by Odai Sirri
In reality, HDTV is short for High Definition Television. Most importantly, it will bring digital technology to our television sets. This is the largest advance for television since its beginning in 1923. But there have been many setbacks ranging from the cost of upgrading, to public uncertainty and misunderstanding about the product. Therefore, this report is intended to cast light not only on what HDTV is, but also on the truth contained in the the satirical title.
HDTV is a new kind of television system that involves improvements in both the production and reception of television broadcast systems. The most distinguishing features of HDTV are "CD quality" digital surround sound audio, and five times the visual detail of NTSC television. But as Dave Walton (communications marketing manager of JVC Professional Products) explains, getting the public to see new standards can be challenging. "It's hard to get people to look at standards that are different from the ones they're used to. But I think times are changing. We'll see a lot more users for HD in the near future... For now, HD is being used in event theatres, corporate presentations with large screen projections and so on." This is true, many major corporations are taking advantage of the new technology for sales meetings. Compared to a year ago, it is now within budget for corporate clients to produce high-quality HD programs. Althhough price and equipment size as well as other factors are restricting HD production to the business sector.
Misinformation about what HDTV is and what it does are other reasons for its slow production. Also, many electronics companies have voiced that they will not produce HDTV's until there is a guarantee that there will be programs made in high definition. On the other side of the spectrum, major networks will not produce programs in HD until they know that the televisions will be made. So what comes first the chicken or the egg?
There was added confusion when DVD systems began appearing in stores earlier this year. DVD stands for Digital Video Disc. These systems were believed to be comparable to HD, which was not true. DVD is another type of NTSC recording media. It is fully digital and can provide a better picture ( 525 resolution), and digital high quality audio. This system may seem impressive, but it is still a much lower medium compared to HDTV which boasts 1125 lines of resolution. An important point which consumers did not know was that DVD systems will not be compatible with HD produced televisions. This will render DVD systems useless in a few years.
Due to all these factors, broadcasters have been getting into trouble with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC, equivalent to the CRTC). Lawmakers have been arguing that broadcasters promised to provide high definition broadcasts in exchange for valuable digital TV licenses that were given to stations free of charge. Estimates put the value of licenses at $70 billion dollars. In recent weeks, top industry executives have admitted that they may use their digital licenses to provide several analogue broadcasts instead of HD broadcasts. However, lawmakers in the United States have suggested that if the broadcasters forego HDTV, they will be required to pay substantial penalty fees. FCC rules require stations owned or affiliated with ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX to begin broadcasting in digital format in the top ten TV markets (U.S.) Those markets account for thirty percent of households. Incidentally, British Columbia will receive four networks with HD format due to the fact that Seattle is one of the top ten markets in the U.S. At the moment, Seattle broadcasts the four networks that are to be in HD format by 1999. The ABC affiliate in Seattle (KOMO-TV) is already broadcasting in HD. Under the FCC timetable, all stations must convert to the digital format by the year 2006 or risk losing their licenses.
Digital technology, coming in less than 24 months, will be the greatest achievement for television in over forty years. "High definition television is the latest major advance in world communications. Changes in technology, changes in culture, changes in our perception of the world - all taking place more rapidly with each passing day - are the hallmark of our times and make the prediction of the future almost impossible. Certainly the future will look nothing like the past, it will look nothing like the present, and will look nothing like what we today think the future will look like."
Joe Flaherty, 1992
Bibliography: http://www.sinfonia.net/mike/hdtv/ http://web-star.com/hdtv/hdtvbroadcasters.html http://www.interfacers.com/CurrentEvents/HDTV/Status.html http://cgi.pathfinder.com/@@@vk9VwUAShx4THuL/netly/latest/RB/1997Sep18/266.html http://web-star.com/hdtv/commitmentpage.html