High Tech, Entertainment, And Consumer Groups Launch Drive To Protect The Future Of Digital TV
Source: PR Newswire

WASHINGTON, July 25 /PRNewswire/ via Individual Inc. -- The following release was issued by American for Better Digital TV: An unprecedented coalition of film and entertainment leaders, high technology companies, and consumer advocates today announced plans for a nationwide campaign to ensure that the future of digital television is not undermined by government approval of outdated, inadequate, and expensive technical standards. The new coalition, Americans for Better Digital TV, reads like a "who's who" list of entertainment and high technology companies and organizations. The group is launching a public education and outreach effort over the next several months, as the future of digital TV is considered by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The coalition warns that the proposed new standards could cost American consumers more than $91 billion, limit consumer choice, undermine U.S. industry and lock in obsolete technology. "The standard being considered by the FCC would stand in the way of future innovation and force consumers to use inferior technology over time," said Bill Gates, Chairman and CEO of Microsoft Corp. "If approved, this standard will become a roadblock to the convergence of the television and the PC, and slow down the progress toward the digital future, where consumers will be able to watch television on their PCs or access the Internet from their TVs." "As we move into the next century, it is important that the standards for advanced television give the public the opportunity to see the images of film with progressive scanning, without interlace, and in the aspect ratio in which they were originally created. I and those who have made films in wide screen formats for decades want to preserve that opportunity and insure that their transmission will give future viewers the fullest possible experience. Therefore, I have urged the FCC to reconsider its current proposal in the interest of both the creative community and the public," said Steven Spielberg, Academy Award-winning filmmaker. "This one is a no-brainer for viewers," said Gigi B. Sohn, Deputy Director of the Media Access Project. "The progressive base-line digital standard will provide more access for more people to the exciting technologies of the future. Progressive sets will be cheaper, too, since homeowners will need one, not two, converter boxes, to benefit from the fruits of American technological innovation in the transition to digital TV." The new coalition warns that American consumers will face enormous costs and will miss out on important new innovations in entertainment, personal computing, and interactive media, if the FCC adopts the transmission standards proposed by the "Grand Alliance," a group dominated by foreign TV manufacturers, and supported by broadcasters. According to a recent study by Economics & Technology, Inc., a Boston-area research firm specializing in telecommunications regulation and public policy, the proposed Grand Alliance standards would force consumers to spend more than $91 billion over the next ten years to buy set-top converters which they will need to watch High Definition Television (HDTV). The cost is even higher if consumers replace their old sets with new ones able to receive all the Grand Alliance standards. By contrast, the computer industry has proposed a streamlined digital TV standard which would cut the cost to consumers in half and let them decide whether HDTV is worth the price to them and their families. While there is widespread agreement that a move to digital television will be a major quality improvement over the current analog TV standard, Americans for Better Digital TV is urging the FCC to adopt a less rigid approach that would result in better digital television with less delay and at a substantially lower cost to consumers than the proposal the FCC is considering. The Americans for Better Digital TV coalition includes: the Directors Guild of America; the Computer Industry Coalition on Advanced Television Service; the Media Access Project; the International Photographers Guild, Local 600, AFL-CIO; the American Society of Cinematographers; Digital Theater Systems, LP; the Todd-AO Corporation; Panavision International, LP; the American Homeowners Foundation; the Computing Technology Industry Association; the Business Software Alliance; and a number of computer hardware and software companies including Compaq Computer Corporation, Apple Computer, Inc., Intel Corporation, and Microsoft Corporation. Some of the biggest names in Hollywood have joined the effort, warning that the proposed Grand Alliance standards would undermine many of the new creative technologies emerging from the entertainment industries. Among the Hollywood leaders supporting Americans for Better Digital TV are Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood, Arthur Hiller, Martin Scorsese, Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman, and Robert Zemeckis. "Contemporary digital technology makes it possible to provide the consumers with a much more filmatic and interactive experience than the Grand Alliance standards would provide," says Victor Kemper, president of the American Society of Cinematographers. "Given the advances in technology, it would be a disgrace for the American government to mandate the defacing of