2001 (129)
Field tests with first-generation DTV receivers raised doubts about the FCC's 8-VSB broadcasting standard, prompting calls to adopt Europe's COFDM system. Motor…
The FCC issued a Report and Order affirming 8-VSB as the DTV transmission standard and setting channel election deadlines for commercial and noncommercial broad…
The FCC issued its Report and Order on January 19, 2001, settling the long-running COFDM vs. 8-VSB modulation debate by confirming 8-VSB as the U.S. DTV transmi…
American Production Services and Galanty Productions completed one of the first local television commercials produced entirely in 24p High Definition video, a 3…
The ATSC issued a Request for Proposals on January 25, 2001, seeking enhancements to its 8-VSB terrestrial DTV transmission standard to support emerging applica…
A 2001 Business Week editorial argues that the U.S. HDTV transition has failed, leaving broadcasters squatting on valuable spectrum originally granted free for …
CBS Television and Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America announced a sponsorship agreement to broadcast the 2001 NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four and Champions…
The Consumer Electronics Association applauded NBC and HDNet's announcement to jointly produce the first-ever HDTV Olympic coverage in the United States. NBC af…
Digital television sales reached 625,000 units in 2000, a fivefold increase over 1999, yet still represented less than 3 percent of total TV sales. At CES 2001,…
The 2001 International CES supersession 'Outfitting the Digital Consumer' examined what consumers want from digital products, with industry leaders from TiVo, P…
Zenith Electronics announced the consumer electronics industry's first integrated digital television priced under $1,000 at CES 2001, a 27-inch SDTV model plann…
The European Broadcasting Union reported significant progress in digital video watermarking, with systems developed by Philips, Thomson, Lucent Technologies, an…
ATSC Chairman Robert Graves explains the committee's origins, its role in developing the U.S. digital television standard alongside the FCC's Advisory Committee…
The Consumer Electronics Association reported 187,464 DTV units sold to dealers in October 2001, a 113% increase over the same period in 2000. The figures pushe…
The 24P high-definition digital video format debuted at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival, drawing attention after George Lucas used Panasonic and Sony/Panavision…
The opening of the Robert Zemeckis Center for Digital Arts at USC marks Hollywood's formal embrace of digital filmmaking technology, backed by major directors a…
ONdigital faces a capacity crisis as Channel 5 considers reclaiming multiplex spectrum leased to the ONrequest pay-per-view service, potentially forcing the dig…
The International Academy of Broadcasting announced two major events for early 2001: a metadata seminar in Montreux exploring the generation, distribution, and …
HDTV Newsletter covers production hardware announcements from NAB 2001, highlighting equipment from Snell and Wilcox, Fujinon, and a collaboration between Fraun…
American Production Services completed editorial work on 'Nicolas,' the first American feature produced entirely with Sony's HDW-F-900 24p CineAlta HD camcorder…
The FCC approved AOL's $103 billion acquisition of Time Warner with conditions, clearing the merger's final regulatory hurdle one year after its announcement. T…
Japan's JEITA forecasts shipments of BS digital TV receivers and tuners will reach 8.6 million units by 2003, approaching the industry's goal of 10 million unit…
CBS Sports and Sony Electronics partnered to produce the 2001 Sony Open golf tournament as the first unified single-facility HDTV and analog broadcast in CBS Sp…
A home theater installer recounts how first-time HDTV viewers became so transfixed by a DirecTV high-definition demo loop that they refused to leave even as a n…
Sinclair Broadcast Group's Vice President of New Technology Nat Ostroff formally challenged the validity of Phase I COFDM test results, presenting field evidenc…
