One of the services offered by HDTV Magazine is an email forum called the TIPS List. The list is populated by 1200 of the most savvy consumers of HDTV products and services you will ever find. It is the first place on the Internet where one hears of change in the services offered by the HDTV industry and, more importantly, the perceptions people have regarding those services. These perceptions become the reality. They spread, true or false, like a contagious disease. All providers of HDTV equipment and program distribution services will profit from knowing what these perceptions and misperceptions are and act to destroy the myths they create before they infect the entire field. HDTV Magazine will initiate a BLOG on May 2, 2005 with its primary content carefully selected from the LIST. It will be called HDTV Magazine's TIPS DAILY. While I expect this BLOG will be well received by shoppers for HDTV hardware and services the audience in the bull's eye is the group who must know what opinions are forming in the minds of their best and most influential customers. The manufacturers, retailers, program producers and their distributors will not want to miss a single one of these postings. Why? The authors have already searched the HDTV forums and other resources before their views are posted on the TIPS List. The questions left open to speculation, opinion, and guesswork have not been satisfactorily answered elsewhere. The HDTV industry is encouraged to write back with an authoritive voice with the intent of eliminating these doubt-provoking speculations. All post and industry responses will be saved into a searchable database for future reference. I am launching the TIPS DAILY with commentary below. I want to point out to both signal providers and set makers that your customers are seeking only quality. In the business of HDTV there is no other purpose to act than on picture and sound quality. Any perception (or reality) that this quality is compromised is going to cost you severely in the marketplace. This is, then, the "must pay attention to BLOG" for the industry. The writer of our opening piece is a long-standing member of the TIPS LIST. His comment was first directed to the 1200 on the list. The fact that his seniority has not eliminated his speculations and guesswork should suggest the urgency the industry must have to educated the public all-the-more. I hope that we have started that journey of education with this important BLOG. _Dale Cripps, HDTV Pioneer
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April 28, 2005
All of us love HDTV and are impressed, as we should be, by even downrezed resolution. But how much better could the picture be with an uncompressed (not commercially realistic I guess) picture on an excellent monitor that is 1080p. I realize that MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 are already compressed but the issue of further compression makes me wonder if the providers, be it cable, DirecTV, Dish, etc. Think that we will put up with lower and lower quality over time without looking for a better solution.
I work for Verizon. I am looking forward to what resolution is going to be available with their FTTP-FiOS video offering. Fortunately, they are in the process of installing the fiber in my neighborhood. I haven't seen any of the technical specs yet but Verizon will be offering the video in the second half of 2005 in some parts of the country as they start to roll out the data and video services. I'm guessing that highspeed Internet access will be offered initially followed a few months later by the video offering. No, this is NOT a commercial for Verizon but I will admit that I am strongly considering going that way IF I can get better resolution at less cost. I know that the high-speed Internet access from them is going to be much less expensive than what I am paying Comcast, and I will get much higher bandwidth. I'm hoping that the video cost will also be less than what I am paying DirecTV. With the advent of MPEG-4 with DirecTV in the near future requiring that the dish, LNB(s) and receiver all be replaced I am hoping that Verizon may offer me increased resolution without anywhere near the additional cost that it looks like DirecTV will force on us. Yes, there has been talk to "trade-in" etc. From DirecTV but I haven't seen any specific information from DirecTV themselves. Unfortunately, I bought the HD DirecTV DVR a few months ago when I acquired my second HDTV. It would be worthless if I went the Verizon route. Well, I could sell it I guess. _Tom B. Kemp
COMMENTARY: This consumer of YOUR products has been using the TIPS List daily for several years. He is a professional in the field of communications and still his commentary is riddled with terms of uncertainties (which I have bolded). If that doesn't tell the HDTV industry that it has not done all what it required to educate the most willing of its public, what will? _Dale Cripps