American films seen on television." Officials in the high tech industries warn that several aspects of the proposed Grand Alliance standards are incompatible with computer technology and would hamper the development of products that merge television with personal computing. Concerns cited by high tech leaders include: (1) the outdated interlaced scanning technology, which has been used in television for decades but is inadequate for computer applications; (2) the spacing of the pixels (or image bits) that would be displayed on the screen. Several of the standards proposed under the Grand Alliance scheme include non-square pixel spacing; two hundred million computers are in use and all assume square pixel spacing and lack the software to do the necessary conversions; (3) screen scanning rates which are cumbersome and expensive to convert for computer applications; and (4) outdated and inferior audio standards. Audio industry leaders warned that the proposed Grand Alliance standards would be a step backward, essentially locking consumers into outdated technology. "The proposed digital TV standard includes a mandated exclusive audio standard that is already technologically obsolete, compared to more advanced audio coding systems. The proposed mandatory exclusive standard would unnecessarily discourage competition, create a climate for higher prices, and deny consumers access to the highest quality audio as it evolves," said Terry D. Beard, Chief Executive Officer of Digital Theater Systems, LP, which has developed the audio system used in over 3,000 American movie theaters. "Why build unnecessary roadblocks to innovation and competition in the audio industry? There is no public interest reason to provide only one single proprietary audio technology with digital television," said Salah M. Hassanein, Chairman of Todd-AO Corporation. The coalition has established a site on the World Wide Web for the public to get more information about the issue. The Americans for Better Digital TV web site, which is linked to the web page for the Directors Guild of America web site, can be accessed at http://www.dga.org/dga. Directors Guild of America President Gene Reynolds commented that "American consumers will be the real losers if the FCC foolishly adopts an outdated technology for new television programming rather than the current state-of-the-art digital TV." Attached is the Americans for Better Digital TV advertisement that ran in the Washington Post on July 24. LET'S GET THE PICTURE RIGHT Digital technology is the future of television. The future can offer astonishing possibilities -- clearer and crisper pictures with better sound, movies seen and heard as they are experienced in theaters, and PCs able to receive digital TV broadcasts. But there are clouds on this sunny horizon . . . because the Federal Communications Commission is being asked to adopt regulations favoring the interests of foreign TV set manufacturers -- and push the public interest aside. If the FCC adopts these regulations, American consumers will be the big losers. Costing Consumers: The proposed regulations would cost consumers more than $91 billion over the next ten years. There are much cheaper ways to go digital. Undermining U.S. Industry: TV set manufacturing is dominated by foreign-owned firms. America leads the world in other kinds of technology, like film and television programming, computers and software -- industries that employ over three million workers. Why not help the hometown team for a change? Freezing Technology: The proposed regulations are too rigid, limit consumer choice, bring us TV sets that are too expensive, and lock in obsolete technology. The proposed regulations would stifle innovation and competition, and jeopardize the possibility that the highest quality entertainment and computer technology can be wrapped into a single system affordable to all. Better, lower cost technology already exists. The last time the federal government made a decision about television this important was a half-century ago. The decision the FCC is about to make will chart the course for television for the next 50 years. Let's make sure we do it right. American Society of Cinematographers - Apple Computer, Inc. Business Software Alliance - Compaq Computer Corporation - Digital Theater Systems, LP - Directors Guild of America - Intel Corporation - International Photographers Guild, Local 600, IATSE, AFL-CIO - Media Access Project (endorsement only) - Microsoft Corporation - Panavision International LP - Todd-AO Corporation - American Homeowners Foundation - Computing Technology Industry Association /CONTACT: Bob Fisher of American Society of Cinematographers, 619-438-5250; Pam Miracle of Apple Computer, Inc., 409-974-0688; Diane Smiroldo of Business Software Alliance, 202-872-5500; Nora Hahn of Compaq Computer Corporation, 713-514-8316; Kevin DiLallo of Computer Industry Coalition on Advanced Television Service, 202-223-4980; Susie Golin of Digital Theater Systems, LP, 818-706-3525; Chuck Warn of Directors Guild of America, 310-289-5333; Michael Maibach of Intel Corporation, 202-626-4383; Bob Fisher of International Photographers Guild, Local 600, AFL-CIO, 619-438-5250; Gigi B. Sohn of Media Access Project, 202-232-4300; Mark Murray of Microsoft Corporation, 206-936-3306; Karen Gold of Todd-AO Corporation, 818-905-8818/ [07-25-96 at 06:00 EDT, PR Newswire]

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