The Joint MSTV/NAB Steering Committee voted 26-3 to adopt a non-binding resolution finding insufficient evidence to add COFDM to the existing 8-VSB digital tele…
Sinclair Broadcast Group formally responded to the MSTV/NAB Phase One COFDM/8-VSB transmission test, arguing that a defective COFDM receiver front-end tainted t…
Zenith Electronics Corporation praised the NAB and MSTV for reaffirming support for the FCC-approved 8-VSB digital television standard after joint testing showe…
An HDTV owner earning under $35,000 annually writes a passionate defense of the ATSC 8-VSB standard, drawing parallels to early CD skepticism and reporting reli…
Craig Birkmaier examines NHK's foundational HDTV research, arguing that the true HDTV viewing experience requires screens exceeding 100 inches diagonal to achie…
The $3 million MSTV/NAB comparative tests failed to resolve the 8-VSB versus COFDM modulation debate, instead revealing that 8-VSB delivers up to 50% loss of se…
Sinclair Broadcast Group CEO David Smith argues that DTV receivers — not the ATSC standard itself — are the core failure point in the digital television transit…
Sidney Lumet chose Sony's CineAlta 24P High Definition video system to shoot the A&E drama 100 Centre Street, making it the first production to use multiple 24P…
Dermot Nolan argues that the NAB/MSTV field trials comparing COFDM and 8-VSB were methodologically flawed, relying on faulty receiver data that undermined COFDM…
The Consumer Electronics Association announced that the majority of DTV manufacturers plan to implement the IEEE 1394 digital interface and have endorsed the DT…
2netFX announced a formal agreement with ResearchChannel and Pacific Northwest Gigapop to test its ThunderCastIP HDTV multicast server software and hardware ove…
2netFX successfully demonstrated the world's first HDTV multicast delivery over the Internet at 20 Mbps using an Internet2 connection between the University of …
EchoStar Communications and CBS Television announced a partnership to deliver CBS's high-definition programming to eligible DISH Network customers via east and …
Fraunhofer Institute, primary inventor of MP3, and Telos Systems announced a joint press conference at NAB 2001 to demonstrate MPEG-4 Low Delay Advanced Audio C…
Utah-based independent filmmaker Darren Gould used Panasonic's new AJ-HDC27V variable-frame-rate 24p HD Cinema camera to shoot the short narrative film 'Hindsig…
NBC laid off 85 employees across its entertainment studios, CNBC, and CNBC.com as part of a broader plan to cut up to 600 jobs — between 5 and 10 percent of its…
Capitol Broadcasting, owner of WRAL-DT, and accessDTV announced a partnership to distribute PC tuner cards enabling over-the-air DTV reception and datacasting i…
American Production Services completed 1080p/24 HD post-production of HBO Films' BOYCOTT, a dramatization of the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the rise of Martin L…
The ATSC Specialist Group on Transport has issued a request for proposal seeking specifications to support advanced EPG functionality, including channel logos, …
The Advanced Television Systems Committee and the National Institute of Standards and Technology announced a joint symposium on the ATSC DTV Application Softwar…
The ATSC RF Task Force concluded that newer 8-VSB receivers largely meet outdoor fixed-reception goals, and that inadequate field strength—not the modulation st…
The Television Syndication Company and its production arm White Mountain Entertainment are advancing production on multiple HDTV series, including a High Defini…
The Portland Trail Blazers announced plans to launch Action Sports Cable Network, a 24-hour HD cable sports channel serving Oregon and Southwest Washington. ASC…
President Bush's 2002 budget proposes legislation to fairly compensate television broadcasters as they transition from analog to digital signals, clearing spect…
CBS affiliate WAGM-TV of Presque Isle, Maine purchased a ParkerVision PVTV Digital Studio News 16 system to serve as the backbone of its digital control room tr…
CEA President Gary Shapiro told NAB2001 attendees that TV manufacturers had produced over 250 DTV models and driven 158% unit sales growth, but challenged broad…
