Ch 6 Digital Television

Ch. 6 – Digital Television
1.7 Introduction
• HDTV can be analog or digital, DTV and be high definition or standard definition, neither are limited to any specific means of transportation
1.8 Making Room for HDTF
• FCC focused on High Definition TV instead of EDTV (enhanced def.) HD offered a better picture despite TVs at the time being able to display EDTV
• FCC proposed to set aside an additional 6 MHz for each broadcast station and to permit each station to acquire an additional HDTV license for 6 MHz
o Spectrum used would be in UHF band and come from unused noncommercial assignments, already assigned to low power television, and from reductions in spacing requirements (lowering guard bands)
1.9 Choosing a Standard
• Congress insisted FCC did not adopt the already established and existing HDTV system of the Japanese, recommending the US come up with its own
• Various groups competed to develop the new standard, ultimately pooling together to form a “Grand Alliance” to create a single proposal
• FCC released a notice in 1996 recommending the adoption of the proposal created by the alliance. This proposal was far superior than that of the Japanese
• Computer industry recommended the FCC not institute a standard at all, instead letting the market dictate by choice what would be accepted
• Computer industry and Great alliance compromised and a “skeletal” standard was set, letting format constraints be dictated by the market
1.10 Rules for DTV Spectrum
• Goal – to strengthen the possibilities for DTV’s success
• 6 MHz for channels is necessary to provide full benefits of digital television
• Broadcast television is a vital service – entertainment, sports, local and national news, election results, weather and public interest programming prove this
• Support for minimum HDTV requires backed by large networks such as CBS, ABC, and NBC who think it will help promote early availability
1.11 Hastening the Transition
• Cable and satellite have been much more aggressive when rolling out HD material compared to broadcast television
• Public support by purchasing HD ready Tvs was slow to begin with
• In 2005 congress set a date of February 17th 2009 for all full power broadcasters to stop analog broadcasting
1.12 Public Interest Obligations
• Improving education by using the 6 Mhz of spectrum returned to the government for non-commercial educational purposes
• Provide closed captioning to digital content to Americans with disabilities
• FCC should adopt minimum public interest requirements that are stronger and specifically targeted to address the absence of local news and locally originated educational and public affairs programming