robscullion
Premium
join:2001-12-07
Philadelphia, PA | reply to y2flyy
Re: 'Does HD Matter Yet?'
The cable companies will never be forced to switch. |
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vatorman
@verizon.net
| As a televison employee for over 32 years in network and local companies, I'm here to tell you... IT DOES MATTER and they will be forced to switch. There will be no regular tv as of the latest deadline by the FCC which is around 3 years time.
They will be forced to compete with the other services. And once people see HD pix they are convinced. It is obvious. |
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BF69
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN
| reply to robscullion
said by robscullion  :The cable companies will never be forced to switch. basically they will. Do you think in 2021 HDTV will not be the standard? Of course it will be. Standard TV will be dead long before then. I will be shocked if in 2016 most TV programming isn't in HD. |
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robscullion
Premium
join:2001-12-07
Philadelphia, PA
 ·Speakeasy
| Actually, I expect we'll have moved away from the time-slotted, broadcast model of content distribution by then. There's a good chance we'll even be past the idea of a broadcast standard at that point and more into media encoding standards. That is if the current morphing of cable/telcos into data service providers continues to it's logical conclusion of IP based on-demand style programming.
I read the OP's remark to mean that the CCs would be forced to switch to HD by some non-market (IE FCC) force. I cannot tell you the number of times I've heard co-workers say they needed to get an HDTV before the FCC cutoff date. This is people who all have cable. There's a lot of confusion out there on the whole "HD"/FCC thing.
Anyway, I think they'll continue to supply SD content until it's no longer worth the cost. When the cost is higher than the return, they'll tell the 3 people that are left on SD that they need to get an HD box. To me, that's not exactly "being forced" but I admit it's a subjective term. |
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PaulHikeS2
join:2003-03-06
Merrimack, NH
 ·Comcast
| reply to vatorman
The FCC deadline is for the switch from analog to digital, not a switch to HD. Digital comes in other forms, such as multicasting: it's not just HD.
None of this, however, affects the cable companies. The FCC deadline is only for broadcast television. Cable companies can continue to send an analog signal as long as feasible for them to do so, because CATV is a closed system.
--
Jay: What the @#$% is the internet??? |
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rradina
join:2000-08-08
Chesterfield, MO
·Charter Pipeline
| Don't you find it amazing that an industry veteran with 32 years of experience doesn't recognize the deadline is digital, not HD.
In my opinion, there is a lot of confusion around what HD is (720i or p vs 1080i or p).and as long as that confusion exists, content providers can snow the general public. I recall when my local cable provider was only "half" digital. The satellite providers bashed this and said they were "pure digital" even though their local feeds originated in analog just like the cable companies. Now my local cable company is all digital and even sources their digital local channels from the broadcaster's digital feed. Gone are the satellite company's claims of pure digital.
Even now, FOX and ABC use 720p and PBS, NBC and CBS use 1080i. One would think that 1080i would be better but even I'm confused since 1080i is interlaced and 720p is not. The 720 might actually have a more flicker free picture than 1080i.
I think along with the digital conversion, the FCC should step in and define a single HD standard and force content providers to adhere to 1080p -- currently the best resolution. Even if the program's content doesn't fill 1080p's resolution potential, it should be black boxed. With this type of parity, the "we're pure digital" snow jobs will be gone and TV manufacturers won't have the wiggle room to produce a low end "HD ready" set that is really a piece of crap if the public understood it was only capable of 480p. |
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AudlgY
@rogers.com
| reply to BF69
i should hope by 2021 atenna frequencies are HD, the cable companies will be forced, not by any government regualtions but by the demand of HD. Comapnies are already advertising and competing with each otehr (at least in Canada) about how many HD stations they have. |
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blah8492
@rr.com | reply to robscullion
I'm pretty sure the US has set a-semiofficial switch date of 2009-10 if i remember right, that could've been a rumor though |
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