Factory-to-dealer DTV sales reached 227,349 units and topped $406 million in Q2 2001, with June alone surpassing 90,000 units — an 82 percent increase over June…
The Consumer Electronics Association and the National Association of Broadcasters announced a joint DTV promotional program at NAB 2001, targeting consumers thr…
The Consumer Electronics Association filed a brief with the FCC opposing a broadcaster petition to reinstate mandatory performance standards for digital televis…
The Consumer Electronics Association filed comments with the FCC opposing a proposed DTV tuner mandate, arguing it would harm consumers through higher costs and…
The Consumer Electronics Association filed comments with the FCC urging a capacity-based dual or multicast cable carriage rule for digital television broadcasts…
Coverage from the 2001 International CES highlights Zenith's announcement of the industry's first integrated digital TV priced under $1,000, alongside CEA sales…
The Consumer Electronics Association, led by CEO Gary Shapiro, testified before the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee opposing broadcaster-backed mandates requirin…
FCC Commissioner Michael Powell joined CEA President Gary Shapiro at a CES 2001 Supersession to discuss digital television, copyright protection, and cable must…
The Consumer Electronics Association announced the formation of a new Wireless Communications Division at the 2001 International CES in Las Vegas, citing rapid …
Ch.1 announced an integrated internet and entertainment TV platform at CES 2001 that would be built directly into HD-ready televisions, eliminating the need for…
Paramount Domestic Television announced it will digitally restore and remaster all 275 episodes of Cheers in what is billed as the most expensive restoration in…
China-Beijing International High Tech Industries Week Attracts $7.4 Billion, Boosts 2008 Olympic Bid
The fourth annual China-Beijing International High Tech Industries Week attracted over $7.4 billion in new investment pledges, drawing 1,300 attendees from 70 o…
Motorola has partnered with Sichuan Changhong Electric, China's largest TV manufacturer, to bring affordable digital TV sets to the U.S. market using Motorola's…
Chris Wissinger of Definition Productions announced the acquisition of the Sony CineAlta 24p HDW-F900 HD camera, adding to his existing Sony 1080i HDW-700A. The…
Action Sports and Entertainment Mobile Television (ASEM), part of Paul Allen's Portland-based sports and entertainment group, announced a new 53-foot 1080i HDTV…
Texas Instruments and HD VISION, Inc. won first place in the Educational and Industrial division at the International Electronic Cinema Festival in Chiba, Japan…
DemoGraFX Inc., led by HDTV pioneer Bob Rast and digital imaging veteran Gary Demos, announced $10 million in financing from Baker Capital to commercialize its …
Digidance, held concurrently with the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, will screen three HD feature films on January 21, 2001, including two shot in 24P and…
The Consumer Electronics Association projected 2001 industry sales would surpass $95.6 billion, a six percent increase over 2000 and the ninth consecutive year …
The Consumer Electronics Association reported manufacturer-to-dealer video product sales rose 2% to 13.6 million units in Q1 2001, with DVD player sales nearly …
Hughes Electronics Corporation announced Roxanne S. Austin as the new President and COO of DIRECTV, Inc., succeeding Odie C. Donald who is departing to pursue o…
The ATSC, CEA, and NAB jointly created a DTV Store at the NAB2001 Convention in Las Vegas to showcase digital television products and innovations from over twen…
UK digital television ownership is poised to surpass Internet usage for the first time, with 31% of the population owning digital TV versus 33% using the Intern…
The Consumer Electronics Association reported 625,000 DTV unit sales in 2000 totaling $1.4 billion, with 80 percent growth projected for 2001 reaching 1.125 mil…
The ATSC, CEA, and NAB announced a joint DTV Store exhibit at the NAB2001 Convention in Las Vegas, running April 21–26, 2001, showcasing consumer DTV products f…
