABC and Fox.
"We will take our shots, based on a competitive spirit, as to how we produce... and distribute [our programming]," said Andrew Setos, senior vice president, Broadcast Operations and Engineering, Fox Television. "The beauty of the ATSC standard is that it has many formats and those formats speak to us and inflame our competitive spirit. We make our choices based on our belief as entertainers and informers, and we'll go forward accordingly.
"Diversity is a good thing," he continued. "I think the television industry has a history of sameness in terms of technology. I think
that was a necessary rigidity based on the level of technology available to us. Now we are freed and we can make a choice."
All are in agreement that upconverted 480-line standard definition (SDTV) signals during daytime hours, whether interlaced or
progressive scanned, make the most business sense for stations faced with the large capital expense required for transmission equipment. Fox is said to be considering 480p transmissions at 30 fps, in order to conserve bandwidth. The upconversion of their current NTSC signal is key to a simulcast strategy during the transition.
"When [the HDTV program] arrives at the local station, it must worry about integrating local commercials... and local news product into that stream," said Preston Davis, ABC president, Broadcast Operations and Engineering. "We see upconversion as a strategy that allows them to do that without having to invest in an enormous amount of HDTV production equipment."
"Upconversion, and especially in our case, de-interlacing, is going to be absolutely necessary because we have large archives of material that was shot on lower resolutions than we are going to be sending out in digital television," echoed Fox's Setos. "As we go forward with the transition, there will be commercials and possibly promos (both on the local and national level) that may not be produced in the resolutions that we'll be broadcasting our programming in, so there will be a great need for that."
In detailing his network's position, Joseph Flaherty, Senior Vice President of Technology at CBS, explained that the future holds a number of possibilities, including 1080-line progressive scan technology. "Don't get the idea that we are opposed to...
competition, or are in favor of a single-format sin," he said. "In fact, we believe that before this rollout is finished--before
2006--there will be a 1080 progressive scan. The day that happens, most of us will use that. It has the biggest headroom. Remember, today [we have] the worst high definition you'll ever see. I can also say that today is the best SDTV you'll ever see. The time will come that SDTV disappears."
Although there has been much talk about broadcasters possibly splitting their 6 MHz signal into multiple SDTV channels, only
PBS announced at the show that it would definitely multicast a 480i signal from its headquarters in Alexandria, VA during its daytime hours. This would allow its member stations to pick and choose which channel they'd like to air.
"Multicasting is certainly a strong component of what PBS believes our mission is," said John Tollefson, vice president/chief technology officer at PBS. "We have material in our archives in that format [480i] and we'll continue to broadcast that way. The PBS plant is totally converted to digital already... so we'll be ready for the fall."
While NBC said it will distribute approximately 10 hours of HDTV during prime time and CBS five, ABC, Fox, and PBS were less specific, stating only that their Fall lineups had not been finalized. When asked whether these various HDTV schedules might be coordinated so that programming would not be shown during the same hours, Charles Jablonski, NBC vice president of Broadcast and Network Engineering for NBC, quipped, "I think that judging by how the networks have arrived at the different conclusions of HDTV, agreeing on where to have lunch would probably be [difficult]. We're worrying about maximizing our audience and delivering high quality pictures as soon as possible."
ABC's Davis reported that after initial feature film showings, the network hopes to present a special segment of its "Wonderful
World of Disney" series as the first original HDTV programming sometime in 1999. Programming will originate from an ABC HDTV Release Center, in New York City, that's being built by Panasonic's Systems Integration division (see related story on page TK).
Jablonski said NBC will make "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" its first video program presented in the 1080i format, reportedly by the end of 1999. A specially designed edit suite and control room will be outfitted with Sony Electronics (and others') HDTV equipment for the show in Burbank by Sony's Systems Integration Center. The network also announced it will offer the hit movies "Men in Black" and "Titanic" as part of its future high definition lineup.
"I think that we are a fair distance away from producing sports programming [in 720p]," Davis stated. "The gadgets just do not
exist to do sports with the production values we're use to today. Certainly news is something we're a long ways away from talking about in the high definition format. There are, however, opportunities in news for widescreen [acquisition]."
The real challenge for sports in HDTV, said Setos, is having to produce events in two different aspect ratios. "For live events,
especially dynamic ones, this is a tremendous challenge. It will not be easy."
Coming away from the convention, it was hard not to notice the second-guessing and sniping that heretofore has been
uncharacteristic of the networks in a public forum. This might be due to the "competitive spirit" surrounding digital television, but most agreed that broadcasters must move forward and make DTV happen in order to be successful in today's highly competitive world. It will be up to Congress and the consumer to ultimately decide what constitutes HDTV.
"Experts in this industry have decided that 720p and 1080i are both HDTV," Davis said. "I don't think it serves anyone in this
industry to keep furthering this fight. We need to get on with the business of delivering digital television to consumers and put this all behind us. This network [ABC] is committed to delivering the best possible pictures to American consumers. I think we ought to do what we said we would do, which is to present this opportunity to the American people and let the consumer decide."
NBC's Jablonski added, "I agree that it's not about formats, it's about getting on the air and into consumers' living rooms."
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