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■ HDTV UPDATE The End of the Road BY GARY SHAPIRO f you’ve visited the beautiful Hawaiian island of Maui you likely have undertaken the popular tourist activity of driving the infamous road to Hana. With hairpin turns, narrow I bridges and sharp, blind corners this 42-mile stretch of oceanfront road takes three-hours on average to travel by car. But if you’ve been on this serpentine journey, you also understand its rewards with scenic overlooks, lush vegetation and rushing waterfalls. It’s a sight to behold and the entire experience is in many ways is analogous to another tough, but rewarding journey—the analog to digital television (DTV) transition. Fortunately, for those of us who have been on this epic road to DTV, we now stand at about mile marker 41, so we’ve stomached arguably the roughest bumps in the road. And when you consider what we’ve accomplished in less than a decade, it’s rather impressive. Government and industry embarked on the DTV transition journey without a clear-cut guidebook. No one popped into a bookstore and purchased a road map or CD audio tour. We charted an unpaved course. Sometimes we all navigated from the same map; other times industries charted their own, separate course. Ultimately, we’re all heading for the same endpoint and to near the end of the road is an accomplishment, indeed. Consider, for instance, that at mile marker one, the standard for DTV wasn’t even certain. Along the road to DTV, we’ve seen attitudes and awareness change in response to the journey. Several pundits believed in the early days of the transition that “HDTV is an idea whose time has passed,” and “high-definition will be a terribly expensive flop.” Today, those same voices concede, “HDTV is doing great. We used to joke that it stood for ‘high dollar, tiny volume…It ain’t tiny anymore.” Consider, too, that in 1997 CEA Market Research conducted a survey that found 72 percent of respondents were “not aware” of HDTV. Today, not only are consumers aware of HDTV, 76 percent recognize it offers a better picture. Better still, 71 percent of online consumers recently surveyed indicate they plan on buying a digital cable ready set as their next TV. We are IN THIS ISSUE: FEATURES: ■ FCC, CEA, CERC Tip Sheet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 04 DTV PRODUCTS: ■ Integrated Digital TV Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 08 ■ Microdisplay-Based RPJ Monitors . . . . . . . 26 ■ Flat-Panel HDTV Monitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 ■ Flat-Panel EDTV Monitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 succeeding in getting the word out not only about the DTV transition and the best it has to offer in HDTV, but consumers now understand improvements like the seamless plug-and-play convenience of digital cable ready sets. Although it has been a bumpy road, we are rewarded with continued enjoyment of the spectacular sights and sounds afforded by highdefinition TV (HDTV) technology and programming. Some 16 million DTV products have been sold in just 7 years; prices have fallen by more than 50 percent; billions of dollars have been invested in DTV by industry and consumers alike. Additionally, new HDTV products are being introduced to further expand the consumer experience including HD camcorders and HD-DVRs. Programming options have expanded, as well. In the early days of DTV, early adopters had only educational programs and DVDs to enjoy on their HDTV. Today’s DTV consumers enjoy those options and so much more. The XXXIX Super Bowl is the perfect example of compelling, HDTV content that is catapulting consumer adoption of sets and the transition. Many consumers are attaching their HDTV to a surround sound system to experience HDTV at its fullest. Can you imagine the road to Hana without the associated sounds? Me neither. Those waves hitting the oceanfront rocks wouldn’t be quite as impressive without the sound of such force. In order for as many consumers as possible to enjoy a swift transition to HDTV, today we need the full support of the cable industry behind the digital cable ready sets on the market and the ready provision of CableCARDs to support those sets. More integrated sets are available every day, but with some 70 percent of Americans relying on cable for their primary TV signal, it is essential to have strong promotion and support for digital cable ready. Many say that when it comes to driving to Hana it’s the journey, not the destination that is most memorable. The American consumer is fortunate that nothing could be further from the truth as we approach the end of this DTV road – the analog cut-off. True, policymaking and bumps in the road to DTV have garnered much of the media attention regarding this transition to date, but at the end of the road lies the ultimate prize for consumers – HDTV. This is a road worth traveling, a journey destined for the history books and the ultimate destination for the American consumer. Spring 2005 03
■ HD CONSUMERS Buying a Digital Television ■ New Tip Sheet for Point-of-Sale Use from the FCC, CEA and CERC T he Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and the Consumer Electronics Retailers Coalition (CERC) have made a new tip sheet available for digital television (DTV) retailers to reproduce and distribute to consumers on the sales floor. The file may be downloaded online at www.dtv.gov. While you’re there, check out the other useful information the FCC is making available to consumers interested in learning more about the analog to digital transition. Digital Television (DTV) is an entirely new technology that will ultimately replace today’s analog television system. Digital signals are transmitted using computer code – ones and zeroes - which means they are less susceptible to interference and provide a higher quality picture and sound than analog. High-definition TV (HDTV) is the best quality DTV. HDTV’s sound and picture quality are many times better than today’s analog TV. DTV also can be standard definition (SD) [good] or enhanced definition (ED) [better]. What you need to watch DTV: DTV (including HDTV) is available over-the-air using a standard antenna or via digital cable or satellite. No matter how you receive your TV signal (cable, satellite or over-the-air), you will need DTV equipment to watch the DTV programming. www.dtv.gov DTV equipment may be purchased as an all-in-one or component solution. “Integrated” DTV sets with built-in tuners are an all-in-one solution for DTV – they include a digital tuner to receive over-the-air DTV broadcasts and a monitor to display the programming. A “component” solution includes a DTV monitor (screen) without a DTV tuner (these monitors are sometimes labeled “HD Ready”). Monitors must be paired with a cable or satellite set-top box, or stand-alone DTV tuner. “Digital cable ready” (or ”plug-and-play”) televisions are also available that can be used to receive digital cable TV without a separate set-top box. A CableCARD that can be plugged into the set is needed for certain cable programming. Analog TVs will need additional equipment to receive over-theair television when the DTV transition ends. Today most people have analog televisions. All broadcast TV stations in the country have temporary use of a second, separate channel so that they can transition from analog broadcasting to digital. The target deadline for ending analog broadcasting is December 31, 2006, but this date may be extended. When analog broadcasting ends, consumers with analog sets will need to obtain a separate converter box to watch over-the-air TV. Analog sets equipped with a converter box will display the digital broadcasts, but not in full digital quality. DEFINITIONS: Analog TV: Today’s TV system using radio frequency waves to transmit and display pictures and sound. Digital TV (DTV): Television delivered and displayed using radio frequency waves that contain information that is digitally encoded for improved quality and efficiency. Standard Definition TV (SDTV): Basic digital television transmission that may be displayed with fewer than 480 progressively scanned lines (480p) in 16 x 9 or 4 x 3 format. 480 interlaced (480i) is the quality of today’s analog TV system. SDTV provides 150-300,000 pixels. Enhanced Definition TV (EDTV): A Better digital television transmission than SDTV with at least 480p, in a 16 x 9 or 4 x 3 display and Dolby digital surround sound. 480p is the quality used by most DVD players. EDTV provides 300-400,000 pixels. 04 Spring 2005
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