Silicon Image VP Parviz Khodi argues that DVI with high-bandwidth digital content protection (HDCP) is the ideal digital interface for HDTV, offering uncompress…
The European Broadcasting Union announced the lease of a 72 MHz transponder on Eutelsat W1 at 10 East, expanding Eurovision Network capacity to 38 low bit-rate …
Four major European audiovisual organizations — EBU, BSAC, Eurocinema, and FERA — held a seminar at the WTO in Geneva on July 4, 2001 to brief trade negotiators…
ISO/IEC MPEG's Working Group 11 issued a formal call for qualified visual experts to participate in digital cinema compression testing scheduled for Los Angeles…
Faroudja, a division of Sage Inc., unveiled its Native Rate Series Digital Video Processor at NAB 2001 in Las Vegas, targeting mid-priced fixed-installation LCD…
Fox Digital purchased four Philips LDK 7000 digital cinematography cameras from Thomson multimedia for episodic television production using the 720p@24fps forma…
Fujinon unveiled four new professional video lenses at NAB 2001, including the A20x8.6 and S20x6.4 zoom lenses boasting the longest focal length ranges in the p…
Sweetwater Digital Productions became the first company to purchase Fujinon's new XA87x9.3ESM 87x HD zoom lenses, acquiring four units for a new state-of-the-ar…
ATSC Chairman Robert K. Graves declares the ATSC/VSB transmission system debate settled following January 2001 actions by the NAB, MSTV, and FCC. He cites impro…
HDV-5, a joint venture between WRAL-TV, DTV Resources, and HD VISION, Inc., used its 53-foot HD mobile production truck to cover the 13th Annual Neiman Marcus/A…
Hitachi America announced nine new HDTV projection monitor models for 2001, priced from $1,799 to $3,999, featuring the company's exclusive D3VirtualHD digital …
The International Academy of Broadcasting (IAB) in Montreux, Switzerland is accepting enrollments for its 9-month postgraduate program in radio and television r…
The Interactive Advertising Bureau announced its name change from IAB, expanded general membership eligibility to all companies selling interactive advertising,…
Italy's Senate passed legislation making it the first European country to set a binding deadline for replacing all analog terrestrial TV transmissions, requirin…
Factory-to-dealer sales of digital television products exceeded 81,629 units in January 2001, a 234 percent increase over January 2000, with dollar sales surpas…
Matsushita Electric announced the establishment of the Panasonic Hollywood Laboratory in Universal City, California, to conduct R&D on next-generation digital v…
May 2001 factory-to-dealer sales of digital television products reached 84,208 units — a 193 percent increase over May 2000 — generating over $148 million in re…
The Television Syndication Company has completed production of 13 half-hour episodes of The Mickey Finn Show, a musical variety series shot in HDTV using five c…
Mike Tsinberg, Emmy-winning HDTV pioneer and holder of 39 patents, was scheduled to speak at the Home Entertainment Show 2001 in New York on May 11, 2001. His t…
The Consumer Electronics Association announced the sale of the one-millionth DTV product on May 2, 2001, marking a major milestone in the U.S. digital televisio…
The MSTV-supervised comparison tests of 8-VSB and COFDM modulation systems, presented January 11, 2001 in Washington DC, showed neither standard met original br…
Rupert Murdoch outlined Sky Global Networks' strategy for controlling set-top box technology and interactive program guides as the foundation of its worldwide s…
NadaPC and Ch.1 announced a partnership at CES 2001 to offer a 27-inch HD-ready Internet/TV set for $199 to consumers who subscribe to NadaPC's ISP service at $…
National Mobile Television (NMT) and Activate announced a joint marketing agreement on January 22, 2001, combining NMT's world's largest fleet of digital and HD…
Fujinon introduced three new prime lenses and one zoom lens within its HDTV Cine Style series at NAB 2001 in Las Vegas. The new HA17x7.8B-10 zoom offers 17x mag…
HD production pioneer David Niles of Colossalvision used two Panasonic AJ-HDC27V variable frame rate HD Cinema cameras to shoot a Michael Moore-directed R.E.M. …
NxtWave Communications and Alps Electric announced the integration of the NXT2002 VSB demodulator chip into the Alps TDMU7 single-conversion tuner, creating the…
Granada chairman Charles Allen wrote to Prime Minister Tony Blair warning that ITV faces foreign takeover and ONdigital faces closure if the government delays m…
KPBS-DT reports progress on its digital television buildout, including erection of a new 150-foot tower on Mt. San Miguel and installation of HD encoders from G…
Princeton Graphic Systems unveiled the AI3.6HD, a 36-inch direct-view CRT monitor supporting 480p, 720p, and 1080i HDTV formats alongside XGA computer input and…
Robert M. Rast, a key architect of the U.S. DTV standard and former vice president at General Instrument and Dolby Laboratories, has been named president and CE…
RCA announced the L50000, a 50-inch Liquid Crystal On Silicon (LCOS) HDTV display weighing roughly 100 pounds — 60% lighter than comparable projection TVs — set…
Thomson multimedia introduced the RCA Scenium premium line of digital television products on July 11, 2001, featuring five HDTV models including a 50-inch LCOS …
Director Martin Scorsese conducted a satellite-linked virtual press tour on behalf of widescreen HDTV, facilitated by a Philips Electronics donation to his Film…
Snell & Wilcox unveiled two broadcast signal processing products at NAB 2001: the ARC 20:20, a 10-bit bi-directional aspect ratio converter, and the HD 5500 Ph.…
Liberty Livewire Television Division Standardizes Global Operations with Snell & Wilcox HD Equipment
Liberty Livewire Corporation's Television Division will standardize its global operations using Snell & Wilcox format converters and HD/SD switchers, beginning …
Snell & Wilcox unveiled two new broadcast products at NAB 2001: the Mach1, a 1RU multi-format standards converter using proprietary M.Sc motion compensation tec…
Snell & Wilcox announced the opening of a new midtown Manhattan office at 274 Madison Avenue, more than doubling its previous New York City presence. The office…
Spirit DataCine Film Scanners Sold to Chilefilms Group for Latin American Post-Production Facilities
Thomson multimedia Broadcast Solutions announced the sale of two Spirit DataCine film scanners to Chilefilms Group, to be installed at facilities in Santiago, C…
Strategy Analytics released ten technology forecasts for the new decade, predicting cellular voice would surpass 50% of all voice traffic by 2005 and that 14.7 …
Paxson Communications and other TV broadcasters are lobbying the White House to make compensation tax-free as an incentive to vacate analog spectrum and transit…
DemoGraFX, Inc. announced the appointment of former Microsoft Director of Advanced Systems Architecture Thomas L. McMahon as Chief Architectural Officer to comm…
Elantec Semiconductor launched the EL4120C and EL4320C DC-restore amplifiers featuring 500MHz bandwidth to support HDTV, component video, and high-resolution PC…
Triveni Digital unveiled the StreamBridge PSIP Translator at the 2001 NAB Convention, designed to automatically update PSIP data in pre-encoded ATSC bitstreams …
WLS-TV, ABC's Chicago owned-and-operated station, completed a two-year, $5 million technical facility rebuild to support simultaneous NTSC and 720p HDTV broadca…
Dale Cripps weighs a contributor's argument that COFDM and DVB have effectively won the global DTV standards battle, leaving ATSC's 8-VSB isolated international…
ABC Television Network President Alex Wallau announced that 'NYPD Blue' will become the first regularly-scheduled series broadcast by ABC in HDTV, using the 720…
FCC Chairman William E. Kennard announced his resignation effective January 19, 2001, after a three-year tenure marked by implementing the 1996 Telecommunicatio…
The ATSC and CPB/WGBH National Center for Accessible Media are co-sponsoring the DTV Caption Summit, a full-day seminar on March 14, 2001 at WETA in Arlington, …
The Consumer Electronics Association announced a one-day DTV Summit scheduled for July 24, 2001, at the Ronald Reagan International Conference Center in Washing…